Selling a junk or dead car in Milton

Three title problems and their fixes

A lost title. In Milton you can order a replacement online, or mail the application and a check or money order to MassDOT's Title Division in Boston. The fee is $25. Do this first, since everything else waits on it. Our no-title guide covers more.

A lien that never cleared. The Registry needs the lienholder's signed letter on letterhead and accepts "no faxes or photocopies, regardless of the age of the loan." See lien still on the title.

A car older than titles. A Milton passenger car from a 1980 or earlier model year, bought before Nov. 26, 1990, has never needed a Massachusetts title. Its buyer turns in a bill of sale and the last owner's registration.

Private sellers in Milton can't use the Registry's Affidavit in Lieu of Certificate of Title. In Milton, only insurers and dealers holding Class 2 or Class 3 licenses can get in. They use it for a salvage title, or to title a Milton car 10 or more years old.

Signing once the title is in hand

Milton sellers record the odometer on the title, and both people sign, hand-print and date the transfer. No notary appears in the Registry's private-sale steps. A title with no price box needs a bill of sale. By statute the assignment must carry "the actual odometer reading and a warranty of title"; once it is signed and the car delivered, liability for later driving leaves with the car.

Parked on a Milton street

Milton's bylaws were not online where we looked, so the state's rule applies here, and town rules may add to it. Chapter 90, section 22C covers Milton cars that seem abandoned. One left "more than 72 hours" with no permission, worth under the tow and disposal, can be taken by a street officer. While a replacement title is in the mail, keep the car in a driveway or garage.

After the sale

Cancel the registration online, because excise keeps coming until you do, and copy the receipt to your insurer. You keep the plates. Milton owners can recycle or cut up the plates, or transfer them to a replacement vehicle inside 7 calendar days.

Towns around Milton

Measured in a straight line: Quincy 4.0 miles, Randolph 4.6, Braintree 4.8, Dedham 5.0 and Canton 5.1. More state rules are on the Massachusetts page.

Getting an offer

Contact us at (877) 421-6008 or online with the model year, make, model, odometer, whether the engine runs, and which title problem above fits. Our truck can collect from a garage off Blue Hill Avenue or any driveway in town.