Selling a dead car in Lowell

If you see that notice on your car, you have three days to deal with it. One option: we buy whole non-running and junk cars. You sell the whole car as it sits, and pickup is free anywhere in the US, Lowell included.

Where the 72-hour rule applies

The section opens: "No person shall park a vehicle in or upon any public way or a way or place in which the public has a right of access for a prolonged period of time so as to constitute storage parking or abandoned parking of a vehicle." That reaches beyond the street to places the public can use. The posting is what turns a long-parked car into a violation.

Lowell's traffic chapter also lets an officer move cars off a street that has been closed or where parking has been banned. They can go to a place where parking is allowed or to a public garage. The same section also deals with the cost of the move and of storage at a public garage. Lowell police tows: a passenger car's storage can't top $35 per 24 hours at a secure, lit, fenced yard. Other yards are held to half. See towed or impounded.

Who may haul junk in the city

Lowell licenses the people who collect it. Section 185-5 says every person using a vehicle in the city "for the collection of junk, old metals or secondhand articles shall, before using the same, be licensed by the License Commission," with the license number shown on the outside of each side of the vehicle. It is worth knowing when someone offers to take a dead car off your hands. Our junk car removal guide covers the options.

Title, plates and excise

The RMV handles titles. Record the mileage on the transfer section, then both parties sign it, hand-print their names and date it. A price line on the title holds the price; otherwise a bill of sale does. Your assignment includes the mileage and a warranty of title, and the RMV does not ask sellers to see a notary. Replacing a lost title runs $25, online or by mail, with delivery taking as long as 10 business days.

The plates are the seller's. Cancel the registration through MyMassGov, file away the receipt, give your insurer a photocopy, and then recycle or cut up the plates. Until you cancel, Lowell's assessors keep sending the yearly excise, $25 for each $1,000 of value. Once it does, Massachusetts keeps the car off every public road, so it leaves Lowell on a truck.

Nearby

From Lowell in a straight line: Dracut 3.0 miles, Chelmsford 3.8, Tewksbury 5.1 and Billerica 6.3. See Massachusetts for statewide rules.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or use the form. Tell us about your Lowell car on the form and we'll handle the rest. We collect it where it sits, whether that is a curb with a police notice on the glass, a driveway, or a lot beside an old mill building.