Selling a dead or junk car in Trenton

If you are done with the car, we buy whole non-running and junk cars. You sell the whole car as it sits, and pickup is free anywhere in the US, from a rowhouse curb to a parking pad behind a downtown building.

Trenton's own rules

Trenton's municipal code did not come up in our search, so you will not find a city junk-car section quoted here. The city may still have rules on inoperable or unregistered cars, on street parking time, or on storing a car outdoors. Before you leave a dead car where it is, check with City Hall. Everything below is New Jersey law, and it applies inside city limits like anywhere else in the state.

What state law does with abandoned cars

New Jersey sorts an abandoned car by where it was left.

On public property. For streets and public lots, the governing law begins at N.J.S.A. 39:10A-1. Cars dumped there are either sold at public auction or sent for junking. To get a junk title, the car has to be inoperable, or so far gone that making it safe would cost more than it is worth.

On private property. When someone abandons a car on land they do not own, N.J.S.A. 39:4-56.6 says the car goes to public sale or auction. If that sale never closes, the landowner may request that the MVC issue the title to the landowner. A car you never moved could end up belonging to the landlord or the lot owner.

At a repair facility. A Trenton shop may treat a car as abandoned when it sits over 60 days without the owner's okay, or over 60 days past notice that repairs are finished (N.J.S.A. 39:10A-9 and following). It can then tow and keep it, sell it, or have the MVC issue a junk title. If you walked away from an estimate that was more than the car, that two-month line is the one to watch.

Salvage, flood and junk brands

Three state rules decide what a damaged car's title says:

• A salvage vehicle is one that is "wrecked, destroyed or damaged" to the point an insurer considers it uneconomical to repair. New Jersey sets no percentage.
• Salvage cars need a New Jersey title whether or not anyone restores them. More on that in salvage title.
• For a flood car, the words "FLOOD VEHICLE" go on its ownership papers, and they stay on each later certificate too. See flood damage.

The emissions schedule

The state's emissions test comes around every two years. In Trenton, a car newer than five model years may get a pass good for five years.

The title transfer, step by step

1. Seller signs. On the title's reverse, sign in the area meant for whoever is selling.
2. Bill of sale. Write one up with the price, odometer reading, sale date, and who the buyer is, including where they live.
3. Buyer takes it in. Once the buyer has signed, they bring the title to an MVC agency, plus Form BA-49 where it is needed. There is no mail-in route.
4. The deadline. Wait longer than 10 working days after the sale and the state adds a $25 penalty.

Plates stay with you

New Jersey never lets plates pass to the next owner. Take them off when the car is sold, then return them to any MVC agency, or screw them onto the car that replaces it. After you sell covers insurance and the rest.

No title? Start downtown

The fee for a duplicate is $60. Make an appointment at a Vehicle Center (South Stockton Street is one), complete the Universal Title Application on form OS/SS-UTA, and bring one proof of ownership, such as a lapsed or current registration, an insurance ID card, or the MVC's certified registration record. Anyone who applies while knowingly holding the original title risks a fine. The junk car with no title guide covers what to do while you wait.

Towns around Trenton

Princeton is 10.6 miles away, measured as the crow flies. New Brunswick sits 24.7 miles off, Camden 26.9 and Sayreville 28.8. The New Jersey page brings the statewide rules together.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or fill out the form. Share its build year, make and model, mileage, if it can drive itself, and if the title is yours. In Trenton we tow from the curb, from a driveway, or from a repair shop that still has the car.