Selling a dead or junk car in Norfolk

How the notice arrives, and what follows

The notice "may be served, mailed or delivered to said person, or posted on the vehicle constituting the nuisance or on the premises where the vehicle is located." A criminal penalty applies on top of everything else. If the deadline passes, the city or its agent removes the car "to a secure location."

After that, the owner or an agent can claim it "at any time from the date of removal up to and including the twentieth day of storage" by paying towing and storage charges. Removal and disposal costs not covered by a sale fall on the car's owner or the property owner. The city can collect them "as taxes and levies are collected," and each assessed cost becomes a lien against the property the car was taken from.

A car past saving

Section 25-599 covers cars the city has removed that cannot be fixed. In Norfolk, a car the chief of police or a designee finds "cannot be feasibly restored to operable condition" can be sent to a demolisher "without the title." First a city vehicle compound investigator looks the car over and confirms it truly can't run. Only then does the city certify that to the state.

What Norfolk scrap yards must do

Section 38-148 puts rules on licensed salvage and scrap buyers. They must report every salvage or scrap vehicle they buy to the police, daily if asked. They also may not crush a vehicle "until it has been in his possession for up to ten (10) days" unless it arrives with paperwork: a copy of the title, a Vehicle Removal Certificate, a properly executed vehicle disposition history, or a foreign sales receipt.

That hold does not apply to inoperable vehicles, which the section defines as "physically damaged beyond use" or lacking "an engine in running condition" or other essential parts. See junkyard or scrap yard.

Salvage words in the city code

Section 38-146 borrows the state's terms. Virginia calls a car a "late model vehicle" if it is from this model year or one of the five before it, or if its actual cash value before the damage was $10,000 or more. That dollar figure is part of a legal definition, not a price. A salvage certificate is the ownership document the DMV issues once a salvage car's title and registration are surrendered or cancelled. More in salvage title.

The Norfolk DMV office we checked

You'll find the Norfolk DMV customer service center at 5745 Poplar Hall Drive (Norfolk, VA 23502-3813). Measured directly, it sits about 6 miles south of downtown. We looked up this location; others may exist.

Signing it over

Norfolk sellers sign Section A, the box printed on the title's face, and fill in the buyer, the mileage, the sale date and the price. The DMV doesn't ask sellers for a notary. If you need a replacement title and an old lien was never satisfied, the DMV sends the new title to the lienholder of record; see lien still on the title.

Unscrew the plates before the car rolls off, and send the DMV your notice of sale over the web, by phone or at a counter. Skip that notice and a cancelled insurance policy can lead the DMV to suspend your license and registration.

Getting an offer

Norfolk owners can ask for a price at (877) 421-6008 or online. Tell us about your Norfolk car online. Our truck reaches back alleys, driveways and apartment lots. Norfolk is 7.6 miles from Portsmouth and 9.1 miles from Hampton; see Virginia for statewide rules.