Sell your car in Rochester: running, rusted or failed inspection
In winter the City of Rochester salts its main roads, plus some side streets with schools, bus routes, bridges or hills, and that salt gets to work on the underside of the cars that drive them. Get an instant cash offer online for yours as it is, rust included, and free pickup anywhere in Monroe County.
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If the city towed your car first
- Find out where it went. Cars that Rochester Police tow off city streets go to the Auto Impound at 330 Colfax Street, open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily except major holidays. A car towed from a private lot may be with the company named on the lot's signs; police aren't told about those tows. After a crash, call 311 (585-428-5990 from outside the city).
- Call before you go. Some cars are held for an investigation or another hold, so call (585) 428-6717 first. The impound can also hold a car for parking tickets owed on it or on a car you registered before. Submit the city's Clearance Form first for a report of every fine owed.
- Bring the papers and the right payment. Release takes a valid registration or title plus a valid driver's license. The impound takes cash, Visa, Mastercard and Discover, not personal checks, money orders or American Express. Storage adds $45 a day, before sales tax, after the first 24 hours.
Where we pick up around Rochester
Every corner of Monroe County is in range. That includes Greece, a town of almost 100,000 people, as well as Irondequoit, Henrietta and Webster, and pickup in Fairport is as easy as pickup in the city. The car can sit in a driveway, an apartment lot or the back row of a park-and-ride. Tell us where it is and it gets picked up there, usually a day or two after you accept, schedule permitting. If it snowed, the city's PlowTrax map shows when your street was last plowed. Residential plows generally go out once 3 inches of new snow has fallen.
Keep the title out of the glovebox. Rochester Police advise against leaving a title, registration or license in a car, because a thief can use them to sell it (RPD). Keep it in the house and bring it out when the truck arrives. Do find it before you accept, though: missing paperwork is the one thing that reliably slows a pickup down.
Cash for your car in Rochester
A car that failed inspection or stopped running tends to sit where it quit. On a city street, Rochester allows 12 hours of parking at most, except where alternate-side rules set the limit. Parking without a valid inspection sticker is a ticket of its own (City of Rochester). An expired sticker alone isn't grounds for a tow, Rochester Police say. The tickets still cost you: the smallest city fine is $45, and each one grows if it isn't paid within 30 days.
We make an as-is offer on that car, rust and all, and pickup is free. A rusted frame doesn't make it scrap value by itself, because the engine, the miles and the model still count. That's how cash for cars in Rochester, NY works: no repairs first. If yours is past saving, see how selling a junk car works.
If the engine is why it stopped running, whether a blown head gasket or a rod knock, selling a car with engine problems compares the repair bill with selling it broken. A Rochester car whose transmission slips or won't go into reverse is covered in selling a car with a bad transmission, and crash damage in selling a car after an accident.
The county's DMV offices
- •Downtown: 200 E. Main St., Suite 101. The DMV offices here belong to the Monroe County Clerk, which calls them its Auto License Bureau. All four keep 8:30 to 4:30 hours. (source)
- •Three branches, each with a late night. Greece (The Mall at Greece Ridge, entrance #2) stays open until 6:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, Irondequoit (525 Titus Ave.) on Wednesdays and Henrietta (1225 Jefferson Road) on Thursdays. Greece also opens 8:30 to 12:30 on the last Saturday of the month, except in November and December. (source)
- •A Mobile DMV on Wednesdays. From 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., it is in Brockport on the first Wednesday of the month, East Rochester on the second, Ogden on the third and Clarkson on the fourth. (source)
Asked by Rochester sellers
Do I need a DMV appointment to sell my car in Rochester, NY?
No. Monroe County's DMV offices take walk-ins for every in-person transaction. Appointments are only for permit tests, Enhanced licenses and REAL IDs. They accept cash, Visa, Mastercard, Discover, or a check made out to “Monroe County Clerk” (County Clerk).
Is there a fee to surrender plates in Monroe County?
It costs $1, paid in cash or by check, at the plate surrender bin outside the entrance of any Monroe County DMV branch. Each bin is open only during its branch's hours, the surrender forms are kept at the bins, and the county mails your receipt (plate surrender).
Which side of the street should the car be on for a winter pickup?
It depends on what the city has announced. On a Plowing Day Parking Restriction, the usual posted pattern on residential streets is the even-numbered side until 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The odd side is for Sunday and until 7 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. In a Snow Emergency, Snow Emergency Routes have no parking at all (winter parking rules). If the car runs, leave it on the side that is legal on pickup day.
Can I pay Rochester parking tickets at the downtown DMV?
Not at the DMV counter. The county's Auto License Bureau doesn't handle parking tickets. The city's Parking and Municipal Code Violations Bureau does, and it is in the same building as the downtown DMV, open weekdays 8:30 to 4:30 with the last payment at 4:15. Don't let tickets sit. The county warns that unanswered ones can block a registration renewal, and three or more unpaid tickets at least 90 days old make a car eligible for a boot.
The paperwork itself is New York's, not Monroe County's: see how to sell a car in New York.