Selling a junk car in South Plainfield

South Plainfield's own code

The town's code defines its terms in Article II, Word Usage and Definitions. Four of those definitions reach dead cars:

• Wrecked cars kept on a lot. One definition covers land used for "the deposit, collection or storage of salvageable materials or used or discarded things." The same definition names "the deposit or storage on any lot of two or more wrecked or inoperative vehicles or parts thereof for one month or more." So the count and the clock both matter: two cars, one month.
• Dumping. Another covers land used "for the disposal by abandonment, dumping, burial, burning or any other means" of junk, including "discarded machinery, vehicles, or parts thereof."
• Effect on neighbors. The code lists "exposed storage of inoperable automobiles" among things that can hurt the "value or desirability of nearby property."
• Repair shops. For service stations, "extensive or prolonged mechanical work" means work that keeps a car on the site "for a period of more than 30 days."

These are definitions. The sentences we have do not state a penalty.

What rules cover a dead car here

New Jersey law adds the rules for a car left behind. Ask local officials about any other limits before you store one outside.

New Jersey sorts abandoned cars by location:

• On a street or other public land, the law (N.J.S.A. 39:10A-1 onward) lets South Plainfield auction the car publicly or send it for junk. The state gives a junk title only when the car can't run, or when safety fixes would cost more than its value.
• On private land that is not the owner's, the car goes to a public sale by state law. If it draws no buyer, the landowner may ask the MVC for the title (N.J.S.A. 39:4-56.6).
• At a repair shop, two 60-day clocks run: one from drop-off if the owner never agreed to leave it there, one from the shop's notice that the work is finished. Once either deadline passes, a garage in South Plainfield can call the car abandoned. From there, the South Plainfield shop may keep the car, resell it, or seek a junk title for it.

So a South Plainfield car that died at a local garage and was never collected sits on a 60-day state clock.

Title and plates for a South Plainfield sale

Paper titles in New Jersey can't be mailed in; the change happens at an MVC agency counter. South Plainfield sellers sign the seller box on the title's reverse. In South Plainfield you also hand over a bill of sale. For South Plainfield, the state wants it to list the price, the sale date, the odometer miles, and the buyer's name and address. Then the buyer signs the buyer's part of the title and brings it to the agency.

Plates in New Jersey belong to you, not to the car. Take them off in South Plainfield before the tow pulls out. Then a South Plainfield seller moves them to another car they drive or returns them at an agency.

Without a title, you start with a duplicate: $60, form OS/SS-UTA, and an appointment. Middlesex County's center on Route 130 North in Dayton, number 2236, is one we looked up. Junk car with no title goes through it.

Close to South Plainfield

The town covers 8.296 square miles of Middlesex County. Plainfield is 2.8 miles off and North Plainfield 3.5. New Brunswick and Westfield are both a little over 6. Statewide rules are on the New Jersey page.

Getting an offer

A phone call to (877) 421-6008 or the form above works. Send us the car's details, the odometer reading, if it cranks, and if you have the title. Our truck reaches South Plainfield cars in a driveway, on a shop lot, or at the curb outside a rental.