Selling a dead or junk car in Marlborough

Two limits in one section

How many. Only one unregistered car may be kept "upon the outside, open air or exposed areas of real property," unless the land is approved for licensed junk or auto dealers. A second one breaks the rule even if it runs.

How long. Marlborough allows seven days at most on its land for an unregistered car, "nor parts thereof," that is unfit, in plain disrepair, or "permanently disabled or otherwise rendered inoperative," unless it is:

• "within a building"
• in "an area unexposed to the view of the public or abutters"
• on approved dealer land

A car stripped for parts counts, and so does the heap of parts.

The penalty clause compounds: "Each vehicle that violates this chapter, and each day that this chapter is violated, shall constitute a separate offense." Two dead cars left for ten days add up to twenty offenses. Several junk cars covers clearing out more than one.

Chapter 485 backs it up

Marlborough's nuisance chapter also lists a "junk, unused, dilapidated, unlicensed or disassembled motor vehicle" among the conditions that can drag down a property's value or appearance.

Winter: no curbside storage

Chapter 586, the traffic chapter, bans parking on every Marlborough street from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. between December 1 and March 15. Cars in violation can be towed at police direction, with the owner covering the tow and storage costs. Rolling a dead car to the curb for the winter won't work.

Title and plates

The RMV's instructions list no notary. Write the current miles on the title. Then the Marlborough seller and buyer sign the assignment, print names and date it. Marlborough sellers list the price on the title, and use a bill of sale if there's no room for it. The buyer's licensed insurance agent signs and stamps their application. Chapter 90D shields a seller who has signed and delivered from the car's later use.

Pull the plates, because they're yours. Cancel online and save the receipt, then slice the plates through or recycle them. The excise, figured at $25 on each $1,000 of value, keeps landing on Marlborough owners for as long as a car stays registered. A car that was never registered has nothing to cancel. After you sell covers the rest.

Getting an offer

Selling more than one Marlborough car? Send each one through the form. Do it online or at (877) 421-6008. Pickup can be from a side yard, behind a barn, or at a shop. Hudson is 2.7 miles away in a straight line and Framingham 6.4. Statewide rules: Massachusetts.