Selling a dead or junk car in Chicopee

Section 262-1: three days outdoors

Chicopee's chapter on "Vehicles, Unregistered and Abandoned" says no one controlling land in the city may allow outdoor storage or parking "for more than three days of an abandoned, disassembled, inoperable motor vehicle." Two kinds of business are carved out: commercial salvage yards and commercial garages approved by the City Council's License Committee. So is "one unregistered vehicle that is operable." The Department of Public Health may label a car in breach "a public nuisance and an attractive hazardous condition."

Section 262-7: the five tests

Any one of these makes a Chicopee car inoperable: no valid inspection sticker; "incapable of operation under its own power"; "unable to run without assistance"; not "capable of safe movement"; or not "fit in all ways for safe, legal and ordinary use as a motor vehicle on the public ways of the commonwealth." The section adds that the city may remove an inoperable car kept against the chapter. By that wording, a car that runs but has a lapsed sticker still counts as inoperable.

Tow-away zones and big vehicles

Chapter 260 governs the street. A car in a "no parking-tow away" area gets towed at the owner's cost on top of the fine. Others in breach of the parking rules can be moved "under the direction of an officer of the Police Department," with removal and storage billed to whoever owns the car. Large vehicles get an hour: anything with "a gross vehicle weight of 26,001 pounds or more or exceeding 24 feet in length" may not stand on a city street longer than one hour a day, or at all on Sunday.

The sticker and the sale

Massachusetts Vehicle Check is the statewide inspection program. Every car gets a safety inspection; cars under 15 years old with onboard diagnostics also face an annual emissions test. Selling hands the problem on. Whoever buys your Chicopee car has 7 days after registering it to have it inspected, at $35 for most vehicles. See failed inspection if yours will not pass.

Seller paperwork in short

On the title, note the mileage, then both parties sign, hand-print and date. If the title has a spot for the price, write it there. Otherwise a Chicopee seller hands the buyer a bill of sale. A Chicopee seller following the Registry of Motor Vehicles steps never needs a notary stamp. Afterward, the Chicopee plates come home with you. End the registration online, hold the receipt for your insurer, then send the plates to recycling or cut them up.

Nearby

Straight-line distances from Chicopee: Holyoke 4.4 miles, Springfield 4.6, West Springfield 5.4, Ludlow 5.8. The Massachusetts page covers the state.

Getting an offer

Chicopee sellers can call (877) 421-6008 or go online. Our truck comes to the driveway, the curb or a work lot.