Selling a dead or junk car in Barnstable

Whatever the title says, we buy whole non-running and junk cars. You sell the whole car as it sits, and pickup is free anywhere in the US, across all 59.929 square miles of Barnstable's land.

Salvage brands, decoded

State law calls a car a "total loss salvage motor vehicle" when it was stolen and never recovered, or damaged by collision, fire, water or anything else so badly that the owner or insurer judges repair uneconomical and it is not repaired. There is no percentage threshold in Massachusetts; the judgment call is the test.

A salvage title carries one of two primary brands:

• REPR (repairable). The car can come back, but it cannot be registered until it passes the RMV's salvage inspection.
• PART (parts-only). The insurer that totals the car sets this brand, and a PART car is barred from Massachusetts registration for good.

A second brand records why: Flood, Flood/Salt, Fire, Collision, Theft, Vandalism or Other. The brand never comes off, and a salvage car can never get a clear title. The application for that salvage title is due from the owner or insurer 10 days after the claim settles, or 10 days after the event when no insurance covered it.

A separate status, "Junked," means the car cannot run and has been scrapped. A junked car can never be titled or registered again. Our salvage title and flood damage guides go deeper.

No town bylaw found online

Our search turned up no Barnstable vehicle bylaws online, so this section rests on Massachusetts law, and the town may well add local rules. In Barnstable, Chapter 90, Section 22C gives a street officer power over a car that looks abandoned, sitting over 72 hours on a road or on property without consent, and worth less than removing and disposing of it. The RMV's page on automobile law points people to local police guides for private-property removals, since towns set their own bylaws.

When a garage is holding the car

A car that died at a shop and was never picked up is common, and the garage has rules to follow. Under Chapter 255, Section 39A, the first step is a letter to the registered owner, sent registered mail with a return receipt, stating the storage rates. Once 60 days pass from the car's arrival with no one claiming it, the garage may give notice; 21 more days after that, it may sell the car publicly or privately. Before a Barnstable garage sells, a local paper must run the notice three weeks running and the police chief must get 5 days' notice. It takes what it is owed from the sale money, and the registered owner, or the district court clerk, gets the remainder. See stuck at a repair shop.

Title, plates and excise

Title work goes through the RMV. Write the mileage in the transfer section; both parties then sign there, hand-print their names and date it. The price belongs on the title where a space exists, and on a bill of sale where it does not. Chapter 90D also folds the odometer figure and a warranty of title into what you sign. A notary does not appear among the RMV's seller steps. Barnstable buyers then have 10 days to title the car and 7 days after registration to get it inspected.

Remove the plates. With the registration cancelled online and the receipt saved and copied to your insurer, recycle the plates or cut them through. Barnstable assessors bill $25 in excise for every $1,000 a registered car is worth, and those bills continue until the registration is cancelled. Once the assignment is signed and the car delivered, Massachusetts law clears you of liability for how it is used later; no release form exists.

Nearby towns

In a straight line from Barnstable: Yarmouth 6.8 miles, Sandwich 7.5, Bourne 12.7 and Falmouth 13.3. See Massachusetts for the statewide rules.

Getting an offer

Use the form or call (877) 421-6008. A branded title won't stop a Barnstable seller from starting on our short offer form. Pickup comes to wherever the car waits: a home in Barnstable, a body shop, or the lot a tow truck left it in.