Selling a dead or junk car in Melrose

Where a dead car can sit in Melrose

The whole city fits in under 5 square miles, and its parking chapter leaves a broken car few legal spots.

• Public lots. Closed to unregistered vehicles under 220-76.
• Permit streets after midnight. Chapter 220 makes it "unlawful for the driver of any vehicle, with either a 'residential parking sticker,' 'residential parking permit' or a 'visitor parking permit'" to park on any street from two to six in the morning.
• Listed stretches of Main Street. Short segments by Wyoming Avenue, Grove Street, Foster Street and other corners carry a one-hour cap through the morning and late-afternoon rush, Sundays and legal holidays excepted.

State law layers on its own clock. In Melrose, a street officer can use Chapter 90, section 22C to take a car that seems abandoned once it has been left "more than 72 hours" without the owner's permission and is worth less than towing and disposal.

What remains is your own driveway or garage. The city code sections we reviewed say nothing about a dead car on private land, so ask City Hall if you are unsure.

The order of steps matters here

Because of 220-76, Melrose sellers should finish the sale first and cancel second. A cancelled registration bars the car from every public way in Massachusetts. Save that confirmation, give your insurer a copy, and know that the city keeps billing excise on any car whose registration stays active.

Signing the Massachusetts title

Melrose sellers enter the mileage on the title. Selling in Melrose, both of you sign the transfer section, print names and date it. The Registry's steps don't include a notary. Is there no price line on your title? Then the buyer files a bill of sale stating what was paid.

Very old cars can lack a title entirely. Take a Melrose passenger car built for model year 1980 or before and sold prior to Nov. 26, 1990, it never had to have one. It goes to the next owner with its last registration and a bill of sale.

Plates

They stay in your hands. With the Melrose registration ended, you have 7 calendar days to put the plates on a new car. Or cut them up or recycle them. Temporary plates are not something the Registry issues.

Nearby

Malden sits 1.8 miles away in a straight line, Stoneham 2.3, Saugus 2.5 and Wakefield 3.4. State rules are on the Massachusetts page.

Getting an offer

Phone (877) 421-6008 or send a note. Fill out the form for your Melrose car. In Melrose we pick up from garages, driveways and side streets off Main.