Sell your car in Bozeman: running, broken down or wrecked
On a Bozeman street, a parked car has to move within 72 hours. If yours has stopped running, or you'd rather not keep moving it, describe it online, get a cash offer and pick a day for free pickup.
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What Gallatin County's motor vehicle office asks for
- Pick a counter for any title work before the sale. The Gallatin County Treasurer's motor vehicle office handles titles at the courthouse, 311 W. Main St., Room 102 (406-582-3084), from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and in Belgrade at 312 Main St., Suite B-8 (406-582-3335), from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., on weekdays.
- Bring the full VIN, your photo ID and the original title. The office won't accept copies, memorandum titles or electronic titles, and if more than one person is on the title, bring a photo of each person's ID.
- Check the line before you drive over. The Bozeman lobby has a live webcam for checking the wait, or your place in line if you've taken a number and stepped out. A missed number means pulling a new one.
Where we pick up around Bozeman
We pick up across Bozeman in 59715 and 59718, and down the valley in Belgrade (59714), Four Corners, Manhattan and Three Forks. Up the canyon we go to Gallatin Gateway and Big Sky, and over the pass to Livingston. Most Big Sky addresses are PO boxes, the county notes, so tell us where the car is actually parked. Mountain pickups in winter need a little extra room in the schedule, and you can accept an offer weeks ahead and set the pickup for later, such as moving week.
Car parked at MSU? Campus parking rules don't allow a car to stay over summer or winter break without approval from Parking & Transportation Services. Cars left outside the lots it names for storage can be towed at the owner's cost. Its tow or boot fee is $275 once the truck is sent, even if the car never moves. Ask the office about a storage lot, or have the car off campus before break starts.
Where a car can sit in Bozeman until it sells
The same 72-hour limit applies in city parking lots (Sec. 36.04.260), and the fine for leaving a car past it runs from $30 to $300.
From December 1 to March 31, signed downtown-area streets also follow the city's alternate side parking program: cars move to the correct side by Monday evening, because plows can start at 7 a.m. on the marked Tuesdays. A car in a driveway avoids both rules, and the pickup can happen right there.
Cash for your car in Bozeman
A car that won't start can't keep up with the street clock. On private property, Bozeman's code counts two or more junked or wrecked cars as a nuisance (Chapter 16, Article 3), and if the city ends up removing one, the car becomes the property of the city or its contractor.
Gallatin County's Junk Vehicle Program will tow junk cars away when the owner asks, but its release form gives the car up with nothing paid to you, and it won't take a car with garbage inside or more than five tires. If you'd rather be paid for it, ask us for a cash offer instead; pickup is free, and our guide to selling a junk car covers the rest.
Not sure yours is junk yet? If the engine or transmission is what failed, selling a car with a seized or overheating engine and selling one with a slipping transmission or a failed CVT set the repair bill against selling it as it is, and a wrecked car has its own guide, selling a car with accident damage.
Three figures to know before you sell
- •2 transactions per person per day is the most the Gallatin County motor vehicle office will handle, so a third vehicle means a second day (Gallatin County)
- •3% is the third-party fee for paying by card at either county counter, which also take cash and local checks (county FAQ)
- •4 inches of snow is when the city's motor graders start clearing residential streets (City of Bozeman)
Asked by Bozeman sellers
My car died in an MSU parking lot. How long do I have to move it?
Up to 12 hours, if Parking & Transportation Services allows the grace period. Call the office at 406-994-1723 right away with your name, plate number and where the car is. There's no extension, and the grace period doesn't rule out a ticket. If the car is still there when it runs out, you have to have it towed at your own expense.
Can Bozeman boot my car over old parking tickets?
Yes, once you have six or more unpaid tickets. They can come from this car or any car you own or have owned, and the city can boot a vehicle you own now (Sec. 36.04.380). Clear them before pickup day so a boot can't hold up the sale.
My junk car is a hybrid. Will Gallatin County's program take it?
No. The county's Junk Vehicle Program doesn't take hybrid or all-electric vehicles with lithium-ion batteries, because of how those batteries have to be handled, stored and shipped. You can still ask us for a cash offer on it. For a gas car, the program's office is Room 108 of the county courthouse, 406-582-3775.
Signing over the title and pulling the plates follow Montana MVD rules, which we cover on our page for all of Montana.