Once the registration is cancelled, can the car still go on the road?

No. Once a Massachusetts registration is cancelled, the car cannot go on any public way, so cancel after it leaves Walpole, or have it hauled out on a truck.

Does the RMV want my Walpole plates back?

It does not. Once cancelled, Walpole owners saw the plates in two or recycle them. Walpole owners can also put them on their next car within 7 calendar days, because the RMV has no temporary plates.

Is there a Walpole bylaw on junk cars?

Our online search did not find Walpole's bylaws, so the rules here are Massachusetts law. Walpole could still have its own; town hall can confirm.

Town guide · Massachusetts

Selling a dead car in Walpole

Selling a dead car in Walpole starts a short clock on your plates. Massachusetts gives you 7 calendar days to get them onto whatever car replaces it, and the RMV hands out no temporary plates. So a Walpole household riding the Franklin Line while it shops for the next car should plan that week before the old one goes. We buy whole non-running and junk cars, and you sell the whole car as it sits.

Updated October 11, 2026 · 10 sources

Photo: Pi.1415926535 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Walpole, the short version

Population: 26,237 (Census estimate, July 1, 2025)
County: Norfolk
Land area: 20.454 square miles
Town junk-car bylaw: None found online
Plate grace period: 7 calendar days to a replacement car
Temporary plates: The RMV issues none
After cancelling: It cannot be driven on a public way
Excise: Stops when the registration is cancelled

Does Walpole have a junk-car bylaw?

We searched online and could not find Walpole's bylaws. What follows is Massachusetts law, and Walpole could layer local rules on top of it, so a call to town hall settles that question. One state point is clear: c. 140B, the junkyard statute, governs junkyard businesses, not a Walpole homeowner holding on to a car that quit.

When the state lets someone take the car

Seventy-two hours. If a Walpole car looks abandoned once it sits past 72 hours on a public way, a private way, or someone's land without permission, c. 90 s. 22C lets a street officer remove it. The test is money: the car has to be worth less than towing and disposal, and then it can be scrapped as refuse.
Private lots. Under Chapter 266, section 120D, a tow from private property in Walpole is allowed only if the person in charge warned the driver off, in person or by a sign. Police must be told too. The fine for towing a car with no police notice or no owner's consent is as much as $100.

For towing on private land, the state's own law page refers people to local police guides.

Cancelling the registration, then the plates

Use a MyMassGov account to cancel the registration on the web, and hold on to the receipt; your insurer wants a photocopy. Past that point the car is barred from every public road in Massachusetts, no obstacle when it rides out on a flatbed. Plates are not mailed back to the RMV. Saw them in two, recycle them, or, if you are 18 or older, put them on your next car before 7 calendar days pass.

Order matters for Walpole's excise, too. Walpole charges $25 per $1,000 of value on every registered car. A revoked registration still runs up the bill until someone formally cancels it.

The title

Massachusetts law asks you, at delivery, to sign the title's assignment, giving the odometer's true reading and warranting the title, then pass the certificate to the buyer. On the RMV's form that comes down to stating the miles, with both of you signing, printing names and dating. Within 10 days the buyer must title it, with a licensed Massachusetts insurance agent stamping and signing the forms. Title missing? Begin with junk car with no title.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or send the form telling us what you have, the miles on it, and the state of the paperwork. Pickup is free anywhere in the US, and the driver can collect it from a Walpole driveway or the garage where it gave out. Norwood has a page 4.2 miles away; Canton and Dedham are close by too. Statewide rules are on Massachusetts.

Questions people ask

Once the registration is cancelled, can the car still go on the road?: No. Once a Massachusetts registration is cancelled, the car cannot go on any public way, so cancel after it leaves Walpole, or have it hauled out on a truck.
Does the RMV want my Walpole plates back?: It does not. Once cancelled, Walpole owners saw the plates in two or recycle them. Walpole owners can also put them on their next car within 7 calendar days, because the RMV has no temporary plates.
Is there a Walpole bylaw on junk cars?: Our online search did not find Walpole's bylaws, so the rules here are Massachusetts law. Walpole could still have its own; town hall can confirm.

Sources

Every fact on this page comes from one of these. Checked October 11, 2026.

U.S. Census Bureau, city and town population estimates, July 1, 2025 www2.census.gov
U.S. Census Bureau 2025 Gazetteer, county subdivisions (land area) www2.census.gov
M.G.L. c. 90 s. 22C, abandoned vehicles malegislature.gov
M.G.L. c. 266 s. 120D, removal of vehicles from private property malegislature.gov
Mass.gov: Massachusetts law about automobiles mass.gov
M.G.L. c. 140B, junkyards malegislature.gov
Mass.gov: Cancel your vehicle registration and plates mass.gov
Mass.gov: Transfer your registration to a vehicle bought from an individual mass.gov
M.G.L. c. 90D s. 15, transfer of title malegislature.gov
Mass.gov: Registration and title for a vehicle bought from an individual mass.gov