Getting rid of a dead car in Hampton

So a dead car on a Hampton lot has three ways out: a garage, a real enclosure, or a new owner. We buy whole non-running and junk cars. You sell the whole car as it sits, and pickup is free anywhere in the US.

Homes: the ten-day notice

The rule for residential lots has one exception. If you can show you are "actively restoring or repairing" the car and it is properly screened, it may remain, and so may a second screened car "being used for the restoration or repair." Without that, the city "may remove any such vehicle whenever the owner of the property, after a ten-day notice, has failed to do so." After removing it, the city may dispose of it once it notifies the car's owner again.

The front yard is its own problem

Even a car that runs usually cannot sit on the grass out front, apart from short exceptions such as loading or unloading. Zoning Section 1-34 says a car parked in the street frontage yard of a one-family, two-family or duplex lot must be "parked on a driveway made of an improved surface." Gravel, stone and oyster shell driveways that existed on January 1, 2022 are grandfathered if they keep their footprint. A dead car pushed onto the lawn breaks this rule as well as the junk-car rule.

Shops and other zoned land

Section 24-39.1 covers property zoned for anything other than homes. More than five inoperable vehicles is unlawful unless they are shielded or screened. An inoperable vehicle allowed under that section "shall be either within a fully enclosed building or removed after 30 days." Licensed heavy vehicle repair shops and new car lots with repair service have their own carve-outs.

Streets and other people's lots

• Ten days on public property. Section 21-209 allows a tow when a car sits alone "for more than ten (10) days" on public land, or on private land its owner doesn't own. To get it back, you first pay for the removal and storage. After the city holds it 30 days and gives notice of sale, it goes to public sale.
• 72 hours in a private lot. Section 21-210 lets police tow a car abandoned on private property for "more than seventy-two (72) hours" if the landowner complains. Lots open to the public must post signs saying so.

Title, plates and the DMV office

We checked the Virginia DMV office at 8109 Roanoke Avenue (757-825-7844). That is roughly 8 miles west of central Hampton, as the crow flies. If the Hampton car already carries a Virginia title, you and the buyer can finish the transfer from home with electronic titling online.

On a paper title, the seller completes Section A on the front. A lost title is replaced for $15 with form VSA 67. If a loan is still open on a Hampton car, the lienholder of record gets the new title, not you.

Remove the plates. Before calling your insurer, put the Hampton plates on another car, or turn them in or inactivate them. If six months or more of registration are left, you may get a refund by turning in the plates with Form FMS-210.

Close by

Norfolk is 9.1 miles off, Newport News 12.5 and Portsmouth 13.4, all straight-line. The Virginia page has the statewide rules.

Getting an offer

Hampton sellers can call (877) 421-6008 or send our offer form. A car on blocks, on the lawn or behind a fence can all be reached. The truck comes to where it sits.