Sell your car in Jackson: running, flood-damaged or not running at all
Jackson had 141,449 residents in July 2024, about 12,000 fewer than in April 2020, by Census Bureau estimates. That's fewer neighbors to notice a car with a sign in its window. A cash offer doesn't depend on who passes your block. To sell your car in Jackson that way, use the form or call or text (877) 405-1808, and we come to your address for the free pickup.
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Showing and handing over a car inside Jackson city limits
- Show it from the driveway. City code bars parking a car on a roadway mainly to display it for sale. It also bars parking in a front yard, in the street-side yard of a corner lot, or in a rear yard that backs onto a street; a driveway is fine, except the part that crosses the sidewalk. After one warning, each violation is a $100 fine.
- Hand the buyer a copy of your current tag receipt. When a car is bought from an individual, the Hinds County Tax Collector asks for it to verify that no back tax is due.
- Tell the buyer what the office expects. The new owner has to be there to sign the title application, or send a notarized power of attorney. A buyer who lives outside the city limits brings two proofs of residency. The tag has to be bought within seven working days of the purchase date to avoid penalties.
Where we pick up around Jackson
Cash for cars in Jackson, MS comes with free pickup at your address anywhere in the metro, not only inside the city limits: from Fondren and Belhaven down to Byram, and out to Pearl (39208), the largest suburb in the Census Bureau's 2024 estimates. Madison (39110), Ridgeland, Clinton and Brandon are covered too, the same as a car downtown in 39201.
Looking for the Mississippi DMV for a title or tag? In Jackson, that's the Hinds County Tax Collector's tag office. It is at 316 S. President St. downtown, open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. It offers curbside service; call 601-968-6587 for details.
What the river gauge at Jackson means for a parked car
The National Weather Service gauge on the Pearl River at Jackson sets minor flood stage at 28 feet, and its notes on what floods at each level name actual streets. At 32 feet, water begins to affect businesses on South President and South Farish streets. At 35 feet, the river floods some streets in Northeast Jackson subdivisions close to the river and more streets downtown. The river crested at 36.67 feet on February 17, 2020, and at 35.38 feet on August 29, 2022 (National Water Prediction Service, checked September 2026).
If the car you plan to sell parks on one of those streets, a forecast crest near 35 feet is the time to move it to higher ground. If it sat there through the 2020 or 2022 crest and took water, read our guide to selling a flood-damaged car before you list it.
Cash for your car in Jackson
Jackson's city code treats a car that has been inoperable for more than 120 days in a row as a junked vehicle, and a junked vehicle on any lot in the city is a public nuisance (City Code, Chapter 54, Article II). Before the city acts, the police chief or the building official must send at least ten days' notice by certified or registered mail, and you can ask for a hearing before the city council within those ten days. If the car stays, the city impounds it and holds it for 90 days. The title holder can get it back in that time by paying the towing, storage and other costs; after that, ownership is forfeited.
Giving the city written permission to haul it away also satisfies the notice, but the car then leaves without a sale. We buy junk cars in Jackson: you don't have to fix anything first, and pickup is at the address where the car sits. A car closing in on that 120-day line is what our junk car offers are for.
If a blown head gasket or a seized engine stopped it, selling a car with a blown engine or head gasket weighs the repair against selling it as is, and selling a car with a slipping transmission does the same when it won't shift or go into reverse. If the Pearl River flooded it and the insurer declared it a total loss, selling a totaled car explains the payout, buying it back and the salvage title.
What the tag office charges, and what the city can fine
- •A new tag for a ten-year-old passenger car in Jackson costs $40.40, and a title transfer adds $10.00. Tags on other vehicles are priced from the VIN (Hinds County Tax Collector)
- •Keeping a junked vehicle as a public nuisance can mean a fine of up to $500 or up to 90 days in the city jail, and each day counts as a separate offense (City Code Sec. 54-48)
Asked by Jackson sellers
Which police stations around Jackson take online-sale meetups?
In 2019, Jackson police told WLBT they recommend doing these exchanges at any of the department's four precinct stations, and the city still lists Precincts One through Four. In Clinton, the police department offers designated parking for online-sale exchanges, and the Rankin County Sheriff's Office asks people to use its parking lot or lobby (WLBT, November 2024).
Which office takes my tag back after a Jackson sale?
If the car is tagged in Hinds County, take the tag and its receipt to the Tax Collector's office on President Street. The office asks you to bring it within the same month the car is sold. It gives credit toward another tag or a certificate of credit, not a refund.
My car is tagged in Rankin or Madison County. Which office do I use?
Rankin County's tax collector has its main office at 211 East Government Street in Brandon, with more offices at Richland City Hall and on Highway 25 in Flowood. The county suggests avoiding Mondays, Fridays, and the month's first business day and last two. Madison County's are at 229 North Union Street in Canton, 171 Cobblestone Drive in Madison, and in Flora.
Can I keep a dead car behind my house in Jackson?
At home, the junked-vehicle rules allow two ways: kept inside a building where it can't be seen from the street or other property, or stored on private property screened from ordinary public view and kept from becoming a health hazard. A dead car sitting in the open for more than 120 days doesn't qualify.
Is there a map of where the Pearl River floods in Jackson?
NWS Jackson's River Flood Extent Maps page carries U.S. Army Corps of Engineers flood inundation maps for the Pearl River at Jackson. The weather service calls those areas approximate and for information only, so check them against the gauge's forecast crest.
For the title itself, DOR Motor Vehicle Services sets the rules statewide, and our Mississippi selling guide explains them.