Selling a junk or dead car in Norwich

Want to sell first? We buy whole non-running and junk cars. Sell the whole car as it sits; pickup is free anywhere in the US, from a Norwich driveway, a side street or a downtown lot.

When Norwich tows a car

Section 20-20 covers vehicles on streets and highways and in city-owned lots and garages. A car may be removed when:

• it is parked during a period when parking is prohibited,
• it breaks a rule of the traffic authority or the public parking commission, or
• it has five unpaid parking tickets, or $100 or more owed.

Getting it back costs twice. First you pay the public parking commission "any and all sums legally due" for Norwich parking violations and penalties on that car. Then you settle whatever the towing company charges. Within 72 hours of the tow, the police or the parking commission must notify the owner "by registered mail," saying where the car is and on what terms it will be released.

For a car that does not run, those charges keep growing while it sits. Selling it as it is stops the tickets at the source.

A dead car on private property

The Norwich code sections we read cover street parking and towing, not a junk car kept in a yard. State law fills that gap here, and Norwich might have further rules we did not see:

• A Connecticut town like Norwich must send written notice and give a fair chance to fix blight before acting on it. The state law doesn't mention vehicles, so it takes a Norwich ordinance to say if a junk car is blight.
• When a car sits abandoned past 24 hours on a highway or on property owned by someone else, the state treats it as an infraction, fined at no less than $85.
• Police may tag a car that appears abandoned or unregistered with a sticker. After 24 hours, Norwich may haul it off and store it, and the owner pays for both.
• When Norwich police tow a car, the owner and lienholders get a certified letter within 48 hours and have 10 days to challenge the tow. If the city hasn't taken the title, Norwich may sell a car whose value is $1,500 or less after 15 days. Higher-value cars wait 45 days.
• An unusable car with missing or invalid plates, apparently abandoned and worth $500 or less, becomes the municipality's property and heads to a licensed recycler. Its former owner may claim the net sale money for up to a year.

Norwich's towing section points to G.S. 14-150 for the state's power to impound abandoned vehicles.

The DMV office in Norwich

Every Connecticut title comes from the state DMV, so Norwich has no title office. Norwich has its own office at 173 Salem Turnpike, which we checked, about 3 miles southwest of downtown on a map line. The DMV's full-service hubs take every transaction; limited-service and express sites, run by partners, handle fewer. Appointments are offered at most locations.

Selling a car that has a title

1. Sign on the back of the title.
2. The buyer gets the title and a bill of sale from you. Form H-31 from the DMV is fine. A homemade one needs the VIN, color, year, make and model, the price and the date, both parties' names and addresses, and your signature.
3. Make copies for yourself.

The DMV's list for sellers in Norwich does not call for a notary. Then the new owner registers the Norwich car and applies for a new title. If the car needs a title, a licensed recycler has to get it with the car, and it then marks the title "JUNKED".

Older cars and lost titles

Connecticut exempts cars more than 20 model years old from titling. Selling one from Norwich means filling in Form Q-1 and passing along your newest registration certificate.

Lost the title on a newer Norwich car? To replace a lost Norwich title, send in Form H-6B, the "Application for Replacement Certificate of Title", with the $25.00 fee. Expect it by mail within 20 business days. More at junk car with no title.

Salvage and other brands

An insurer selling a total-loss car marks the title SALVAGE. If ten or more major component parts can't be repaired, the mark is SALVAGE PARTS ONLY. Connecticut uses no percent-of-value test. A car stamped salvage has to pass a salvage inspection and get a new title before it goes back on the road. A parts-only car can't ever be rebuilt. The DMV's other brands include REBUILT, FLOOD and WARNING: ODOMETER DISCREPANCY. See salvage title.

Plates, insurance and the tax bill

Unbolt the plates; they remain yours. The DMV says cancelling the registration online takes about 7 minutes. Keep the receipt as proof, because Connecticut has no release-of-liability form. Leave liability insurance in force until the cancellation is complete. Norwich taxes the car up to that point. Should Norwich send a new bill, show the assessor the receipt plus your copy of the bill of sale. When a town reports an unpaid tax, the DMV has to block registrations in that owner's name.

Nearby towns

Windham is 12.2 miles away, Waterford 13.9, Groton 14.2 and New London 14.9. Statewide rules are on the Connecticut page.

Getting an offer

Norwich sellers can reach us through the offer form. Call (877) 421-6008 or use the form. Pickup works wherever the car is in Norwich, including a street spot where the tickets have started stacking up.