How do you legally scrap an abandoned car?

Thank you everyone: I've been following this forum for a few weeks and I'd liked to thank everyone who has posted in the past. None of you know me, but you've all helped expand my scrapping/salvaging knowledge exponentially in the little time I've spent lurking in your threads.

Details: There is an abandoned car that has been sitting in the parking lot of my apartment complex for well over a year, or so I've been told. I've been here 6 months and can confirm that it has been in the same parking spot every single day. It's a pretty beat up junker and considering that I currently reside in a college town, I believe some student just ditched it here after graduating and went home.

Actual question: How do I proceed to legally turn this car in to a junk yard? Obviously I don't own the property that it's on nor can I find the owner to purchase the car itself from them. What little I do know about scrapping tells me that most junkyards won't take a car without a title. So I'm kind of lost at what to do at this point.

A few yards will take a car if it's 10 years or older without a title. check with a couple of yards in your area.
Check out Google for the legal laws about abandoned cars in your state. Might need a release form from your manager /owner of your housing complex also. Your yards make the rules, we do not,,,,;)

I had wondered about asking the manager. Sure would help the legality issue if I had their permission. I'll try calling the local scrap yards and see what they say, thanks.

Follow up question. What's the best way to get it onto a trailer? Basically I'll have to knock the window out to get inside, once I get permission from the manager. Can you shift a car from park to neutral/drive without turning it on since I won't have a key to start it with? (my lack of interest in automotive mechanics is really coming back to bite me haha)

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Originally Posted by Mechanic688

A few yards will take a car if it's 10 years or older without a title. check with a couple of yards in your area.
Check out Google for the legal laws about abandoned cars in your state. Might need a release form from your manager /owner of your housing complex also. Your yards make the rules, we do not,,,,;)

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Follow up question. What's the best way to get it onto a trailer? Basically I'll have to knock the window out to get inside, once I get permission from the manager. Can you shift a car from park to neutral/drive without turning it on since I won't have a key to start it with? (my lack of interest in automotive mechanics is really coming back to bite me haha)

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After all the legal stuff, then you might have to pop the ignition lock to free up the steering wheel and take it out of park for easy rolling. A winch or come-along will put it on the trailer/ or tow dolly.

I would check with the Police or parking enforcement, here only the parking enforcement can remove them, If you take one here, charges of theft could happen if caught.

in ohio i have to have a title, in kentucky i do not need one..they do how ever take down the vin number in ky.....iuse a block mason's hammer to unlock steering wheels when i dont have keys....i just grab the wheel and pull down on it,,then i hit in between the part where the collar and the wheel come together.....you will find a little pin once you either pop it out or bust the little housing it locks inside you are good to go..

if a person was pulling a car with a chain and had a friend steering it and you happen to do it the way i mentioned...please MAKE SURE..the pin is all the way popped out..if it is not it can and most of the time will eventually catch and re lock before you get where you are going....i know most places it is illegall to pull cars with chains but i also see it done all the time so i figured id add that little piece of info

if you do not know what you are doing it can be real difficult to move cars with out keys...i can break most free in a minute or 2 but i have done tons of them

If you think you'll have too much trouble getting in and getting it on a trailer, check with local towing companies. Some near me only charge $50 to get a car and take it right to the yard for you. Be sure you have everything lined up in advance with the police and the yard so the transfer goes smoothly for the hauler.

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Originally Posted by RoadWarrior

I had wondered about asking the manager. Sure would help the legality issue if I had their permission.

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Yes, DEFINITELY ask the manager at the complex FIRST. I say this because after a divorce I had to live in an apartment complex and had a 97 Ram that was a project truck for me (truck didn't run either). Since I no longer had a garage it was just parked outside in the complex parking lot for an entire year. Plus going through a divorce I didn't have the time, money or place to work on it, thus to the average person the truck may have looked abandoned. If someone had come in one day and started messing with it to take it away for scrap I'd have been pissed and someone may have got shot. The apartment complex knew about my truck though from before I moved in so taking a few minutes to check in with the office would help avoid a bad situation.

