Selling a dead or junk car in Burlington

The excise on a car that just sits

Burlington calculates the excise and mails the bill, using the Massachusetts rate of $25 per $1,000 of value. If a car is registered partway through a calendar year, it owes for that month and each month left in the year. The Registry of Motor Vehicles says a revoked registration still owes excise until it is cancelled, so cancel at the sale. Burlington owners do this online through MyMassGov. Hold on to the Burlington receipt and send your insurer a copy.

Think an old bill was too high? Abatements are decided by Burlington's board of assessors. The Burlington deadline is 1 year from payment or 3 years from the due date, whichever comes later.

Junk-car rules in Burlington

We could not find Burlington's bylaws online, so this section uses state law alone. The town may have its own rules on wrecked or unregistered cars in a yard, so check before you rely on any grace period.

The state rule is M.G.L. c. 90, s. 22C. In Burlington, 72 hours is the line. A street officer may call a car abandoned after that long on a road, private way or someone's land without permission, if removal and disposal would run past the car's value. Such a car can be carted off as refuse. Consent is the hinge, so the rule reaches a dead car left on a street or on a neighbor's lot.

Signing the title over

The RMV's seller steps list no notary. What they ask for is the mileage, in your words, plus a signature, a hand-printed name and a date from each of you on the transfer section. If the title has a price box, the price goes there. Otherwise the buyer includes a bill of sale. Under statute, your assignment also has to give the true odometer figure and warrant that the title is good.

Massachusetts has no release-of-liability form. Under c. 90D, s. 15(e), once you have signed the assignment and the buyer holds the car, later driving is not on you, even if no new title has come out yet.

Lost the title? Order a replacement online or by mail from the Title Division in Boston for $25. Expect up to 10 business days for delivery. Paid off a loan that still shows on your Burlington title? Ask the lender for a signed release on its letterhead. See junk car with no title.

Your plates stay with you

Your plates don't go with the car. Remove them and cancel the registration. Then recycle them or cut them in half, since the RMV does not take them back. Buying another car? You can move the plates to it within 7 calendar days, since the RMV issues no temporary plates. Once you cancel, the old car may not be driven on any public road in the state. More in after you sell.

Getting an offer

Burlington sellers can call (877) 421-6008 or go online. We collect from a Lexington Street driveway or a shop lot in Woburn, 2.6 miles off by straight line. Burlington covers 11.75 square miles of Middlesex County; statewide rules are on the Massachusetts page.