Sell your car in Annapolis: running, flood-damaged or on PCS orders
Selling a car in Annapolis can mean working around the Naval Academy's car rules, a car that sat in a tide flood downtown, or a dead car the City won't let sit on the street. Each one is covered below. You can get a cash offer online, and the driver comes to the car's address.
Prefer a callback? Leave your number ↓
Offers powered by our buying partner — ★ 4.7 Trustpilot (205,000+ reviews) · ★ 4.5 Google (8,900+)
Plates, E-ZPass and your Annapolis parking permit
- Plates. The MVA's Annapolis branch at 160 Harry S. Truman Parkway has a 24-hour tag return box, so the plates can go back the same evening.
- E-ZPass. Take the transponder off the windshield and the plate off your E-ZPass Maryland account. Under the E-ZPass Maryland terms (read September 2026), you pay for every trip the transponders on your account make. A Bay Bridge commuter plan is linked to that transponder, so keep it if the plan still has trips.
- Parking permit. If the car had an Annapolis residential parking permit, tell the City's Director of Transportation or its authorized agent that it was sold. City Code section 12.32.130 then lets you ask for a replacement permit for your next car for the rest of the term, unless that car has unpaid City parking tickets.
Where we pick up around Annapolis
The pickup is at the car's address, whether that's a Murray Hill side street, a Parole garage or a driveway across the South River in Edgewater. That covers Annapolis addresses in 21401, 21403 and 21409 and the towns around them, from Arnold and Severna Park out to Odenton beside Fort George G. Meade. At pickup the driver looks the car over against what you described, and payment changes hands with the keys. The car goes as it is, with no inspection for you to arrange first.
Is the car parked on the Yard? Say so when you describe it. The Naval Academy does not give temporary vehicle passes to the general public, so where the pickup happens has to be settled before the day.
Ship it, store it or sell it
The Naval Academy sets car rules by class. Plebes and third class midshipmen may not drive except on authorized leave. Second class midshipmen may own a car but must keep it and drive it off Academy grounds, so theirs is already parked off the Yard when it's time to sell. First class midshipmen may drive in Annapolis and on the Yard.
For a move overseas, Military OneSource says the government may ship or store one car at its expense. Within the continental U.S., getting the car there is largely up to you, with mileage paid back. A second car needs its own plan, and selling is one choice: the offer, pickup and payment usually happen inside a week, often sooner, so the sale can be set around your orders. If you are still weighing the three, start with our guide to selling a car before a PCS move.
Cash for your car in Annapolis
Inside city limits, a junk car in Annapolis can't just wait at the curb. City Code section 12.44.030 bars leaving a wrecked, partly taken apart or non-running car unattended on any street or public property, and police can impound it with the owner paying the costs. A car that quit on a Murray Hill street or sits dead in an Eastport side yard can still get an offer through the same form as a running car; just say in the description that it doesn't run. Here is how selling a junk car works.
If the engine is what quit, selling a car with a blown engine or head gasket shows when the repair is worth paying for. Crash damage, frame included, is the subject of selling an accident-damaged car, and if a wreck or a tide flood led the insurer to declare the car a total loss, selling a totaled car weighs taking the payout against keeping it.
How often downtown floods now
- •NOAA's Annapolis tide gauge (station 8575512) counted 25 minor and 2 moderate high-tide flood days in 2024, and 8 minor and 1 moderate in 2025. In most years of the 1960s it counted none (NOAA high-tide flooding record, checked September 2026)
- •On August 25, 2026, the City said City Dock construction has already significantly reduced tidal flooding events. Full protection comes when every phase is done, and Phase Two runs from summer 2027 to spring 2028 (City of Annapolis)
Asked by Annapolis sellers
How does a car trade-in value in Annapolis compare with a cash offer?
A trade-in value is a credit toward a car you buy from that same dealer, so it only helps if you buy there. Our cash offer doesn't depend on buying anything. Get both numbers before you decide; our trade-in or sell guide shows how to compare them.
Where do tide floods reach parked cars in Annapolis?
Downtown, around City Dock. The City's coastal flood notice of September 20, 2024 said to expect flooding to disrupt traffic and parking "especially on Dock Street." A car that sat in that water can still get an offer; our flood-damaged car guide explains how water history affects the price.
Can I keep a car that doesn't run in my driveway in Annapolis?
Inside city limits, City Code section 12.44.040 doesn't allow a non-running, wrecked or partly taken apart car to stay on private property unless it's inside an enclosed building like a garage, though it does allow one unregistered or uninspected car for up to 30 days. A violation only counts after the City notifies you and the car is still there seven days later.
Where do I turn in a car I'm shipping overseas from Annapolis?
The closest vehicle processing center on the PCSmyPOV list is in Baltimore, at 2940 Waterview Avenue. It works by appointment only, and you book through PCSmyPOV, the site Military OneSource sends you to. Military OneSource says to bring the car with a quarter tank of fuel or less and proof that it has no open recalls.
Statewide rules from the Maryland MVA (the office many people call the Maryland DMV) are on our Maryland selling guide.