Selling a dead or totaled car in Ridgewood

If the insurer totaled it

New Jersey leaves the salvage call to the insurer. Once it decides fixing the wreck would be uneconomical, the car is salvage. No percentage of value is involved.

From there, "all salvage vehicles must be titled in New Jersey, even if not restored." So a totaled car parked in a Ridgewood driveway still has to be titled, fixed or not. Insurer totaled it and salvage title cover the choices.

If it took on water

Flood cars get their own label. Under a state regulation, ownership papers for a flood-damaged car must say "FLOOD VEHICLE" and do so "on all subsequent certificates." Every later title keeps that label, so the buyer sees it. Flood damage has more.

Ridgewood's towing chapter

Chapter 258 of the Village of Ridgewood code covers towing. It sets how the village picks towing operators "on a rotational basis." Their work includes "the towing of vehicles that are abandoned, disabled, illegally parked or stolen." It is a rule for tow companies, not a time limit for a parked car.

A few parts touch the owner of a dead car:

• No one may drive a tow truck for an approved operator without "a tow truck driver's annual permit from the Village of Ridgewood."
• When police call for a tow, the operator must "remove from the public or private roads or highways any motor vehicle debris or material within the area surrounding the vehicle to be towed."
• The operator's insurance must include "garagekeepers, comprehensive and collision coverage for vehicles in care, custody or control of towing operator."
• Police can order an "investigative tow." The car is then kept as "investigative storage" until the police department says otherwise in writing.

We did not find a Ridgewood rule on how long a dead car may sit.

When New Jersey treats a car as abandoned

The state's abandonment rules are the baseline:

• Left on someone's private land, the car goes to a public sale or auction first (N.J.S.A. 39:4-56.6). Only if that sale fails can the landowner apply to title it.
• Left on a street or other public land, it falls under N.J.S.A. 39:10A-1 onward and is auctioned or junked.
• Ridgewood shops may count a car as abandoned once 60 days pass without consent, or 60 days after the owner hears it's ready.

Two things must be true before the MVC gives a junk title to an abandoned car pulled off public land near Ridgewood. It doesn't run, and fixing it to be safe costs more than it is worth.

The Oakland office

The Bergen County office we checked is in Oakland, at Suite 24, 350 Ramapo Valley Rd. That puts it roughly 7 miles northwest of the center of Ridgewood as the crow flies. Bergen may have more offices. Every New Jersey title transfer goes through a motor vehicle agency.

If the title is gone, start with a duplicate. New Jersey charges $60. Book a slot at the Vehicle Center and bring form OS/SS-UTA. Ridgewood owners pair the form with one paper: an insurance card, a registration (current or old), or their registration record as a certified copy. A Ridgewood owner who applies while knowing the first title is still at home can face a fine.

Handing it over

Ridgewood sellers sign the seller spot on the title's reverse and pass it across with a bill of sale. That bill shows what was paid, the odometer number, the day sold, and who bought it plus their address. Ridgewood sellers remove the plates. The buyer never gets them; they return to an MVC agency or move to your next car. If the title is not transferred within 10 working days, a $25 penalty applies.

Around Ridgewood

Hawthorne is 2.9 miles away, Fair Lawn 3.2, Paramus 3.3 and Paterson 5.3. The New Jersey page has the full state rules.

Getting an offer

Tell us what happened to the car: totaled, flooded, or just worn out. Then call (877) 421-6008 or use the form to share what it is, the miles on it, and whether the title is clean, salvage or flood-branded. In Ridgewood we collect from houses, body shops and tow yards.