Do I have to return my plates to the RMV?

No. After canceling the registration, slice each plate in two, or recycle them. Or, within 7 calendar days, mount them on your next car.

Why do I keep getting excise bills for a car I sold?

Because only a canceled registration stops excise. A revoked or lapsed one keeps owing. Your town's board of assessors handles abatement requests.

My car is decades old. Does it have a title?

Possibly not. Cars that old were exempt if bought before Nov. 26, 1990 and from model year 1980 or before. They sell with a registration and a bill of sale.

State guide

Junk and dead cars: selling in Massachusetts

Cancel the registration when you sell. Skip it and excise bills keep arriving. Otherwise you sign the title, keep the plates and destroy them. We buy whole non-running and junk cars: sell the whole car as it sits, with free pickup anywhere in the US.

Updated October 11, 2026 · 20 sources

Photo: Nelson48 at English Wikipedia · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Massachusetts rules at a glance

Agency: MassDOT's Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV)
Seller signs: Mileage, signature, printed name and date on the title
Plates: Seller cancels the registration, then cuts or recycles them
Release form: None; c. 90D s. 15(e) protects the seller
Excise: $25 for every $1,000 of value, billed until you cancel
Replacement title: $25
Salvage brands: REPR or PART, both permanent
Inspection: Statewide safety test; emissions under 15 years old

The title and the RMV

MassDOT's Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) handles titles. Here is the seller's share of a private sale, per RMV instructions:

Item	What you do
Mileage	State it
Transfer section	Sign, hand-print your name, date it; the buyer does too
Price	On the title if there is room; if not, on a bill of sale

Nowhere in that RMV list is a notary.

Chapter 90D, section 15 describes the same moment in legal terms. At delivery the owner signs an assignment carrying the true odometer reading plus a warranty of title, then sends or delivers the certificate to the buyer.

The buyer's side: an insurance agent, licensed in Massachusetts, completes their registration and title application, then stamps and signs it. Titling is due within 10 days of purchase. Costs to the buyer: 6.25% sales tax, then $75 for the title.

Plates stay yours

In Massachusetts, plates go with their owner when a car is sold. Cancellation happens online through MyMassGov. Keep that receipt. Your insurer should get a copy.

The plates then get recycled or sliced in two. Returning them to the RMV isn't required.

After cancellation, driving the car on any Massachusetts public way is off limits.
Replacing the car? A 7-calendar-day grace period lets the plates go onto the new vehicle, counted from when you got rid of the old one. You must be 18 or older, with the plates physically on the new car. Temporary plates aren't something the RMV issues.

Who is liable after the sale

Massachusetts has no release-of-liability form, and the seller is covered anyway. Under section 15(e) of chapter 90D, signing the assignment and delivering the car ends your liability for how it's driven and for violations, even with the new title still pending.

Excise is different. Cities and towns bill it, not the RMV: $25 a year per $1,000 of value. Revocation alone doesn't stop the meter; cancellation does, so cancel on sale day. A partial year is charged starting with the registration month and running to year end. More in after you sell.

Disputing a bill goes to your local assessors. File for an abatement by whichever comes later: three years past the excise due date, or one year past payment.

No title in hand

Some old cars never got a title at all. The exemption covers passenger vehicles built for model year 1980 or before, purchased prior to Nov. 26, 1990. Selling one means giving the buyer your registration and a bill of sale, which they submit in place of a title.

For a newer car, replace a lost title before selling. Cost: $25. Order it online. By mail, the application goes to MassDOT's Title Division in Boston, paid by check or money order. Per the RMV, expect a wait of as many as 10 business days.

If a paid-off loan still shows, the lender must send a signed letter on its letterhead. Faxed or photocopied letters are rejected, regardless of the loan's age. Our lien release guide explains the rest.

Private sellers can't use the "Affidavit in Lieu of Certificate of Title." It is reserved for insurers and for Class 2 and Class 3 dealers applying for salvage titles, or for titles on cars 10 years old or older.

Salvage: REPR and PART

Massachusetts sets no repair-cost percentage. The statute's "total loss salvage motor vehicle" is either stolen and not recovered, or damaged to the point that its owner or insurer considers repair uneconomical, and left unrepaired.

A salvage title is permanent. No clean title ever follows. Primary brands:

REPR (repairable): an RMV salvage inspection must be passed before any registration. Salvage cars titled in other states must pass a Massachusetts one too.
PART (parts only): the totaling insurer sets it, and Massachusetts will never register that car.

Secondary brands name what happened: Theft, Fire, Collision, Vandalism, Flood, Flood/Salt, Other.

Apply within 10 days, counted from the settlement when insured or from the event when not. Any passenger car aged 10 years or more at the time of loss is exempt from the salvage process.

"Junked" is the final status. It records a car that cannot run and has gone to scrap, and it will never be titled or registered again. See our salvage title guide.

When a town can haul a car away

The state rule is M.G.L. c. 90 s. 22C. It lets a city or town street officer remove a vehicle and treat it as refuse when three things hold: it appears abandoned; it has stood for more than 72 hours on a public or private way, or on any property without the owner's permission; and its value falls short of what hauling it away and disposing of it would run.

Towing off private land is restricted by c. 266 s. 120D. The person in lawful control must have barred parking on that property, by telling the driver or posting a notice, and police have to be notified. A tow without police notice or the owner's consent risks up to $100 in fines.

