Selling a dead car in Morristown

How Morristown defines an abandoned vehicle

Chapter 3-3 of the town code is titled Abandoned Vehicles, and its definitions in Section 3-3.1 work in two ways.

By the car's condition. The term covers "any vehicle partially dismantled or not readily capable of operation under its own power or not currently used for transportation or not currently licensed, or wrecked or junked." It also reaches "any part of a vehicle", and it applies "whether or not the same is still capable of self-propulsion by reason of its present condition".

By the owner's conduct. It also means a vehicle whose owner "has terminated the use and care of the vehicle" and has either shown an intent to leave it or "has left it without making arrangements for storage with the owner, occupant or person in control of the premises on which it is located for a period of at least 10 days."

The chapter applies to private property too. Section 3-3.1 defines that as "any real property within the Town of Morristown which is not a street or highway."

Put plainly: a running car with lapsed plates, a partly dismantled project car, and a car its owner stopped caring for and left at a friend's house for two weeks with no storage arrangement can all fall inside this chapter. A loose engine or door counts as well.

When the car is somewhere else

New Jersey law sets what happens next, depending on where the car ends up:

• On a public street, New Jersey has the car auctioned or sent for junking.
• On someone else's private land, a public sale is required. If it fails to sell, the landowner may seek the title (N.J.S.A. 39:4-56.6).
• At a repair shop, the clock is 60 days: from an unauthorized drop-off, or from the shop telling the owner the repair is complete.

Selling in New Jersey: title and plates

Morristown sellers can't transfer a title by mail; the buyer completes it in person at the MVC. You sign the back where it says seller. For a Morristown sale, a bill of sale goes along too, listing the price, mileage, date, and the buyer's name and home address.

Your plates are yours to keep. Remove them in Morristown, then bring them to the MVC or move them to another car of yours.

Lost the title? A new one from New Jersey is $60. Morristown owners book a Vehicle Center appointment and turn in OS/SS-UTA there. A Morris County center we checked is on Canfield Avenue in Randolph (number 160), roughly 8 miles northwest of Morristown as the crow flies. For a car parked unregistered for ages, read car sitting for years.

Beyond Morristown

The town covers 2.909 square miles of Morris County. Summit is 8.1 miles off, Westfield 12.2, North Plainfield 12.3 and East Orange 14.1. The New Jersey page has the statewide rules.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or send the form for an offer on your Morristown car. We can collect it behind a Morristown house, in a parking deck, or at the shop where it died.