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Town guide · Massachusetts

Selling a junk or unregistered car in Winchester

Winchester's zoning bylaw gives unregistered cars a heading of their own: "Parking and Storage of Unregistered Motor Vehicles," inside Section 3.0, Use Regulations. The copy of the section we reviewed shows that heading but not the rule beneath it, so read the current text on ecode360 or ask the town before you leave an unregistered car outside. If the car is done, we buy whole non-running and junk cars. You sell the whole car as it sits, and pickup is free anywhere in the US, Winchester included.

Updated · 10 sources

Winchester Center seen from the train platform, with a red-brick building topped by a turret and Main Street running into the distance
Photo: 4300streetcar · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Winchester, the short version

Population
23,710 (Census estimate, July 2025)
County
Middlesex
Land area
6.032 square miles
Town rule
Zoning bylaw Section 3.0, Use Regulations
Private garage limit
Three automobiles per dwelling unit
Abandoned-car clock
72 hours (M.G.L. c. 90, s. 22C)
Paid-off loan on the title
Lender's signed letter on letterhead
Plates
Seller keeps them

What the use regulations do show

Section 3.0 is a zoning table, and a few of its lines touch cars at home:

  • A house may have a "Private garage for not more than three (3) automobiles per dwelling unit, not more than one of which shall be a commercial vehicle of a light panel, small delivery or pickup truck type."
  • "No major recreational equipment shall, except as hereinafter provided, be parked or stored on any lot in residential and SCI districts except in an enclosed building or in the rear yard." Such equipment may be parked anywhere on residential premises for up to 24 hours during loading or unloading. That rule names recreational equipment, not cars.
  • A "Salesroom or repair garage for new and used automobiles" is listed as its own use, apart from homes.

The state's 72-hour rule

Beyond the bylaw, M.G.L. c. 90, s. 22C covers every town in Massachusetts. Winchester police can tow a car as refuse when it seems abandoned and has sat over 72 hours, without permission, on private land, a private way or a public road. The tow and scrapping must also cost more than its value.

A loan that still shows on the title

Paid the car off years ago, but the lender is still listed? For a Winchester car with a loan on it, the Registry of Motor Vehicles needs the lienholder's signed letter on its letterhead. It refuses faxes and photocopies, even for a very old loan. Lost the title? In Winchester a new copy of the title is $25 and may need up to 10 business days. Also read lien still on the title and junk car with no title.

Signing it over

The RMV's seller steps list no notary. Instead they call for your mileage figure plus a signature, printed name and date from buyer and seller alike. If the Winchester title has no price line, the buyer files a bill of sale alongside it. Statute makes your assignment state the correct odometer number and vouch for the title. For the buyer, a licensed insurance agent puts a stamp and signature on the application.

There's no release-of-liability form in Massachusetts. Instead, Chapter 90D, s. 15(e) clears a seller of later operation or violations once the assignment is signed and the buyer has the car.

Plates

Take the plates off and keep them. Once the Winchester car is sold, cancel its registration online, save the receipt for your insurer, then cut up or recycle the plates. Cancelling also ends the town's excise. You have 7 calendar days to put them on a replacement car.

Getting an offer

Get an offer online or at (877) 421-6008. The offer form handles the details. Our truck can come to a driveway near Winchester Center, a garage out back, or a shop in Woburn, 2.5 miles away on a map. Arlington is 2.6 miles and Medford 2.7. For statewide rules, see Massachusetts.

Questions people ask

Is an unregistered car allowed outside a Winchester home?
Winchester's zoning bylaw, Section 3.0, has a heading for Parking and Storage of Unregistered Motor Vehicles. The copy we reviewed shows the heading but not the rule under it, so read the current text on ecode360 or ask the town before you store one outside.
How many cars can a Winchester home garage hold?
The use regulations allow a private garage for not more than three automobiles per dwelling unit, and no more than one of them may be a light commercial vehicle such as a panel, small delivery or pickup truck.
My loan is paid off but the lender still shows on the record. What now?
The RMV needs the lienholder's signed letter on its letterhead. Faxes and photocopies are not accepted, however old the loan is.
Do I need a notary to sell?
The RMV's seller steps list no notary. Give the mileage; the two of you then sign, print names and date.

Sources

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

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, city and town population estimates 2020-2025 www2.census.gov
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer (land area) www2.census.gov
  3. Town of Winchester Zoning Bylaw, 3.0 Use Regulations ecode360.com
  4. M.G.L. c. 90, s. 22C (abandoned vehicles) malegislature.gov
  5. Mass.gov: Replace your vehicle's certificate of title mass.gov
  6. Mass.gov: Registration and title for a vehicle bought from an individual mass.gov
  7. M.G.L. c. 90D, s. 15 (assignment on transfer) malegislature.gov
  8. Mass.gov: Cancel your vehicle registration and plates mass.gov
  9. Mass.gov: Transfer your registration to a vehicle bought from an individual mass.gov
  10. Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles mass.gov