Sell your car in Athens: running, dead or untagged, on campus or off
To sell your car in Athens, GA, get the instant offer online, then pick the day for pickup at a driveway, an apartment lot or a campus deck. Three local offices can come into it: UGA Parking Services for a car on a campus permit, the county tag office, and the county's Code Enforcement Division for a car that has sat dead or untagged.
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Selling a car that is on your UGA parking account
- Take the car off your account first. UGA's parking rules say a vehicle should come off the parking account before ownership transfers, and Parking Services should be told once it is no longer your responsibility.
- Leave the permit out of the sale. A UGA permit can't be sold or transferred to anyone else, and parking citations are the registered permit holder's responsibility.
- Leaving UGA? Claim the refund. Anyone leaving the university, graduating students included, can get a prorated refund by returning the permit, or by telling Parking Services if the permit is tied to a plate. Any balance you owe is paid first. You pay through the full month in which you ask, and students get a Student Account credit. TPS Customer Relations is in Joe Frank Harris Commons, 80 Carlton Street (706-542-7275), weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Where we pick up around Athens
We come to you anywhere in Athens-Clarke County, whether the car is in a dorm lot, a downtown deck or a Five Points driveway (30605). Pickup also reaches Watkinsville (30677) and Bogart, and the radius stretches out to towns such as Winterville, Bishop, Statham, Hull, Commerce and Danielsville.
Home football weekends. UGA Parking Services has permit holders clear many campus lots and decks by 5 a.m. on a home-game Saturday, and cars left behind can be ticketed or towed at the owner's expense. The Tate surface lot has to be empty by 5:15 p.m. Thursday. We don't book pickups on home-game Saturdays, and any other day works, so a car parked on campus is best collected earlier that week.
Cash for your car in Athens
Junk cars in Athens have a legal definition, and it reaches past wrecks. Under the Athens-Clarke County code, a car with no unexpired license plate on it counts as junked, even if it runs. So does one that is wrecked, dismantled, inoperative or abandoned. A junked car can sit on private property for 30 days at most, unless it is kept inside a building. On a street or other public property, the limit is three days.
That can catch a car that died over the summer, or one whose tag lapsed while it waited on a repair. Cash for cars in Athens, GA isn't only for cars that run. Tell the offer form what is wrong with yours, and pickup is at the house, apartment lot or campus deck where it sits. If it is past fixing, sell the junk car rather than let the 30 days run out.
Waiting on a big repair, like a blown head gasket or a transmission that slips or won't go into reverse? Selling a car with a blown head gasket and selling a car with a bad transmission help you decide whether the fix is worth paying for.
If a county notice goes up about the car
- •The notice demands removal within 14 days. It is posted on the property, with copies sent by registered mail to the occupant, or to the owner if no one lives there (Athens-Clarke County Code)
- •If the notice calls the car inoperative, the officer asks you to show that it starts and can be driven lawfully. If you can't, the car is presumed inoperative at any hearing unless you prove otherwise (Athens-Clarke County Code)
- •If the car is still there ten working days after the Municipal Court rules it a nuisance, the county may remove it and bill whoever the court held responsible. A property owner's unpaid bill can become a lien on the land (Athens-Clarke County Code)
Asked by Athens sellers
Where is the county tag office in Athens?
For tags and titles, the office people mean by the Georgia DMV is the county tag office. The Department of Revenue calls it the best place for most registration, plate and title questions. In Athens, the Athens-Clarke County Tax Commissioner runs it at 3025 Lexington Road (706-613-3130). The lobby is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., the phones until 5. For most title work, a clerk checks your papers while you wait, so you know before leaving whether they are in order.
I need a replacement title before I sell. How should I pay at the Athens tag office?
Bring cash if you can. The Athens-Clarke tag office doesn't take credit or debit cards for replacement titles, and paying by check or money order puts a 7-day hold on the replacement. Cash has no hold.
I live in Watkinsville. Which tag office is mine?
Oconee County's. The Oconee County Tax Commissioner runs it at 7635 Macon Highway in Watkinsville (706-769-3917), open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The office also takes text messages at 706-765-7790.
My car won't start in a UGA lot. Can anyone help before I sell it?
UGA Transportation and Parking Services runs a free Motorist Assistance Program for permit holders and guests, with jump-starts on weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Call 706-542-7275. If it still won't start, you can ask for the offer anyway, and the pickup can come to the lot or deck where it is parked.
Where can I meet a private buyer safely in Athens?
In 2015, UGA Police marked out an E-Commerce Safety Zone for the university community in the parking lot of its building at 286 Oconee Street. The spot was well lit and under video surveillance. Call the department at 706-542-2200 to check that it is still in use before you plan around it.
For what Georgia requires of every seller, see our Georgia page.