Selling a dead or junk car in Belmont

The inspection problem

Massachusetts Vehicle Check runs inspections statewide. Every car needs a safety check, and cars with onboard diagnostics "less than 15 years old must pass an annual emissions test." Massachusetts treats driving with no valid sticker as a traffic violation, so a Belmont car that fails stays parked.

For the seller, the timing is good news. The inspection falls to the buyer, who gets 7 days after registering, and the test costs $35 for most vehicles. A passing sticker is not part of your side of the sale. Details on a failed test are in failed emissions.

Cars too old for a title

If yours is that kind of older passenger car, from model year 1980 or before and bought before Nov. 26, 1990, the state never asked for a title. The buyer hands in a bill of sale along with the last owner's registration. Keep that old registration with the car, because it does the job a title would.

Newer cars: the title steps

On a titled car, Belmont sellers fill in the odometer reading. Both of you sign, print your names and date it. If the title has a price box, write the price there. If not, use a bill of sale. The Registry's seller instructions never call for a notary. Chapter 90D makes the signed assignment your shield: after delivery, later use of the car is not your liability.

Street rules

Belmont's bylaws were not online when we searched, so this section uses state law, and the town may enforce more. In Belmont, chapter 90, section 22C allows a street officer to take away a car that looks abandoned and has stayed "more than 72 hours" without the owner's permission, if it's worth less than towing and disposal.

When the car is gone

Belmont sellers keep their plates. Do the cancellation online and keep the confirmation. Send a copy to your insurance company. Once it is cancelled, the town's excise stops too. Then cut the plates through, recycle them, or bolt them to a replacement car inside 7 calendar days. The Registry does not issue temporary plates.

Next door to Belmont

In straight-line miles, Watertown and Arlington are 1.8 each, Waltham 3.2 and Cambridge 3.4. Statewide rules are on the Massachusetts page.

Getting an offer

Got a car in Belmont to sell? Ring (877) 421-6008 or start on our short form. We pick up across Belmont, from driveways and garages to side streets off Concord Avenue.