Sell your car in Birmingham: running or not, even past 150,000 miles
Selling your car in Birmingham, AL starts with a short description online, and the number comes back the same day. Pickup usually follows within a couple of days, depending on where in the metro the car sits, and you're paid at the handoff. Birmingham lies in both Jefferson and Shelby counties, so the tag office you use after the sale depends on which side you live on.
Prefer a callback? Leave your number ↓
Offers powered by our buying partner — ★ 4.7 Trustpilot (205,000+ reviews) · ★ 4.5 Google (8,900+)
Getting credit for prepaid tag tax in Jefferson County
- Know what you prepaid. Jefferson County collects the ad valorem part of your tag tax in advance, so selling mid-year leaves some of it unused. The Revenue Department credits that part through a credit voucher, prorated by the month.
- Claim it in person within 12 months. The registered owner has to come to a counter with a state-issued driver's license and documented proof of the sale. A voucher can't be redeemed on a tag renewal done online or by mail.
- Use it on ad valorem tax only. It goes toward a tag renewal or a replacement vehicle, can't pay the registration fee, sales tax, penalties or interest, and has to be used when it is issued. Any balance becomes a "Receipt for Credit," refunded by check by the 20th of the next month. Applying the voucher costs $2 and the refund another $2, per the county's voucher sheet.
Where we pick up around Birmingham
Pickup crosses the county line. Downtown (35203), Bessemer (35020) and Trussville are in range, and so are Homewood, Mountain Brook and Vestavia Hills over the mountain, Hoover (35216), and Pelham and Alabaster in Shelby County. Wherever the car sits, the offer is the same, and pickup is included at no extra charge.
Keep it out of the front yard while it waits. The city's March 2026 code enforcement guide lists cars parked in front yards among Birmingham's most common violations. At a home, running cars may park only in a legal driveway or garage, and the street is not for long-term parking.
Jefferson County or Shelby County: which tag office is yours
Hoover and Vestavia Hills straddle the same county line, so check which county your street address is in before you go.
On the Jefferson side, the local Alabama DMV counter is the Jefferson County Revenue Department, which administers vehicle registrations and titles. Its tag renewal site lists five courthouse locations: 716 Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd. N. in Birmingham, 1801 3rd Ave. N. in Bessemer, the Center Point courthouse at 2651 Center Point Pkwy., 1901 Hoover Court in Hoover, and the Gardendale satellite at 651 Main St., Suite 127.
On the Shelby side, it is the Shelby County License Office, at 19220 Hwy 280, 1018 County Services Drive in Pelham, or 104 Depot St. in Columbiana.
Cash for your car in Birmingham
Birmingham's code sets a time limit on a car that has stopped running. Article E of the city's nuisance chapter covers a car on private property in public view. Once it has sat there 30 days with the engine, transmission, drive train, wheels or another major part missing or not working, it counts as an inoperable motor vehicle. The code allows up to 60 days for a car laid up for ordinary repairs, and it leaves alone a car kept in an enclosed building out of the neighbors' view. A separate rule for home lots in residential areas, section 11-8-8, sets a minimum $100 fine for a first offense, and each day counts as a new one.
Cash for junk cars in Birmingham comes through the same two-minute form. List the missing or dead parts on it, and pickup comes to where the car sits. If yours has sat in public view long enough to start that 30-day count, sell it as a junk car before the city puts a notice on it.
If the engine or the transmission is what quit, selling a car with a blown engine or head gasket and selling a car whose transmission slips or has no reverse show whether a repair is worth paying for.
Police lobbies where Birmingham buyers and sellers can meet
- •Police headquarters at 1710 1st Avenue North is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, and in December 2025 police reminded residents that it and any precinct are safe places to meet someone for a sale (City of Birmingham; December 2025 report)
- •The four precincts are North at 2600 31st Avenue N., South at 1320 19th Street S., East at 600 Red Lane Road and West at 2236 47th Street in Ensley (City of Birmingham)
- •In January 2021 the mayor said precinct lobbies were open 24 hours a day, with cameras and officers present, and that police stay out of the exchange itself. Call the precinct before a late meeting (January 2021 report)
Asked by Birmingham sellers
What happens after Birmingham posts a notice on an inoperable car?
The city puts a notice on the car and sends one by registered mail to the property owner, plus the registered owner and any lienholder if the VIN can be read. From the day it is received, you have ten days to remove the car or ask for a City Council hearing. If you do neither, the city has it removed, can sell it by sealed bid or auction, and bills any costs the sale doesn't cover to the registered owner or the property owner. Until the city acts, you can remove it yourself by any lawful means.
How long can a broken-down car stay on a Birmingham street?
No more than 48 hours, under section 10-9-12 of the city code. If the car is not a traffic hazard, a citation has to be placed on it at least 24 hours before it is removed.
Is there a safe place to meet a car buyer in Hoover?
Hoover police run three Community Meetup Spots, all public, well lit and under video surveillance: the upper parking lot at City Hall, 100 Municipal Lane; Fire Station 7 at 100 Inverness Parkway; and Fire Station 10 at 3537 Market Street in Ross Bridge. The department suggests meeting in daylight and not going alone.
Can someone in my family use my Jefferson County credit voucher?
Yes. The county lets the owner of a credit voucher transfer it to a family member. If the owner has died, the relatives it could have gone to can redeem it by showing a death certificate and proof of the relationship.
Signing over the title follows statewide rules from the ADOR Motor Vehicle Division, explained on our page for all of Alabama.