Most ordinances define a "junk" car as a vehicle without license plates and/or without a valid inspection sticker. A rusty old heap can sit in your yard forever as long as you pay $100 or so a year to keep the plates and inspection current. The 2002 SUV that is parked this year because of high fuel costs and to save money on plates and insurance by taking it off the road altogether, can be fined, forced into a storage unit, or junked. Complaintants have legitimate complaints about old autos.