Selling a junk car in Union City

No space to park a dead car

Our search for Union City's ordinances came up empty, so no local junk-car or street-storage rule is quoted here. The city may well have its own, and they may be stricter than state law. Treat the state rules below as the floor, not the ceiling.

Where the car sits decides what New Jersey does

State law treats abandoned cars three ways:

1. On the street. A car abandoned on public property falls under N.J.S.A. 39:10A-1 and following. It is "offered at public auction or junked."
2. In a private lot or someone else's driveway. Under N.J.S.A. 39:4-56.6, it "must be put up for public sale/auction." Failing a sale, the property owner may apply to have the car titled to them.
3. At a repair shop. Sixty days past the shop's consent, or sixty days after you hear the job is finished, the garage may treat the car as abandoned and keep it, sell it, or get it a junk title.

For a Union City car, the MVC gives a junk title only when it can't run or fixing it to be safe would exceed its value.

Paperwork for a Union City sale

The title has to change hands at a motor vehicle agency. There is no mail option. Sign where the back of the title asks for the seller. You hand a Union City buyer two things, a bill of sale and the title. Union City sellers should note the buyer's name and home address, the price, the odometer miles and the date sold. Past 10 working days without a transfer, the buyer owes a $25 penalty.

Plates come off before the car leaves. Union City plates stay with you, not the buyer. Union City plates either go back to an agency or onto another car you own.

If the title is lost

The MVC Vehicle Center we checked for Hudson County is at 438 Summit Ave in Jersey City, about 3 miles southwest of central Union City as the crow flies. A duplicate title costs $60. In Union City, book a slot first. For a Union City car, take form OS/SS-UTA plus one backup paper. Union City owners can use any registration, expired or not, their insurance card, or a registration record copy that is certified. See junk car with no title.

Getting an offer

Start with the form or (877) 421-6008. Mention the car, if it starts, and if the title is yours. We plan the pickup around where the car actually sits, at a curb or in a lot. Hoboken and West New York are next door, and the New Jersey page covers the rest of the state.