Selling an unregistered or junk car in Wausau

The yard rule, 16.04.035

There are two separate tests here, and either one is enough to break the rule.

• Registration. Plates have to be registered to that car, with a current sticker. Plates borrowed from another vehicle do not count.
• Condition. "At no time shall any vehicle be in any state of major disassembly, disrepair or shall it be in the process of being stripped or dismantled." This applies in residential zones, and the same sentence is repeated for business, commercial and industrial zones.

That second test matters if you were planning to part the car out in the driveway. Pulling the engine and selling pieces over a few months puts the car in exactly the state the code forbids. In business zones, major overhaul work, body work included, is allowed only at an approved automobile establishment. Part it out or sell it whole compares the two routes.

On the street and in city ramps, 10.20.035

Section 10.20.035 defines an unregistered motor vehicle as one on an alley, street, highway or public way, or in a city-owned lot or ramp, that does not display valid plates for "the vehicle's current registration period or for a registration period for the vehicle that expired within the immediately preceding 31 days." So the grace period is 31 days past expiration. After that, the car may not be parked on any city street or in a city ramp at all.

Why a storage lot is not the answer

People often try to move a dead car to a rented space. Wausau's zoning works against that:

• Section 23.03.16 says storage land uses may not hold "inoperable vehicles or equipment, or other items typically stored in a junkyard or salvage yard."
• Section 23.03.10 bans outdoor storage of unlicensed or inoperable vehicles at commercial sites unless the area is fully screened by a solid fence. Repair shops that keep such cars for spare parts must do the work inside an enclosed building.
• Section 23.03.22 treats collecting, dismantling or storing "unlicensed and/or inoperable vehicles intended for scraping or recycling" as a salvage operation, a land use of its own.

What is left is a garage or a buyer.

State law behind the city rules

Each Wisconsin town may set its own removal rules, on top of a floor set by the state. Wisconsin forbids leaving a car where it "reasonably appears abandoned." A Wausau car stored away from ordinary public view isn't treated that way. Wausau may junk or sell an impounded car ahead of time once its tow and storage charges top what it's worth. The owner pays the abandonment, impound and disposal costs.

Marathon County is not among the seven Wisconsin counties with emission testing.

Wisconsin title and plates

Wausau owners get titles from the WisDOT Division of Motor Vehicles. A Wausau seller needs their own name on the title first. In Wausau, the title's back side is where the sale goes. Sign and date it, then write the mileage and any brand. Then put down the buyer's name, address and the sale price. A Wausau title that still lists a lender also needs a lien release for the buyer.

No title at all? WisDOT lets you junk a car without getting a replacement. Fixed or not, a junked car never gets a title or license again. More in junk car with no title.

Plates come off. Wausau owners may move current plates to a similar vehicle in their own name or a spouse's or domestic partner's name. If not, cut the plates up. WisDOT won't refund them or take them back. Wausau sellers who leave the plates on the car cancel them with MV2514. Sold your Wausau car to a private person? You have 30 days to send the seller notification. In Wausau it shows who bought the car, its VIN, the date and the price.

Getting an offer

Selling in Wausau? For a Wausau car, call (877) 421-6008 or use the form. We load from 400 Block garages, east side rentals, or wherever it stalled. Pickup is free anywhere in the US. Stevens Point is 30.5 miles south as the crow flies, and the Wisconsin page has the statewide rules.