Selling a junk or dead car in Boston

Removing it can mean selling it. We buy whole non-running and junk cars. You sell the whole car as it sits, and pickup is free anywhere in the US, from a driveway in the neighborhoods to a spot in a garage downtown.

What Section 16-30.1 covers

The section opens with a flat ban: "No person shall place an automobile or any automobile parts upon public or private land for the purpose of abandonment." It then turns to cars that are unregistered or uninsured. A dead car joins that group once its plates are cancelled or its policy lapses.

Two places are carved out. The section "shall not apply to vehicles stored within a fully-enclosed building," or to cars kept on property licensed for that use under state law. So a dead sedan inside a closed garage falls outside the rule, while the same sedan under a cover in the yard does not.

The ten business days after a first warning are the window to register the car, insure it or get it off the property.

Five unanswered tickets and the car goes

A car parked on the street can also be taken for unpaid tickets. Section 6-6.6 says that if a person "shall have failed to appear in accordance with five or more said notices," the Parking Clerk tells the police or transportation commissioner that the car is to be "removed and stored or otherwise immobilized at the expense of the registered owner" until the matter is disposed of. To get it released, the code requires that all towing and storage fees be paid and proof of payment shown. A car impounded after an OUI arrest cannot be released until 12 hours have passed.

Storage adds up fast. For a police-ordered tow in Massachusetts, storing a passenger car is capped at $35 per 24 hours in a secure, fenced and lit yard, and half of that elsewhere. The tow yard holds a lien. Our towed or impounded guide covers what to do next, and tickets or registration hold covers unpaid tickets.

Tows from private lots

If the car is sitting in someone else's lot, state law limits who can tow it. Chapter 266, Section 120D allows a tow off private property only when the person in charge of it had banned parking, by telling the driver or with a sign, and only after police are told. Skipping the police notice, or the car owner's consent, can cost the tower a fine of as much as $100.

The city also licenses the junk trade itself: Section 18-1.19 sets fees for "motor vehicle junk licenses granted by the Police Commissioner."

Title and the Title Division

In Massachusetts the RMV, a division of MassDOT, issues titles. Boston sellers fill in the mileage and, with the buyer, sign, print and date the transfer part. No price line on the title means adding a bill of sale that lists it. Under Chapter 90D, Section 15, the seller's assignment includes the true odometer reading and a warranty of title. No notary appears anywhere in the RMV's seller steps.

Lost the title? Boston is where replacements come from: the Title Division. The fee is $25. Boston owners can apply online or by mail. Boston owners who mail the form pay by check or money order payable to MassDOT. Expect up to 10 business days. If a finished car loan still sits on the record, the RMV needs a release from the lender, signed, on letterhead, and never a fax or photocopy. A car an insurer totaled may also carry a salvage brand: REPR can return to the road after inspection, PART never can.

Plates and Boston's excise

Plates go home with the seller. In Boston, end the registration online and keep the receipt it gives you. Send a copy to your insurer, then recycle the plates or cut them in two. A replacement car can take the same plates within a 7-day grace period; the RMV has no temporary plates.

Every year, Boston's assessors charge excise of $25 for each $1,000 of value. Those bills don't stop while the car is still registered. After you sign the assignment and hand the car over, state law clears you of liability for later driving. Boston has no release form to file.

Nearby

Chelsea is the closest neighbor we cover, 4.1 miles from Boston in a straight line, then Everett at 5.0, Quincy 5.4, Somerville 5.5 and Cambridge 5.7. See Massachusetts for statewide rules.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or send the form. Selling in Boston starts with our short offer form. Across Boston we come to the car, in a resident permit spot, a private garage, or a shop that couldn't repair it.