Selling a junk or dead car in Gulfport

If that car is one you have stopped driving, we buy whole non-running and junk cars. You sell the whole car as it sits, and pickup is free anywhere in the US.

How Gulfport defines a junked car

The definitions section of the zoning ordinance puts it in one line. An abandoned or junked vehicle is "Any vehicle which is without a current license tag and/or which is wrecked, dismantled, partially dismantled, or inoperative."

Two things stand out. The code treats "abandoned" and "junked" as one label, meaning nobody needs to have walked away from the car for it to count. And the "and/or" means each test can work alone. A clean, running car with an expired tag fits the definition. So does a car with a fresh tag that will not start.

Where it cannot sit

Section IV, the ordinance's supplementary rules, closes off most of the places a dead car ends up:

• Residential lots. Untagged vehicles "shall not be parked or stored on any residentially zoned property other than in completely enclosed buildings." A carport roof or a tarp falls short of that.
• The street out front. The same sentence goes on: "nor shall such vehicles be parked or stored on, or in, the streets therein."
• Homes, businesses and industry. "Open storage of trash, junk or rubbish such as abandoned vehicles" is "not permitted on commercial, industrial, residential or mobile homes premises" unless approved under that section.

Vacant lots have a separate rule. Section 4-145 makes it unlawful to store "any junked automobile, automobile parts" on a vacant part of a lot in the R-1, R-2, R-0, R-B, B-1, B-2 and B-3 districts. Parking a dead car on the empty lot next door does not get around the rule.

When police tow it

Section 6-453 lets police tow an unattended vehicle from "a public street, road or highway, other public property," and other places where parking is barred. Whatever the reason, the cost lands on you: the owner "will be responsible for all towing costs, storage and other expenses associated with the removal of same."

The notice clock is five days. Where papers in the car name an owner, written notice is due "within five (5) days, unless said vehicle is redeemed prior to said five-day period." With no traceable owner and no return inside those five days, the officer mails a written report.

The car will sit at "a city impound lot" or with "an approved towing company," under what Section 6-555 calls the "Gulfport Police Department Towing Permit Ordinance." Towed or impounded covers what to do next.

The beach parking bays

The parking areas along U.S. Highway 90 have their own rules under Section 6-334. The police chief, with the mayor's approval, can extend the hours when parking is banned "for periods not to exceed seventy-two (72) hours at a time." A ticket can be written if signs are posted, or if a driver "has been asked to remove the offending vehicle and fails or refuses to do so." Leaving a car that won't start in a bay whose hours can shift with little warning invites a ticket.

What state law adds

State law draws its own lines. Five days unattended on public ground makes a car abandoned in the DOR's eyes, as do 40 days sitting unclaimed after a police tow, or overstaying an agreed pickup at a garage. Since July 1, 2026, tow operators and garages have had to route their certified letters through a state-approved outside vendor.

Title and plate from Harrison County

Sellers in Harrison County complete the whole assignment apart from the buyer's own printed name and signature. The DOR also wants an Affidavit of Relationship when you sell to family, meaning a spouse, parent, child, sibling, grandparent or grandchild.

Unbolt the plate at the signing and carry it to the Harrison County Tax Collector. It helps a Gulfport seller later too. If you pulled the plate at the sale and a toll bill still arrives, the DOR will write the toll company on your behalf. After you sell has the last steps, and the Mississippi page has the statewide rules.

Nearby towns

As the crow flies, Biloxi is 8.0 miles from Gulfport, Pascagoula 30.8 and Hattiesburg 63.1.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or fill out the form. Our form covers your Gulfport car's details. In Gulfport we pick up near 25th Avenue downtown, on neighborhood streets, or at a garage ready to be rid of the car.