Selling a dead or junk car in Glastonbury

How Glastonbury defines a dead car

Section 12-36 of the town code covers two kinds of car. An abandoned one has "the appearance that the owner does not intend to operate this motor vehicle on the public streets or highways." An inoperable one is "currently not capable of being started or legally operated on a public street or highway." Look at the word legally. A car that fires up but has no valid registration can still fit.

The code lists examples: "broken windows; absence of engine, transmission wheels or tires; damage due to collision." It also sweeps in "automobile parts and disassembled motor vehicles." The rule reaches any real property in town that is not a street, so a driveway, side yard or back lot all count. The town manager, or a town employee he names, enforces it.

The 30-day letter under section 12-38

The notice comes by personal service or by registered mail with a return receipt. It must ask you to remove the car and must say two things: that you will be fined if the car is "not removed within thirty (30) days of notification," and that you can contest the request by applying to the hearing officer named in the notice "within fifteen (15) days of the date of the notice." Ignore it and section 12-40 sets the penalty.

One more clause matters if you sold a car and never closed out the paperwork. For an abandoned car, the town treats "the last owner of record" in DMV files as the owner, and as the person who abandoned it. That is a good reason to cancel the registration the day the car leaves.

Street parking and towing

Section 12-17 caps any vehicle on a public street at two hours in the stretch between one and six in the morning. The police chief can grant a short exception, but only for "good and compelling reasons of a temporary and emergency nature." A dead sedan pushed out to the curb night after night will not qualify.

Under section 12-24, police can tow a car that blocks traffic or breaks a temporary parking ban if the officer finds it "a menace to traffic." From there, state law runs the process. Police send certified mail within 48 hours, an owner who disagrees has 10 days to say so, and a towed car valued at $1,500 or less can go to sale 15 days later.

Title and plates

No Glastonbury office handles titles; Connecticut keeps that job with its DMV. Measured as the crow flies, the DMV's 60 State Street address in Wethersfield lies roughly 6 miles west of Glastonbury's center, and appointments are offered at most offices.

Selling in Glastonbury means signing the back of the certificate and adding a bill of sale. Connecticut's form for that is Form H-31. You can also write one yourself, as long as it lists buyer and seller with addresses, plus the VIN, color, year, make, model, sale price, date and your signature. Nothing in the DMV's seller list calls for a notary. Past the 20-model-year mark, Connecticut issues no title at all, so Form Q-1 goes over with the newest registration certificate instead.

Plates stay with you. Unbolt them and cancel the registration, which takes about 7 minutes online. Keep the receipt, and keep insurance until the cancellation goes through. If Glastonbury's assessor still sends a tax bill, that receipt and your bill of sale are what to show. After you sell lists the remaining steps.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or use the form. Our short form for Glastonbury cars takes a minute or two. Our driver can load it at a home near Glastonbury High School, an office lot, or a repair bay. Close by: East Hartford, Manchester and Wethersfield. Statewide rules are on the Connecticut page.