Sell your car in Southaven: running, high-mileage or won't start
You can sell your car in Southaven, MS without parking it on a lot or a street corner. Ask for an instant offer online or by phone, and we collect the car from your driveway, so the whole sale stays on this side of the state line. This page covers what Southaven's code says about cars shown for sale or left sitting, and where your tag goes now that the county's Southaven office has closed.
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From offer to tag turn-in
- Ask for the offer. Use the form below or call (877) 405-1808 with the year, miles, condition and where in DeSoto County the car sits. High mileage doesn't rule a car out.
- Keep the tag receipt with the title. A buyer titling a car bought from a private seller brings a copy of the seller's current tag receipt; DeSoto County's title checklist asks for it to confirm no back tax is due. Hand your buyer that copy with the keys.
- Turn the plate in before the month ends. DeSoto County asks sellers to bring the tag and its receipt in during the month the car is sold, and the county turns it into credit on another tag or a certificate of credit. Tax Collector-North in Horn Lake was placed to be central for the county's north and west side, Southaven included.
Where we pick up around Southaven
Every part of DeSoto County gets the same terms, from Southaven's 38671 and 38672 to Horn Lake, Hernando and Olive Branch (38654), and the routes run past the county line to Byhalia. A car parked north of Stateline Road at a Memphis address is covered too. Distance inside the metro doesn't change the offer.
The tag office is in Horn Lake now. DeSoto County's tax collector closed its Highway 51 office in Southaven on December 19, 2023, and opened Tax Collector-North at 6040 US-51 N in Horn Lake, off Nail Road (662-469-8050). At the opening, the tax collector said the drive-thru window is for renewals and tax payments; new tags, like one for your next car, are done inside.
Where Southaven lets a car sit for sale
The city's vehicle ordinance, Section 9-13, allows one kind of sale at home: the owner selling a single, privately owned, properly licensed vehicle from the drive of their own house. The same section says no vehicle, for sale or not, may be parked in the yard or on the lawn of a home.
Once a citation is served, a car still on a public street five days later is towed and stored at the owner's expense, and so is one sitting unattended on a street or other public ground past five days. If you would rather not have buyers at the house at all, ask for an offer instead. The pickup happens on that same driveway.
Cash for your car in Southaven
The driveway rule covers a licensed car. The city's property maintenance code calls a vehicle inoperable when it can't be driven on public streets, for reasons that include being unlicensed, wrecked, on flat tires, abandoned or in disrepair, or not able to move right away on its own power. Under Section 4-67, an inoperable car parked, kept or stored on the property or in the yard, including one being stripped or largely taken apart, makes the property blighted.
After a court finds the owner guilty and a correction period of no more than 90 days runs out, the penalty can reach $1,000 plus court costs and/or six months in jail. Each later day with no reasonable effort to fix it can count as a separate offense.
Cash for cars in Southaven works the same way when the car has an expired tag, won't start or sits on a flat: describe it, get the offer, and pickup is from the spot where it sits, driveway included. If it also has no title or no keys, start with selling a junk car.
If the engine knocks or the head gasket has blown, selling a car with a knocking or blown engine sets the repair bill against selling it as is, and selling a car with a failing transmission does the same for slipping, limp mode or no reverse. A wrecked car, which the city code also counts as inoperable, is covered in selling an accident-damaged car.
DeSoto County numbers for a car sale
- •The tax collector's other two offices are in Hernando, at 365 Losher Street, Suite 110 (662-469-8030), and in Olive Branch, at 6597 BJ Chain Drive (662-469-8032) (source)
- •Southaven Municipal Code Enforcement, which handles the parked-car and property rules above, is at 8710 Northwest Drive, 662-280-6523 (source)
- •A buyer from Memphis titles the car through the Shelby County Clerk's Office, 901-222-3000 (source)
Asked by Southaven sellers
Is there a watched spot near Southaven to meet a private buyer?
The DeSoto County Sheriff's Department marked two Safe Exchange Zone parking spaces at its headquarters, 3091 Industrial Drive West in Hernando, in December 2018, for people meeting someone from an online sale. Call 662-469-8500 before you go to check that they are still in use. When we buy the car, there is no meeting to plan, because the pickup comes to you.
Where does a buyer from Memphis pay tax on a car bought in Southaven?
At the Shelby County Clerk's Office, when they title it in Tennessee. In September 2026 the clerk's rate table showed Tennessee's 7% state sales tax on the entire purchase price, plus a Memphis local tax of 2.75% on the first $1,600. Moved here from Tennessee and never retitled? That case is covered in selling a car with an out-of-state title.
Is it legal to park a car for sale on a Southaven lot or street corner?
Not without a city privilege license for that exact spot. Section 9-13 bars showing a vehicle for sale on any street, curb, lot or other property in the city, however it is zoned, and it counts the owner of the lot as a violator too. A sign in the window is allowed while you drive and park the car in normal use, as long as it isn't left overnight in a public parking place. Fines run as high as $1,000 per violation, or up to 30 days in jail, and every day counts as a new violation.
What if Southaven code enforcement leaves a notice about a car on my property?
The notice gives you a set time to fix it, and the city's code enforcement office says seven days is standard for most violations. To appeal to the Board of Adjustments, file in writing with the code official within 20 days after the notice was served; an appeal pauses enforcement until it is heard. Selling the car and having it picked up takes it off the property.
For signing the title over, which works the same in every Mississippi county, use our Mississippi selling guide.