Selling a dead or junk car in Fredericksburg

Once you are there, we buy whole non-running and junk cars. You sell the whole car as it sits, and pickup is free anywhere in the US, historic downtown streets included.

Inoperable cars on private property

Section 59-201 applies to land "zoned for residential, commercial, or mixed use purposes." On that land you may not keep a car, trailer or semitrailer that doesn't work "except within a fully enclosed building or structure or otherwise shielded or screened from view." A car counts if it is "partially or totally disassembled for a period of 60 days or longer" with its wheels, engine or other essential parts taken off.

Enforcement runs through the City Manager. The City Manager may remove such a car after the property owner has been sent "written notice by certified mail" and has not acted. The car may be disposed of after another written notice to its owner. The deadline itself is set in the notice, so read the date on the letter.

When police take an abandoned car

• Private lots need a request. Under Section 58-283, "No police officer shall remove, or cause to be removed, any abandoned motor vehicle from private property without the written request of the owner, lessee, or occupant." That request must agree to indemnify the city.
• Notice within 15 days. Under Section 58-284, the police chief must write to the owner of record and any lienholder within 15 days of taking the car. Fredericksburg sends that notice registered or certified, with a return receipt requested.
• Then 15 days to reclaim. The notice gives them "15 days after the date of the notice" to reclaim the car by paying towing, preservation and storage charges. If you let that deadline pass, you lose all rights to the car and are treated as agreeing to a public auction.

If a shop is holding it

City zoning sets a ceiling on how many dead cars a business may keep. Section 72-84.0 describes temporary storage of "no more than nine wrecked or inoperable vehicles for a period no longer than 90 days." A site with 10 or more, or one that keeps them past 90 days, "shall be considered a salvage and junkyard." If your car has been sitting at a shop, see stuck at a repair shop.

Inspection, title and the DMV

Fredericksburg is not one of the localities on DMV's emissions list. The yearly Virginia safety inspection still applies to every registered car.

The DMV office we checked is at 5700 Southpoint Centre Boulevard (540-891-4136), about 5 miles south of central Fredericksburg as the crow flies. A Fredericksburg seller signs Section A on the title's front. Next the Fredericksburg seller writes the buyer's name and address, then the miles, the sale date and the price. For Fredericksburg sellers, the DMV's steps don't call for a notary. Virginia law also has the seller notify the DMV, and the transfer-notice part of the registration card is one way to do it. Take off the plates too. If half a year or more of registration is left, returning them with form FMS-210 may bring a refund.

Nearby

Culpeper is 30.2 miles away, Manassas 30.9 and Fairfax 39.6, straight-line. The Virginia page covers statewide rules.

Getting an offer

Ring (877) 421-6008 or send the offer form for your Fredericksburg car. We pick up on downtown side streets, driveways or shop lots.