Sell your car in Boston: running, damaged or dead at the curb
Selling your car in Boston? We come to you, wherever the car is parked. Besides the state paperwork, a Boston sale leaves a few local loose ends: the E-ZPass tag on the windshield, the resident parking permit tied to the plate, and the excise abatement you file at City Hall.
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Boston loose ends after pickup
- Take the E-ZPass tag off the windshield. Tolls on an E-ZPass MA transponder come out of your account balance, and the Sumner, Callahan and Ted Williams tunnels and the Tobin Bridge have no toll booths: overhead gantries read whatever tag is in the car.
- File for the excise abatement. Boston abates the motor vehicle excise on a car sold during the year once its registration is cancelled. The form is on the back of your excise bill, or on the City's abatement page. Mail it, or bring it to the Taxpayer Referral and Assistance Center, Room M-5 on the City Hall mezzanine, weekdays 9 to 5. You have three years from the due date, or one year from paying, and the City suggests paying the bill while you wait.
- The parking permit ends with this car. A resident permit is issued to one vehicle and plate and can't be moved to another car. If you're replacing the car, apply again: permits are free, and the Parking Clerk at City Hall, Room 224, issues one the same day if your registration shows your Boston address and your papers are complete. Overdue parking tickets have to be paid first.
Where we pick up around Boston
Curbside pickup is the default here, and it covers every Boston neighborhood, from Beacon Hill to Hyde Park and from Brighton to Dorchester. Past the city line it reaches the cities inside Route 128: Cambridge and Somerville across the Charles, Brookline and Newton to the west, Revere to the north, and Quincy down the Red Line to the south.
Pick the pickup day by the sweeping sign. Daytime street cleaning runs April 1 to November 30 in most neighborhoods, and through December 31 in the North End, South End and Beacon Hill, where it starts again March 1. Main roads are swept at night all year. A resident permit doesn't override the posted times.
Cash for your car in Boston
An old car that stops running stays wherever it was parked. On a Boston street, that brings in the City's abandoned-vehicle rules. The City can legally take possession of a vehicle left standing on a city street for more than 72 hours. It doesn't act on the clock alone: it enforces the rule when a resident complains or the car is a safety hazard. A car the City decides is abandoned is tagged with a green sticker.
Once a car is towed as abandoned, the City says it can be disposed of at any time, or stored and auctioned after 30 days if it has some value. To drive it back out of the City Tow Lot, the owner needs a valid license, all tow and storage fees paid, and a car that is actively registered and insured.
Junk cars in Boston are picked up from the curb or driveway where they sit. If yours is past repair, you can sell it as a junk car instead of towing it to a yard, and that choice changes the excise paperwork. For a junked car, the City asks for a receipt from the junkyard and a plate return receipt from the RMV; a sold car follows the abatement step further down this page.
For a car that stopped running on the street because the engine blew or started knocking, selling a car with a blown engine helps you decide between fixing it and selling it as is. After a crash, selling an accident-damaged car explains what buyers check, and selling a totaled car covers what happens when the insurer calls it a total loss.
What a stranded car can cost here, as of September 2026
- •The City Tow Lot at 200 Frontage Road charges a $90 tow fee plus storage of $3 an hour, up to $15 a day (Boston Transportation Department)
- •Abandoning a car in Boston carries a fine of $250 for a first offense and $500 for each one after, and the owner covers the City's costs to remove it (Abandoned and Impounded Vehicles)
- •A Boston parking ticket must be paid within 21 days to avoid an added penalty, and having five or more overdue tickets is one of the common reasons cars get towed (Office of the Parking Clerk; towing guide)
Asked by Boston sellers
How do I sell my car in Boston, MA if it's parked on the street?
Leave it where it is. Pickup comes to the curb, whether that's a resident-permit space or a metered spot; you bring the keys and the title, and we handle the loading. If the title went missing in a move, we can line up your offer while a replacement is on the way. During a declared snow emergency the City tickets and tows cars on posted snow emergency arteries, so if a ban lands on your street on pickup day, we reschedule around it rather than leave you with a tow bill.
Can I still get cash for a junk car in Boston once it has a green sticker?
The City's instruction for a car with a green sticker is to get it off the public way quickly and fix what's wrong with it, and a sale with pickup from the spot takes care of the first part. If you're not sure the car is still there, the Tow Lot at 617-635-3900 can look it up by the VIN or the AVR number on the sticker.
Do I have to go to the RMV at Haymarket to sell a car in Boston?
Usually not. Boston's RMV Service Center is Haymarket, at 136 Blackstone Street next to Haymarket Station on the Green and Orange lines, open weekdays 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. It has no on-site parking. The RMV's page for the branch lists cancelling a registration as an online-only job, so the seller's part doesn't need a trip there. Registering a vehicle, your buyer's part, takes walk-ins, though customers with appointments are served first.
Where can I meet a buyer safely in Boston?
Boston Police has Safe Exchange Zones at every district station and at headquarters, 1 Schroeder Plaza. They're watched by security video and open 24 hours. Three examples: District D-4 at 650 Harrison Avenue in the South End, C-11 at 40 Gibson Street in Dorchester, and D-14 at 301 Washington Street in Brighton.
The steps that are the same anywhere in the state are on our Massachusetts selling guide.