Selling a junk or wrecked car in Bridgewater

What "total loss" means in Massachusetts

Chapter 90D defines a "total loss salvage motor vehicle" as one stolen and never recovered, or one so badly hurt by collision, fire, water or other harm that its owner or insurer "considers it uneconomical to repair," left unrepaired. No percentage of value decides it. Judgment does.

Once that call is made, the salvage-title clock is short: 10 days from the settlement for an insured car, or from the event itself for an uninsured one.

The two brands, and the seven causes

Each Massachusetts salvage title carries one main brand:

• REPR, repairable. Registration waits until the car clears the Registry's salvage inspection.
• PART, parts only. The insurer sets it when totaling the car, and that car is never registered in Massachusetts again.

A second brand on the title names the cause: Collision, Fire, Flood, Flood/Salt, Theft, Vandalism, or Other. Past both of those is Junked status. This lets the Registry know the car is scrapped. After that, no one can title or register it again.

Plenty of Bridgewater cars never touch the salvage rules, because a passenger car 10 or more years old on the day of the loss is exempt. Our salvage title and totaled car guides go further.

Town rules

We found no Bridgewater bylaws online, so state law fills in here, and the town may still keep rules of its own. Chapter 90, section 22C allows a Bridgewater street officer to take a car that looks abandoned and sat "more than 72 hours" somewhere it had no right to be, when towing and disposal cost more than the car.

Signing over a branded car

A brand changes nothing about the handover. Write the odometer reading on the title. Then seller and buyer each add a signature, a printed name and the date. If there is no box for the price, it goes on a bill of sale. The Registry's steps for Bridgewater sellers do not include a notary. Once a Bridgewater seller signs the assignment and gives up the car, state law says later driving is not the seller's problem.

Plates and excise

Your plates go home with you. Cancel the registration online to end the town's excise bills, forward the confirmation to your insurer, and then destroy the plates by cutting them through or send them to recycling. A replacement car bought within 7 calendar days can wear them instead.

Around Bridgewater

Distances as the crow flies: Taunton 7.6 miles, Brockton 8.0, Easton 8.1 and Middleborough 8.6. See Massachusetts for statewide rules.

Getting an offer

Reach us online or at (877) 421-6008. For a Bridgewater car, the offer form asks a few short questions about it and its title brand. We pick up anywhere in Bridgewater's 27 square miles, from homes, body shops and tow yards.