Sell your car in New Bedford: running or not, work trucks and vans too
Selling a work truck, a van, or a car that has mostly sat since the train came? Get an instant offer online for a fast sale, and pickup comes to you anywhere on the South Coast. After the sale, New Bedford’s Assessor’s Office can reduce this year’s excise, and the steps below show what it asks for.
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Getting this year’s excise reduced after a New Bedford sale
- Cancel the registration and keep the receipt. The RMV takes cancellations online only, not at the Theodore H. Rice Blvd. counter. The assessors want the RMV receipt that shows the date the registration was cancelled.
- Keep proof the car is gone. The city asks two questions: where did the plates go, and where did the car go? You need proof of both. The car must have been sold or the title transferred, and if you still have it, there’s no abatement.
- File at City Hall. The city’s Motor Vehicle Abatement Form goes to the Assessor’s Office, Room 109, 133 William Street (508-979-1440). The assessors, not the RMV, work out how much comes off.
Where we pick up around New Bedford
Pickup covers New Bedford (02740, 02744, 02745) and the rest of the South Coast, including Dartmouth, Fairhaven and Acushnet around the harbor, Fall River at the far end, and out to Rochester. Addresses on the working waterfront are included, and we come to you.
Car on the street when a snow ban starts? During a declared snow emergency parking ban, New Bedford allows parking only on the north side of east-west streets and the east side of north-south streets. Some stretches allow none, including Acushnet Avenue from Tarkiln Hill Road to Coggeshall Street and County Street from Purchase Street to Cove Road. A car left there can be ticketed $50 and towed, and the owner pays the full cost of towing and storage. If yours can’t move, say where it’s parked when you set up pickup.
Where a retired work truck can wait in New Bedford
We buy cars in New Bedford, and work trucks and commercial vans are welcome too. Hauling wear, like a scratched bed, a fish-hold smell or a worn clutch, is part of a truck’s working history and is priced that way. Ladder racks, liftgates, toolboxes and plow mounts change the offer, so say which ones stay on when you sell the truck. The offer is for the truck as you describe it.
If the truck takes more than a regular Class D license to drive, city rules limit where it can sit. New Bedford’s traffic ordinance, Sec. 23-23, bars those trucks, and every tow truck, from being parked in the city’s residence zones at any time. That reaches private driveways and parking areas, not just the street, though a garage is exempt. So a heavy truck that’s done working can’t wait at a house in a residence zone while you look for a buyer.
Cash for your car in New Bedford
Junk cars in New Bedford yards fall under the city’s zoning code. Section 3420 lets a property keep only one unregistered vehicle in the open, and no wrecked, partly dismantled or junk vehicle at all. Beyond that, the owner needs a license from the Inspector of Buildings. It costs $100 a year and covers at most two unregistered cars or one wrecked or junk one.
Without that license, the fine can reach $50 for each day the violation continues. Once the Inspector of Buildings serves written notice, the owner has 48 hours to start removing the car or apply for the license. If an old car or a dead van is the problem in your yard, you can sell the junk car as it sits instead of paying to keep it there.
For a car or van that was wrecked, selling a damaged car covers what a buyer checks and what you have to disclose, and if the insurer has already declared it a total loss, selling a totaled car explains the salvage title that follows. If a work truck quit with a blown engine, read selling a vehicle with engine problems.
If the train is taking over your trip to Boston
- •Commuter rail service began March 24, 2025, with two stations in the city: Church Street (387 Church St.) and New Bedford (536 Acushnet Ave.) (MBTA South Coast Rail)
- •On weekdays, 17 direct trips run between New Bedford and South Station, and connecting trains via East Taunton add more (MBTA South Coast Rail)
- •A full fare to or from South Station is $12.25 each way (Zone 8), and a reduced fare is $6.00 (MBTA South Coast Rail)
Asked by New Bedford sellers
Where will my buyer register the car in New Bedford?
At the New Bedford RMV Service Center, 212 Theodore H. Rice Blvd., after a Massachusetts insurance agent completes, stamps and signs the registration and title application. Walk-ins are welcome, but the RMV serves scheduled appointments first. The center is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and has parking on site.
The car mostly sits now that I take the train. Does the timing of the sale change my excise?
Yes. New Bedford's assessors can't abate any month the car was registered for, even part of that month. So the month you cancel the registration in is billed in full, and the abatement can only cover the months after it. The minimum abatement is $5.
My plates are going on my next car. What does the city need?
A copy of the registration for the car the plates moved to. You also tell the Assessor's Office what happened to the car you sold.
What does the Assessor's Office want if my car was totaled, not sold?
A letter from your insurance company with the date of the accident and the date of the settlement. You also file an affidavit of lost or stolen plates with the RMV and give the assessors a copy. A repossessed car needs proof of the repossession date and the same affidavit.
I moved to another Massachusetts town this year. Does New Bedford still bill my excise?
That depends on January 1. The excise is assessed where the car was garaged on January 1 of that year. If the car is registered in another Massachusetts city or town, New Bedford's assessors ask for your Insurance Selection Coverage Sheet to check that you didn't live in New Bedford on January 1.
For the title, the bill of sale and your plates, see our Massachusetts selling guide.