A junk car in South Milwaukee

The city's own rules

We could not find South Milwaukee's ordinances online. State law explicitly lets any municipality pass its own rules on removing and disposing of abandoned vehicles, so the city may have its own. Treat what follows as the floor, and go by the deadline on any city notice you receive.

The state's abandoned-car law

Chapter 342 bars leaving a vehicle where it "reasonably appears abandoned." First-class cities get a 48-hour limit in the statute, and all other places pick their own time frame. Tucked "out of ordinary public view," a car is not abandoned, and the same goes for one an official has formally designated as not abandoned.

Once towed under the statute, a car waits in impound for its owner or for disposal. A South Milwaukee car can be junked or sold before the wait is over if its towing and storage fees top its value. The statute singles out older cars too: every substantially complete vehicle more than 19 model years old is disposed of under its own subsection. Either way, South Milwaukee bills the owner who left the car for abandoning it, impounding it and getting rid of it.

Milwaukee County means emission tests

South Milwaukee is in Milwaukee County, one of the seven southeastern counties where Wisconsin requires a test. Covered: 1996 to 2006 models below 8,501 lb running on gasoline, natural gas or hybrid power, plus 2007 and later up to 14,000 lb. You'll get a notice from WisDOT if your car needs a test. If a failed emissions test is why the car is parked, weigh that against the repair estimate.

The cost of bringing it back

A car that sits unregistered does not stop the registration meter. Chapter 341 bills a returning owner for the whole stretch since the old registration period ran out. The exceptions: the car belonged to someone else in between, or at least a year has passed and you sign a statement that nobody drove it. That is one more number to weigh before reviving a long-parked car; see sitting for years.

Handing over the title

The state issues titles for South Milwaukee cars through WisDOT's Division of Motor Vehicles. A South Milwaukee seller needs the title in their own name first. On the reverse, add your signature and the date, then the miles, any brand, the agreed price and the buyer's name with an address. AND between owners' names means everyone signs; OR means one will do.

When a South Milwaukee car goes for scrap, you write "Junk" on the title. Statute 342.34 gives a South Milwaukee owner of a junked car 10 days. In that time, notify the department and mail in the title. That car is never titled again.

Plates and the 30-day report

Unscrew the plates first. South Milwaukee plates still unexpired may go onto a like vehicle you own, or one your spouse or domestic partner owns. Destroy the rest. The DMV neither takes plates back nor refunds leftover months. If they went off with the car by accident, MV2514 cancels them. A sale to a private person gets reported to WisDOT online within 30 days.

Next door

Oak Creek is 3.0 miles away in a straight line, Franklin 7.8, Greenfield and Caledonia 8.0 each, and Milwaukee 11.7. For the statewide picture, see Wisconsin.

Getting an offer

Reach us at (877) 421-6008 or online. List the year, the make and model, an odometer guess, whether it will start, and whether you have the title. Pickup works from a tight driveway, an alley garage or a spot on a side street.