Sell your car in Wilmington: running, wrecked or dead at the curb
To sell your car in Wilmington, DE, get an instant offer online first; the form takes about two minutes. Then the car is picked up where it's parked, in the city or out in the New Castle County suburbs. Stuck on a city street, booted or already towed? The city's rule for each is below, with where to go and who to call.
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Tickets and the transponder
- Pay off city tickets. Pay any open City of Wilmington parking tickets online before pickup day, so a boot can't keep the car at the curb.
- Take the E-ZPass tag out. Pull it off the windshield before the truck arrives. On a Delaware E-ZPass account, you can then drop the sold car on the Delaware E-ZPass website.
Where we pick up around Wilmington
Wherever the car sits in Wilmington, from a rowhome street in Trolley Square to a downtown garage, the truck comes to it. The same goes for the New Castle County suburbs around the city, among them Claymont, Hockessin, Pike Creek, Elsmere and Newport. It all counts as one service area. The truck can load from a driveway or a workplace lot too, and payment happens before it pulls away.
Out of town until pickup day? If the car will sit on a city street past the seven-day limit while you're away, the City of Wilmington asks you to request a temporary parking pass so it knows the car hasn't been abandoned.
Selling the car you commute in from Pennsylvania or New Jersey
If you live in Pennsylvania or New Jersey and work in Wilmington, the pickup can be at your workplace garage. It works the same as a pickup at a Delaware address. A Pennsylvania title needs one thing planned ahead: PennDOT requires the seller's signature on it to be notarized or verified, so plan for a notary or an authorized PennDOT agent as part of the sale. Our guide to selling a car with an out-of-state title lists the other states whose titles need a notary.
Coming from New Jersey, you pay the Delaware Memorial Bridge toll only on the way into Delaware. The bridge's Commuter Plan, 22 trips in 30 days for $27.50 as of September 2026, is tied to your E-ZPass tag, needs enrollment and is open only to New Jersey E-ZPass accounts. The discount goes where the tag goes, so keep the tag when the car is sold.
Cash for your car in Wilmington
A car that won't start is a problem on a city street here. The City of Wilmington says a vehicle parked in the same spot on a city street for more than seven days may be considered abandoned and can be ticketed or towed, even if you hold a valid residential parking permit. If an abandoned car also creates a safety issue, the city may tow it right away.
So if you want cash for cars in Wilmington, DE because yours is old, wrecked or dead at the curb, get the instant offer before that week runs out. Pickup comes to the car where it sits. A car that rust or a crash has finished for good goes through our junk car offer instead.
With seven days before a car left on a city street may be towed, find out early whether yours is worth fixing: selling a car with an overheating or knocking engine and selling a car with a slipping transmission both help you decide. After a crash, selling a damaged car explains what you have to tell a buyer, and selling a totaled car covers the insurer's payout and the salvage title.
Tickets, boots and who to call
- •A car is subject to booting once you owe $300 or more in parking and red-light fines, or have three unpaid tickets. The $300 counts fines on every vehicle titled in your name, alone or jointly (source)
- •To get the total you owe in parking fines, penalties and fees, call 311 if you live in the city or (302) 576-2620 if you live outside it. Operators answer Monday to Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. (source)
Asked by Wilmington sellers
Where do I go in person for title business near Wilmington?
The Delaware DMV's Greater Wilmington facility, at 2230 Hessler Boulevard in New Castle. It sits immediately south of the Route 13 and I-495 interchange; turn from Route 13 onto Hessler Boulevard, which leads straight in. It's open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The phone is 302-434-3200.
My car has a Wilmington boot on it. What has to happen before pickup?
The fines have to be paid before the boot can come off. You can pay by credit card through the toll-free number on the back of the booting notice, or in person on a weekday, with cash or a card, at the Finance Department's Customer Service Center. That's on the first floor of the Louis L. Redding City/County Building, 800 N. French Street. Then return the boot to the Finance Department, parking in the designated area at the corner of 8th and French Streets.
What if the city towed my car for unpaid tickets?
The tow company releases the car only with a Vehicle Release Form. The city issues one after you pay the fines, penalties and fees, or after you sign a payment agreement and make the first payment. In person, that's the Revenue Division office in the same building: tow releases run 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on weekdays, and you bring your driver's license, the registration and the $50 release fee. Take the form, and any towing and storage fees, to the tow company's storage lot. There's no daily storage charge if you collect the car within seven days of the tow. Once it's back at your address, the offer and pickup work as usual.
How do I get my next car onto my Wilmington residential parking permit?
Apply for it with a copy of your driver's license and the new car's registration. The city uses license plate recognition to check which cars may park in a permit zone, and a car without a permit that stays past the posted limit is ticketed. Online is the city's preferred way to apply; allow up to five business days. A household can have up to four permitted vehicles, there's no fee, and any open parking or red-light tickets must be paid before a permit is issued or renewed.
The City of Wilmington's part ends with parking; signing over the title is a state matter, covered in our Delaware selling guide.