Selling a dead or junk car in Naugatuck

If one of them can go, we buy whole non-running and junk cars. You sell the whole car as it sits, and pickup is free anywhere in the US, a Naugatuck backyard included.

Where the borough draws the line

Section 10-67 defines an abandoned vehicle as any "unregistered, inoperable" car, truck, camper, boat, trailer or riding mower. Registration is the way out: a car "currently registered with a state or federal licensing agency" is, by the code's own terms, not abandoned. Inoperable means the vehicle shows two or more of the conditions the code lists.

The count is not as tidy as it looks. Another clause in the same definitions lists "the storage or parking of two (2) or more unregistered or inoperable motor vehicles." So two is where questions can start, and more than two is junk by the code's own words.

Hiding the car out back does not help. Among its items, Section 10-68 names "abandoned motor vehicles on the premises unless properly permitted as a junkyard," and says there is "currently no distinction between front, side or back yard." We found no deadline in days in the code text, so check your notice for the date.

Under $100: when the borough owns the car

Section 18-127 lets the borough take title outright. It applies whether the car has no plates, invalid plates or even valid ones, when an officer decides in good faith that "the motor vehicle is apparently abandoned" and is "so vandalized, damaged, or in disrepair as to be unusable." For a car valued under $100, "title to such motor vehicle shall, upon taking custody of such motor vehicle, immediately vest in the borough."

Within 48 hours, the police department tells the state DMV the VIN and describes the car. When the car is sold or disposed of, the former owner gets written notice by certified mail or on police form TMV-48EB. The $100 figure is the borough's legal test. State law has a similar rule for cars at $500 or less, where the former owner can claim the sale money, minus costs, within one year.

Snow, ice and the impound lot

In a storm, Naugatuck looks at your driveway. Section 18-112 says anyone "having access to a driveway shall not permit his or her motor vehicle to be parked on any public street during a snow/ice fall." Once flakes start falling, a dead car at the curb is stuck breaking that rule.

If it gets towed, Section 18-111 keeps it impounded "until the towing and storage charges as determined by the borough police department, shall have been paid."

The Waterbury office and the title

Connecticut titles come from the state DMV. Towns have no title office. The office we looked at for Naugatuck is the Waterbury branch, 2210 Thomaston Avenue. On a map it is about 8 miles north of the middle of town. Full-service hub offices handle every transaction, and most offices take appointments.

Some junk cars are old enough to skip the title. C.G.S. 14-166 exempts any car over 20 model years from titling, and the DMV publishes a letter to show it. Selling one takes Form Q-1 and the newest registration certificate. Younger cars still need their title, signed on the reverse, plus a bill of sale.

Emissions can end a car's road life too. Connecticut tests every two years, and a lapse in emissions or insurance can suspend the registration. See failed emissions.

Plates and the assessor

Pull the plates off the Naugatuck car and hold on to them, then have the DMV cancel the registration. Until you do, the car stays on the town property-tax rolls. Answer a late bill at the assessor's office, with the cancelled-plate receipt and the bill of sale in hand. Our car property tax guide walks through it.

Towns near Naugatuck

In straight-line miles, Waterbury is 4.9 off, Cheshire 7.8, Hamden 9.2 and Southbury 9.3. Statewide rules are on the Connecticut page.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or send the form. Naugatuck owners can fill in the offer form, including whether the car goes with Form Q-1. Clearing a yard of more than one? Say so (several junk cars). Our truck can load it out back, at the curb near the post office, or anywhere else in the borough.