Chapter 140B regulates junkyard businesses, not one idle car on a driveway. For that situation the RMV refers people to local police, and each town writes its own bylaws. Forty-six of our Massachusetts town pages quote one.

Police tows and garage sales

Police-ordered tows have a storage cap for passenger cars. A secure lot with fencing and lighting may charge $35 for each 24 hours. Other lots get half. A lien attaches for the facility.

Garages must send the registered owner a registered letter, with return receipt, that lists storage rates. Then:

Day 60 after arrival with no claim: the garage may issue notice.
21 days later: a sale is permitted, public or private.
First, though, a local paper must carry the notice for three straight weeks, and the police chief hears about it 5 days ahead.

Charges come out of the sale price. Leftover money is owed to the registered owner; otherwise the district court clerk receives it.

Vehicle Check: safety and emissions

Massachusetts Vehicle Check runs statewide. Safety inspection applies to every car, and emissions testing happens yearly for onboard-diagnostics cars under 15 years old. Without a valid sticker, driving the car is a traffic offense under state rules.

Inspection is the buyer's duty: within 7 days of registering, at $35 for most vehicles.

Four steps in Massachusetts

Ask for an offer. Say what works and what doesn't.
Sign over the title with the mileage. For an exempt older car, hand over your registration and a bill of sale.
Pull the plates when the car is loaded.
Cancel online that day and save the receipt.

Largest cities

Pickup is free across this list. Figures come from the Census Bureau's newest estimates.

City	People
Boston	672,973
Worcester	213,862
Springfield	154,702
Cambridge	122,588
Lowell	119,971
Brockton	106,134

Every Massachusetts city and town we cover

Boston, Worcester, Springfield, Cambridge, Lowell, Brockton, Lynn, Quincy, New Bedford, Fall River, Newton, Lawrence, Somerville, Framingham, Haverhill, Plymouth, Malden, Waltham, Brookline, Taunton, Revere, Medford, Weymouth, Peabody, Chicopee, Methuen, Everett, Barnstable, Attleboro, Arlington, Salem, Leominster, Woburn, Beverly, Pittsfield, Marlborough, Billerica, Fitchburg, Amherst, Westfield, Chelsea, Shrewsbury, Braintree, Chelmsford, Holyoke, Andover, Natick, Watertown, Randolph, Lexington, Dartmouth, Franklin, Falmouth, Needham, Dracut, North Andover, Tewksbury, Norwood, North Attleborough, Wellesley, Northampton, Milford, Gloucester, Stoughton, Melrose, Bridgewater, Wakefield, Danvers, Saugus, West Springfield, Agawam, Milton, Belmont, Marshfield, Burlington, Walpole, Reading, Easton, Dedham, Yarmouth, Canton, Middleborough, Westford, Acton, Hingham, Stoneham, Mansfield, Winchester, Wareham, Wilmington, Westborough, Gardner, Ludlow, Grafton, Bourne, Marblehead, Sandwich, Holden and Hudson.

Have a Massachusetts car to sell? Call (877) 421-6008.

Cities and towns in Massachusetts

Questions people ask

Do I have to return my plates to the RMV?: No. After canceling the registration, slice each plate in two, or recycle them. Or, within 7 calendar days, mount them on your next car.
Why do I keep getting excise bills for a car I sold?: Because only a canceled registration stops excise. A revoked or lapsed one keeps owing. Your town's board of assessors handles abatement requests.
My car is decades old. Does it have a title?: Possibly not. Cars that old were exempt if bought before Nov. 26, 1990 and from model year 1980 or before. They sell with a registration and a bill of sale.

Sources

Every fact on this page comes from one of these. Checked October 11, 2026.

Mass.gov: Apply for a registration and title for a vehicle bought from an individual (seller steps, bill of sale, 10 days, $75, 6.25%) mass.gov
Mass.gov: Cancel your vehicle registration and license plates mass.gov
Mass.gov: Transfer your registration to a vehicle bought from an individual (7-day grace period) mass.gov
M.G.L. c. 90D s. 15, Assignment of title on transfer malegislature.gov
M.G.L. c. 90D s. 1, Definitions (total loss salvage motor vehicle) malegislature.gov
Mass.gov: Vehicle certificate of title (age-exempt vehicles) mass.gov
Mass.gov: Replace your vehicle's certificate of title mass.gov
RMV: Affidavit in Lieu of Certificate of Title for Salvage Vehicle mass.gov
RMV: EVR rules for titles and salvage (Junked status) mass.gov
Mass.gov: Total loss and salvage vehicles mass.gov
Mass.gov: Apply for a salvage title mass.gov
Mass.gov: Vehicle inspections (Massachusetts Vehicle Check) mass.gov
Mass.gov: Motor vehicle excise guide mass.gov
M.G.L. c. 90 s. 22C, Abandoned vehicles malegislature.gov
M.G.L. c. 266 s. 120D, Removal of vehicles from private property malegislature.gov
Mass.gov: Massachusetts law about automobiles mass.gov
M.G.L. c. 140B, Junkyards malegislature.gov
M.G.L. c. 159B s. 6B, Towing and storage charges malegislature.gov
M.G.L. c. 255 s. 39A, Garage keeper's lien and sale malegislature.gov
U.S. Census Bureau: city and town population estimates census.gov