Scraping a car.

[Langmuir]

My daughter is a junior at University Park and her old car just died. It has so many problems that have just been accumulating and she had to have it towed on Friday. I decided it is time to just scrap the car since I know it will bleed me dry if I keep having it repaired. So right now it is sitting in a garage in State College and I am near Philly. The garage said they can take car of getting rid of it but they need the title. I have the title but it is in my name. I tried researching how to handle this on the internet and not coming up with much. Most scrap yards said that the person whose name it is in has to be there in person with the title. Maybe I can go up to State College in two weeks. I thought maybe I could just transfer the title to my daughter but the law seems to be restrictive on that since it says you have to pay sales tax on the transfer based on the blue book value. There is a way around that making it a gift but you need affidavits...and blah blah blah...sounds like more trouble than it is worth.

Anybody have any insights on how to junk a car when the title owner is not present?

 

[TheBumble]

All depends on the yard. Some require the title to be in the scrappers name, some are satisfied with just a title, and another might say dump the car over there and here's your cash.

 

[Cosmos]

My daughter is a junior at University Park and her old car just died. It has so many problems that have just been accumulating and she had to have it towed on Friday. I decided it is time to just scrap the car since I know it will bleed me dry if I keep having it repaired. So right now it is sitting in a garage in State College and I am near Philly. The garage said they can take car of getting rid of it but they need the title. I have the title but it is in my name. I tried researching how to handle this on the internet and not coming up with much. Most scrap yards said that the person whose name it is in has to be there in person with the title. Maybe I can go up to State College in two weeks. I thought maybe I could just transfer the title to my daughter but the law seems to be restrictive on that since it says you have to pay sales tax on the transfer based on the blue book value. There is a way around that making it a gift but you need affidavits...and blah blah blah...sounds like more trouble than it is worth.

Anybody have any insights on how to junk a car when the title owner is not present?

I don't know how much help this will be. But we were able to complete a PA real estate sale remotely by using DocuSign. So why couldn't you transfer a car title remotely, assuming the particular scrap yard was open to it.

Also, I found this...

https://iscrapapp.com/scrap-laws/pennsylvania/

Seems like your daughter could step in for you. It would be good experience for her.

 

[sluggo72]

why not 1800 kars for kids, kars with a k!
https://www.kars4kids.org/

 

[TheBumble]

Honestly, just post it on facebook marketplace or craigslist as a car for scrap for a few hundred bucks and it'll be gone in no time.

 

[The Spin Meister]

Call the yards in the area. Since it is your daughter, one will probably accept her having your title if she shows proper ID. Especially since this is a college town where I am sure this has happened before.

Ask if where the car is sitting will they charge storage fees until you get there. Could quickly add up.

 

[dwiz]

Bellefonte Quarry is the real answer here.

 

[Ski]

My daughter is a junior at University Park and her old car just died. It has so many problems that have just been accumulating and she had to have it towed on Friday. I decided it is time to just scrap the car since I know it will bleed me dry if I keep having it repaired. So right now it is sitting in a garage in State College and I am near Philly. The garage said they can take car of getting rid of it but they need the title. I have the title but it is in my name. I tried researching how to handle this on the internet and not coming up with much. Most scrap yards said that the person whose name it is in has to be there in person with the title. Maybe I can go up to State College in two weeks. I thought maybe I could just transfer the title to my daughter but the law seems to be restrictive on that since it says you have to pay sales tax on the transfer based on the blue book value. There is a way around that making it a gift but you need affidavits...and blah blah blah...sounds like more trouble than it is worth.

Anybody have any insights on how to junk a car when the title owner is not present?

Limited Power of Attorney.

 

[cvilleelkscoach]

Limited Power of Attorney.

I agree, this is the way to go. Give your daughter LPOA.

 

[pandaczar12]

From the title, I expected this thread to be "My daughter was driving on college avenue and accidentally scraped a parked car...."

Best of luck on your solution!

 

[katchthis]

I thought if former Coach Tom Bradley was lurking, this might bring him out. He should know how to Scrap a car.

 

[Langmuir]

Bellefonte Quarry is the real answer here.

Which is funny since I grew up in Bellefonte and know the quarry quite well....or at least I did. I even know who Dismal is.

 

[paulrandythomas]

Donate to WPSU, tax write off. All you have to do is sign over the title and mail it. They pick it up.

 

[Delco Lion]

Donate to WPSU, tax write off. All you have to do is sign over the title and mail it. They pick it up.

As mentioned above, check into donating the car to an organization. Could be the easiest and least paperwork. I was in a similar situation years ago with my daughters car and I donated it.

 

[loosey goosey]

Which is funny since I grew up in Bellefonte and know the quarry quite well....or at least I did. I even know who Dismal is.

I went swimming in it,it's cold as $hit.

 

[UncleRoyBiggins]

My daughter is a junior at University Park and her old car just died. It has so many problems that have just been accumulating and she had to have it towed on Friday. I decided it is time to just scrap the car since I know it will bleed me dry if I keep having it repaired. So right now it is sitting in a garage in State College and I am near Philly. The garage said they can take car of getting rid of it but they need the title. I have the title but it is in my name. I tried researching how to handle this on the internet and not coming up with much. Most scrap yards said that the person whose name it is in has to be there in person with the title. Maybe I can go up to State College in two weeks. I thought maybe I could just transfer the title to my daughter but the law seems to be restrictive on that since it says you have to pay sales tax on the transfer based on the blue book value. There is a way around that making it a gift but you need affidavits...and blah blah blah...sounds like more trouble than it is worth.

Anybody have any insights on how to junk a car when the title owner is not present?

Too many times down Atherton Street huh?

 

[LioninNC]

As someone else said, Limited Power Of Attorney is the way to go. I did this when my son finished grad school and neither of us was sure the car would be able to make the drive home. In my case, the buyer was Carmax, but I would assume the same process would work with a junk yard.

 

[massimoManca II]

Can i ask year / make / model and issue(s) ?

 

[Langmuir]

Can i ask year / make / model and issue(s) ?

It is a 2005 Saab 93. Issues: the current issue I am a little unclear about since I have let my daughter handle it and I am getting it the story from her. It is running on three cylinders. She had me listen to the engine on the phone and it sounded like a Model-T and she said the entire car shakes badly even during idle. The estimate we got was for $400 and the mechanic was not sure that would even fix it. If that didn't work he was thinking another 2K.

That is just the tip of the iceberg. Every year during inspection there was something major that needed to be fixed. I trust my mechanic at home. There was only one working key and it was not in great shape either. The other key had a bad transponder. It kept giving intermittent messages about an airbag error. That part really worried me. Sometimes the steering wheel would lock and no matter how you turned the steering wheel, it would not start. The seals around all the windows were starting to dry rot. I already had to fix a leak on the wind shield seal with silicone. Every piece of plastic inside the car was deteriorating. The clear coat on the paint has pretty much all flaked off. All the plastic on the front grill is broken and the front grill is held on by tie wraps. Need I go on?

In retrospect, I should have seen this coming and got rid of it while it was still running. We were just hoping it would last another year.

Thanks for the advice everybody. I eventually found something on the DMV website and the rules for salvage are different from selling. It looks like all is needed is the title with my signature and then return the license plate to the DMV. The garage has agreed to take the car and not charge for diagnosis or storage. Seems like a fair exchange. Due to recent changes in the tax laws, I would probably not be able to use it as a tax write-off.