Sell your car in Dover: running, not running or leaving on PCS orders
If you're leaving Dover Air Force Base on orders, or you have a car in Dover that no longer runs, you can get an instant offer online and we'll come to you for pickup. You're paid at the handoff. This page covers what the base offers for your car, the city's rules for cars that sit, and the Dover offices you may need.
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How a sale from Dover goes
- Put the options side by side. Our instant offer takes two minutes, costs nothing, commits you to nothing and holds while you sort out the rest of the move. Set it next to shipping, storage or the resale lot.
- Clear the gate ahead of time. We schedule pickup around your dates. If the car is in base housing, pre-enroll the driver for a visitor pass through DBIDS; the base says that speeds up the wait for a first-time guest.
- Hand over the keys, then cancel the backup plan. If you had booked a Vehicle Processing Center turn-in, cancel that appointment.
Where we pick up around Dover
We pick up across Dover's 19901 and 19904, on the base at 19902, and in the towns around the city, from Smyrna and Camden to Wyoming, Magnolia and the towns out to Harrington. On Dover AFB, a visitor without a base pass is processed at the Visitor Control Center with a sponsor, who stays with them the whole time they are on the installation. For a pickup in base housing, plan on sponsoring the driver yourself. If you can't be there for that, choose an address off base instead.
After the sale, check your E-ZPass: if the car is on a Delaware E-ZPass account, take it off. You can remove a vehicle on the E-ZPass website, or in person in Dover, where Delaware E-ZPass has its main walk-in center and the Dover Toll Plaza at 200 Plaza Drive has a customer service lobby.
Your car and a PCS from Dover AFB
A car leaving Dover AFB can be shipped, stored or sold. For most overseas moves, Alaska and Hawaii included, the government will pay to ship one vehicle you own or lease. Within the lower 48, you are expected to drive it and are paid a mileage allowance. Shipping and any authorized storage are booked by appointment through the official booking site, PCSmyPOV.com, and Dover's Personal Property and Passenger Movements office can tell you what your orders cover.
To be accepted for shipment at a Vehicle Processing Center, a car must be clean and in safe, operable condition: working brakes, no significant leaks, no major windshield cracks, sound tires and a quarter tank of fuel or less. Authorized storage at the government facility costs you nothing out of pocket. A car that would fail the turn-in check, or one you would rather not store, is the one to sell. Our guide to selling your car before a PCS move walks through the whole choice.
Cash for your car in Dover
Junk cars in Dover can't sit for long. Under City of Dover rules, a wrecked, stripped, partly taken apart or non-running car gets five days on a property, and a car that runs but isn't registered or inspected gets 90 days. Cars can't be parked in a front, side or rear yard, only on an approved driveway, garage, carport or parking pad, and neighbors can report a junked car to the city online.
If yours is old, damaged or won't start, get the instant offer and we'll pick the car up where it sits. Our page on how to sell a junk car covers cars that don't run.
If your car quit with a blown head gasket or a seized engine, selling a car with engine problems explains what the repair costs and what you have to tell a buyer; if the transmission slips or won't go into reverse, see selling a car with a bad transmission. For a car that was wrecked rather than broken down, read selling an accident-damaged car.
Dover offices for a car sale
- •Kent County's Delaware DMV facility is in Dover at 303 Transportation Circle, behind the DelDOT building on Route 113. It is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Wednesday 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. (source)
- •Dover AFB's Personal Property and Passenger Movements office is at 550 Eagle Way, Building 550, open weekdays 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wednesdays until 3 p.m. (source)
- •Resale lot sign-ups go through Outdoor Recreation at Building 475, 475 Chevron Avenue, open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The lot is across the street from the Patterson Dining Facility. (source)
Asked by Dover sellers
Can I sell my car on the Dover AFB resale lot?
Yes, if you have a DoD ID card. You register the car at Outdoor Recreation with current registration, your DoD ID and proof of insurance, and the car must be registered in the ID holder's name. A spot costs $9 for one week, $15 for two or $25 for four, and a car can stay up to 120 days in any 365. The lot puts your car in front of prospective buyers, including Airmen recently assigned to Dover. You can list it there and still get our offer.
Where can I meet a buyer safely in Dover?
Dover Police have invited people buying or selling to meet in the department's public parking lot at 400 S. Queen Street, or out front on Bank Lane. The invitation came in a December 2015 alert, still on the department's website, after thefts at meetups arranged online. Officers won't witness the sale or get involved in the deal. If you sell to us, there is no meetup: we come to your address.
How do I weigh my car's trade-in value in Dover against an instant offer?
Get both numbers before you decide. Our instant offer is free, so you can have it in hand when a dealer quotes a trade-in figure. A trade-in only counts toward a car you buy from that dealer, so if you're leaving Dover AFB with nothing to buy here, it doesn't apply. Our trade-in or sell guide sets the two side by side.
What happens to a car I leave parked on Dover AFB?
Dover AFB Instruction 31-218, the base's traffic rules (dated 2013, last changed in 2017), says a car parked more than 72 hours needs a dash placard with your name and phone, a local contact who has a key, and the dates, and it must stay insured and registered. A car that's inoperative, on flat tires, or has broken windows or heavy damage is treated as abandoned. If it isn't moved within 72 hours of an abandoned-vehicle notice, it is towed and stored at your expense. If it isn't worth fixing before you go, selling it is the simpler route.
Signing the title and handling your plate work the same way in every Delaware town, so our Delaware selling guide covers both.