Plainfield: what to do with a car that no longer runs

Three Plainfields, three sets of rules

Plainfield, North Plainfield and South Plainfield are separate municipalities. North Plainfield is about 1.3 miles away and South Plainfield about 2.8 miles, both as the crow flies. A local ordinance in one does not cover the others, so check which town your address is actually in.

Plainfield itself holds 57,141 people on 5.959 square miles of land, by Census figures.

Plainfield's municipal code was not something we could locate online. Local rules on unregistered or broken-down cars at home may well exist. What follows is state law.

How long before the state calls a car abandoned

New Jersey law sorts abandoned cars by location:

• Public street or lot. Under N.J.S.A. 39:10A-1 and following, the car is offered at public auction or junked.
• Private property. N.J.S.A. 39:4-56.6 requires a public sale or auction. If none completes, the property owner can apply for title in their own name. That matters if your car sits in a relative's yard or a friend's driveway.
• Repair shop. A garage may label a car abandoned 60 days after consent runs out, or 60 days past its notice that repairs are complete. Its options then: store, sell, or junk-title it.

Replacing the title in Rahway

A duplicate title costs $60. Set up a Vehicle Center visit. In Plainfield, the owner files the "Universal Title Application" (OS/SS-UTA) and one supporting paper. For Plainfield owners, a certified copy of their registration record counts, and so does an insurance card or any registration, old or current. Do not apply for a duplicate while you know you still have the original. A fine may apply. More in junk car with no title.

Signing the car over

Plainfield sellers sign the seller line on the title's reverse side. Then give the buyer two things: that title, and a bill of sale stating who they are and where they live, when the sale happened, the odometer number, and the amount. A Plainfield title can't move by mail. To wrap up the transfer, Plainfield owners have to visit a motor vehicle agency in person. After 10 working days, the buyer owes a $25 penalty.

Keep your plates; they go back to an agency or onto your next car.

Getting an offer

Reach us online or call (877) 421-6008. Use the form for your Plainfield car. Around Plainfield we haul cars out of driveways, back yards, or the garage where they quit. Nearby pages cover North Plainfield and Westfield, and New Jersey has the state rules.