Sell your car in Newport: running, won't start or failed inspection
Leaving Naval Station Newport, or just done with the car? Get an offer in minutes, then choose where the car is collected. If you're on orders, the next section compares government car shipping and the base's own storage lot with selling.
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Selling from Newport, start to finish
- Talk to Fleet and Family Support first. Naval Station Newport's Fleet and Family Support Center at 1260 Peary Street runs a Relocation Assistance Program, open weekdays 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., 401-841-2283. Military OneSource adds that when both duty stations are in the lower 48, moving the car there is mostly on you, so ask your transportation office what your orders cover before you decide.
- Get the offer, then hand over the keys. The firm offer takes minutes, and the pickup is scheduled around the day the car has to be gone, not around ours.
- Book the Middletown branch if you need the DMV. The RI DMV's branch nearest Newport is the Middletown Branch at 52 Valley Road, (401) 846-5451, which takes reservations only and is open 8:30 a.m.–4 p.m. on weekdays. The Warren branch is closed. Title work isn't on the list of branch transactions, and the DMV sends everything off that list to its Cranston headquarters.
Where we pick up around Newport
Pickup covers Aquidneck Island, from a driveway in Newport's 02840 to an apartment lot in Middletown or a side street in Portsmouth. Jamestown, Tiverton, Little Compton, Bristol and Warren are in the pickup area too. For a car on Naval Station Newport, plan the handoff at an off-base address, such as your home or a workplace off the base.
Want to see the underside before you describe the car? The base Auto Skills Center at 1285 Whipple Street has two- and four-post lifts, run only by MWR attendants. It's open Friday noon to 5 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. for ID holders with base access. Answer the condition questions with what you saw there, because it's what the driver will see at pickup.
Ship it through PCSmyPOV, store it with MWR, or sell it
According to Military OneSource, PCS orders can carry an entitlement for the government to ship or store one vehicle for you. Shipping runs through PCSmyPOV, and it lists no vehicle processing center anywhere in New England. The nearest to Newport is the New Jersey VPC in Edison. Before turn-in it wants the fuel down to a quarter tank or less, the car clean inside and out, and the regular brakes and the emergency brake fully working.
To keep the car on the island while you're away, MWR runs a storage lot on base, on Peary Street across from Building 47. It takes vehicles 25 feet and under, by appointment only. For active-duty and retired members it costs $297 for six months or $561 for a year, plus a $200 key deposit you get back. MWR's off-base lot at Carr Point is closed until further notice.
MWR's car sale lot on base is also closed until further notice, so there is no base lot where the car can sit with a sign in the window. If neither shipping nor storage fits this car, read how to sell your car before a PCS move, then get your offer.
Cash for your car in Newport
Junk cars in Newport can't wait out a sale on the street. City code bars leaving a dismantled, junked or abandoned vehicle outdoors on any street or other public property. The same rule covers a car that isn't drivable, for legal or physical reasons, and one without a current inspection sticker on the windshield. A violation can mean a municipal court fine and up to 30 days in jail.
The driveway has limits too. Under Newport's zoning code, as last amended in July 2024, an unregistered car can't be parked or stored ungaraged in a lot's designated setback area without a special use permit, and junked vehicles and major parts, like engines and transmissions, are banned there outright.
A car that won't start or won't pass inspection can stay where it is while you ask for an offer, because the pickup comes to it. More on selling a junk car.
If the car is off the road because of a blown head gasket, a seized engine or a transmission that slips or won't go into reverse, see selling a car with a blown engine or head gasket or selling a car with a failing transmission. If an accident left it undrivable, read selling an accident-damaged car.
Three Newport street rules to know before pickup
- •No vehicle may stay parked on a Newport street for longer than 24 hours (Newport Code 10.20.090)
- •From May 1 to October 1, cars without a resident permit, visitor pass or temporary permit are restricted on designated resident streets, overnight, in the daytime or all day, depending on the street. A car that gets a violation notice there and isn't moved before the next resident-only period can be towed (Newport Code 10.32.080) (Code 10.20.170)
- •Once a snow parking ban is announced, cars left on the marked tow-zone streets, including Broadway, Thames Street and Bellevue Avenue from Kay Street to Bowery Street, can be towed half an hour later and stored at the owner's expense (Newport Code 10.20.130)
Asked by Newport sellers
Is it legal to show my car for sale on a Newport street?
No. Under Newport's code, nobody may stand or park a vehicle on a roadway chiefly to show it for sale, and the section also forbids using the street to store a car that's waiting for repairs. Show it from your driveway or another private spot where you have permission.
The car I'm selling has my Newport resident parking sticker. What happens to it?
Newport's code gives you a permit for another qualifying vehicle when you surrender your existing permit and complete a new application, so deal with the sticker before the car leaves. Questions go to the city's Collections Office at (401) 845-5401.
My car was last registered in another state. Where does a Newport buyer get the VIN check?
At the Newport Police Station, 120 Broadway, if the buyer lives in Newport. A car bought or previously registered out of state needs a VIN inspection before it can be registered, and Newport police do them only for Newport residents: Wednesdays, 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., for $10, at the desk in the front lobby. The buyer brings the registration and proof of ownership, which means the title for a car less than ten years old.
Signing over the title and cancelling the registration follow state rules, covered in our Rhode Island selling guide.