Selling a junk or dead car in Worcester

When Worcester calls a car abandoned

The city's abandoned-vehicle page sets the test: "A vehicle is deemed abandoned if it has not moved in 72 hours and has no plates, an expired registration, missing wheels, broken windows, filled with junk, etc." The list ends in "etc.," so it is a set of examples, not a closed checklist.

Then comes the tag. "When a vehicle is 'deemed to be abandoned', a green tag is placed on it, warning the owner that if the vehicle is not removed from the streets within seventy-two (72) hours, the City will tow it away." The page adds that "the vehicle will be towed after 72 hours from the date the vehicle was tagged," and that it goes if the problem has not been "fixed" or the car has not moved onto private property.

When there is no 72 hours

Safety overrides the clock. Worcester makes an exception for a car blocking a fire hydrant, parked in a crosswalk or on the sidewalk, sitting in broken glass or close to a school. There, the city says "the 72-hour rule is superseded by the safety issue and the vehicle is towed immediately."

Thirty days after the tow

This is the line to remember: "After the 30 days from the date the vehicle was towed the vehicle becomes the property of the tow company." A towed junk car you do not want is not something to ignore for a month and then sort out. Our guide to a towed or impounded car covers what to do first.

Reporting a car, and the ordinance clocks

Neighbors report abandoned cars, too. The city expects "an exact location of the vehicle (house number and street OR the two (2) intersecting streets), its make, model and color and a plate number, if there is one," plus its condition.

Worcester's Revised Ordinances add their own deadlines for nuisances. Depending on the type, the owner gets "24 hours, 10 days or five days" to deal with it. If the owner "fails to remove or abate the violation within 24 hours of such notice the city may remove" it. The ordinances also address "the storage, parking, or keeping of one unregistered vehicle, other than within a garage." Read the full text, linked under Sources, if a notice names a section.

If the car is branded

Branded titles in Massachusetts never come clean. The primary brand reads REPR, meaning repairable, or PART, meaning parts only, and a Worcester car stamped PART can never go back on the state's registration rolls. A secondary brand records the cause, from a list of seven: Collision, Fire, Flood, Flood/Salt, Theft, Vandalism, Other. Before a REPR car returns to the road it needs the RMV's salvage inspection. A separate record status, "Junked," marks a car that cannot operate and has gone to scrap; nothing with that status gets a title or registration again. See salvage title and flood damage.

Handing over the title

Selling in Worcester takes a short list. For a Worcester sale, record the mileage first. Then you and the buyer each sign the transfer section, print your names and add the date. The Registry of Motor Vehicles private-sale steps do not name a notary. When a Worcester title has no price line, the buyer adds a bill of sale showing the price to the application. Chapter 90D, section 15 builds a warranty of title into the assignment and, once you have signed and delivered the car, frees you from liability for its later use.

The plates are yours. End the registration online, file the cancellation receipt with a copy for your insurer, and either recycle the plates or cut them.

Towns near Worcester

Shrewsbury is 4.9 miles from Worcester as the crow flies, Holden 6.6, Grafton 7.6 and Westborough 9.9. Marlborough is 14.4 miles. The Massachusetts page has the statewide rules.

Getting an offer

Use the form or call (877) 421-6008 with the car's make, model and year, its rough mileage, whether it runs, and whether the title is branded. The truck comes to the Worcester address where the car sits.