It would be a lot easier if we knew what state you were in. every state is different. Be careful I legally removed 8 vehicles from a lot for Wallgreens Drug Store and spent 2 days in jail and a year fighting grand theft charges before I could prove my innocence and legal right and permission to take said vehicles.

Remember today's justice system is based on how much justice you can afford.

wadarbr549 - That is exactly the info I was looking for, thank you.

Pnutfarmer - Great idea, that's exactly what I was hoping to do but wasn't sure how affordable it would be. Probably the cheapest option for me, thanks.

olddude- I'm currently in Missouri for the moment.

src3collector & olddude - I appreciate the legal foresight. I was planning on getting the apartment manager's written consent as well as the highway patrol (as suggested by the local scrap yard) to investigate and sign-off on the car as being abandoned and "for the taking." The two things I want to avoid are 1. Scrapping/stealing someone's "fixer-upper car" and 2. Getting arrested for any variety of stupid reasons.

after reading what peanut farmer said i agree with him 100 percent....if you can get it hauled for that price or even a bit higher i think that is a great deal...hauling cars is tricky sometimes...all kinds of little things will happen...main thing be careful and as legal as you can be.....remember if you haul off a 400 dollar car and get a 200 dollar ticket,,then break a tail light on a trailer you borrowed from a friend then your profit drops a lot real quick....

just be careful,legal, and ask questions if you are curious or uneasy....id rather have someone think im goofy for asking a question than to end up in trouble or hurt because i didnt ask......GOOD LUCK

My old stomping grounds. Just be sure you have all the Ts crossed and the Is dotted, that whole 4 or 5 state area is cowboy country when it comes to cops.

Well, unfortunately it's going to take a LOT longer to legally scrap that car than I expected. And since I'm leaving Missouri in two weeks I won't have the time to do it myself. But thank you all for answering my questions, I gained a lot of valuable information that will come in handy down the road.

However, I figured I'd share what I learned in case anyone else in Missouri has a similiar problem trying to figure out how to scrap a car.

Missouri Scrappers Salvaging an abandoned vehicle- It's actually not that complicated. (but I still sat on hold for 25 minutes before I got a worker at the DMV to tell me this stuff) Go to Missouri Department of Revenue | Home Page and use this PDFfile. http://dor.mo.gov/forms/Abandoned_Vehicle_Manual.pdf Then fill out this form http://dor.mo.gov/forms/5091.pdf The 5091 is a request to contact the last legal owner of the vehicle. Once that's accomplished you have to wait 30 days for them to come forward and claim the car or give you permission to keep it/sell it to you. After that, (from what I was told) you can submit the paperwork to the Department of Revenue. Expect about 4-5 weeks for the paperwork to get processed, from what they told me. If you have any questions you can call the Missouri Department of Revenue at 573-526-3669. I was caller 34 in line, so you're gonna be on the phone a good 30 minutes before you get your turn on a busy day.

So all in all it would take me about 3 months to dot all the i's and cross all the t's on this car. Honestly, I'd be ok with that if I wasn't moving real soon. Better than getting arrested for a mistaken case of grand theft auto. Hopefully this helps someone down the road. Thanks again to everyone that helped me out.

Around here, if a car is cut into quarters its no longer a car. Its parts:-). So the cars come to my shop stripped of higher dollar stuff then cut into quarters. Its not uncommen for me to bring 6-7 quarters of different cars to the yard at a time.

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Originally Posted by gabrielservices

Around here, if a car is cut into quarters its no longer a car. Its parts:-). So the cars come to my shop stripped of higher dollar stuff then cut into quarters. Its not uncommen for me to bring 6-7 quarters of different cars to the yard at a time.

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if a car is cut into pieces around here you would not need a tittle either....