Selling a dead or junk car in Suffolk

That rule reaches across 399.17 square miles, which is more land than Newport News, Hampton and Portsmouth put together. If your 180 days are running, we buy whole non-running and junk cars. You sell the whole car as it sits, and pickup is free anywhere in the US.

Who the rule covers

Section 34-242 applies on "any property in the city zoned for residential, commercial or agricultural purposes." A car is fine inside "a fully enclosed building or structure." Otherwise it must be shielded or screened from view, and the cover limits above apply. A carve-out for certain licensed businesses and an exception under Code of Virginia 46.2-734 sit at the start of the section.

Ten days, then the city can act

When an inspector finds a violation, the property owner "shall remove it from the property or to a fully enclosed building or structure within ten days after receiving written notice from the city." After that, city staff or contractors may remove the car. It can be disposed of once the city gives notice to the owner of the land, the owner of the car and any lienholder.

Penalties can stack, but the code puts a ceiling on them. Each day is a separate offense. Still, the same facts cannot be charged "more frequently than once in a ten-day period," and a series of violations cannot reach "civil penalties of more than $3,000.00."

Section 34-265 allows Suffolk police to hand an abandoned inoperable car to a demolisher "without title and without following the notification procedures." It's the demolisher who then reports it to the DMV.

How a Virginia scrap sale works

Suffolk's rules decide when a car has to go. State law decides how it changes hands.

• The buyer does not retitle it. A demolisher or scrap processor that buys a car to wreck it skips titling it to itself. It later surrenders the title or a Vehicle Removal Certificate to the DMV.
• VSA 40. When a private owner sells to a demolisher, the paperwork is the Vehicle Removal Certificate, and the owner signs it.
• Older cars without a title. For a Suffolk car with no title that is 10 or more years behind the current model year, the yard requests a DMV record search before crushing it. An untitled car newer than that goes through the abandoned vehicle process instead.
• ID and records. Suffolk yards copy your driver's license, plate number and ownership papers, then hold onto those copies for five years.

Holding a title makes it simpler: sign Section A on its face. The DMV office we checked, 1040 Centerbrooke Ln (757-925-6799), lies about 6 miles northeast of downtown Suffolk as the crow flies. Afterward, tell the DMV you sold the car and pull the plates. If an insurer cancels coverage on a car the DMV still lists as yours, your license and registration can be suspended.

Nearby

Chesapeake is 18.5 miles away, Portsmouth 19.0 and Norfolk 26.6, straight-line. See Virginia for statewide rules.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or send the form. Selling a junk car in Suffolk? Ring (877) 421-6008 or send our offer form. In a city this spread out, tell us the road or landmark. Pickup comes to the car's spot in Suffolk, even far from downtown on a farm lane or a back lot.