Selling a junk or water-damaged car in Long Beach

We buy whole non-running and junk cars, water-damaged ones included. You sell the whole car as it sits, with free pickup anywhere in the US, from the blocks around City Hall to the far ends of the city's 2.218 square miles.

When a car counts as salvage

The DMV puts a car in the salvage class in any of these cases:

• an insurance company took it over on a Salvage Certificate, the MV-907A, after major collision, theft, vandalism or water damage
• fixing it would run past 75% of what it was worth at retail before the damage
• some other state has already issued it a salvage title
• at the sale, its owner wrote it off as a "wreck" on the reverse of the New York title

The state regulation, 15 NYCRR 20.20, lumps out-of-state brands reading "salvage," "rebuilt," "junk," "parts only" and "water damage" together as "salvage rebuilt." No separate flood label exists. And if the DMV turns up salvage history on a car registered recently, that car must clear the salvage process before New York titles it or renews its registration. For more, see flood damage and salvage title.

The local rules we could not find

Long Beach's city code did not turn up online. Under state law, a junk or unregistered car kept on its owner's land falls under town, village and city local laws, so Long Beach may have rules this page doesn't cover. Out on the street, Vehicle and Traffic Law 1224 governs. A car stripped of its plates turns abandoned once it sits six hours anywhere public, and the city takes custody.

Plates first, then the insurance

When the insurer totals a car, dropping the policy right away is tempting. Wait. The DMV's own rule is "No insurance, no plates." The plates and registration go back before coverage ends, whatever the reason, or the registration gets suspended, and your license may follow. Walk out with the FS-6T. The counter wants the plates alone, not the frames or the bolts. Insurer totaled it covers the rest of that call.

Signing the car over

The reverse of the title holds the assignment to the buyer. Long Beach sellers complete it and sign. Next comes the MV-912 bill of sale, listing VIN, price and date. Neither paper goes to a notary. Hold on to your copy, since New York keeps no notice-of-sale form, so that copy and the returned plates are your record.

Other towns nearby

As the crow flies, Lynbrook is 5.0 miles away, Rockville Centre 5.6, Valley Stream 5.8 and Freeport 6.2. Rules for the whole state sit on our New York page.

Getting an offer

Send us the car's details online or at (877) 421-6008: what it is, the odometer reading, whether it starts, whether water got inside, and any brand on the title. Pickup comes to wherever in Long Beach the car stopped, even if it won't turn over.