# New Mexico — How long before a car left on your property or towed from it can legally be sold — by US state

For New Mexico, time to count as abandoned on private property is left unattended on either public or private property for at least 30 days; statutory citation is NMSA 1978 (NM MVD Vehicle Procedures Manual, Chapter 1), verified against its source on 2026-08-18.

- **State:** New Mexico _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Time to count as abandoned on private property:** left unattended on either public or private property for at least 30 days _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Statutory citation:** NMSA 1978 (NM MVD Vehicle Procedures Manual, Chapter 1) _(verified: appears in the quote below)_

## What the source says

> Abandoned vehicle a vehicle or motor vehicle that has been determined by a New Mexico law enforcement agency: (1) to have been left unattended on either public or private property for at least 30 days; (2) not to have been reported stolen; (3) not to have been claimed by any person asserting ownership; and (4) not to have been shown by normal record-checking procedures to be owned by any person

## Source

- https://www.mvd.newmexico.gov/chapter-1-vehicles-definitions/

Last verified: 2026-08-18. Review by: 2027-08-18.
Part of [How long before a car left on your property or towed from it can legally be sold — by US state](https://referencesource.org/abandoned-vehicle-private-property-timelines-by-state/).