Sell your car in Houston: running, flooded or not running at all
Get an instant cash offer online in about two minutes. It costs nothing to look, and pickup is free if you take it. Below: what Houston's rules say about a car that's dead, stalled, towed, booted or parked on the street while you sell.
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Selling in Houston, step by step
- 01Get the number. Two minutes online. Say where the car sits and whether it runs.
- 02Set the pickup. Pickups run all day across the metro, and the driver comes to the car.
- 03Get paid, then clear the toll tag. Payment happens before the truck pulls away. Then deactivate the EZ TAG or drop the plate from your HCTRA account. Tags can't move to another vehicle, and charges stay yours until the change is made (EZ TAG Agreement).
Where we pick up around Houston
We buy cars in Houston anywhere inside city limits that reach into four counties: Harris, Fort Bend, Montgomery and Waller (Census Bureau). Pickup is free from downtown (77002) to Katy (77494), in Pasadena, Harris County's second-largest city (2024 estimates), and in Baytown, Pearland, Sugar Land, Cypress, Spring and The Woodlands. Apartment curbs, repair shops and tow lots work too.
Booted by the city? Three or more unresolved parking citations can get a Houston car booted or towed (Sec. 26-261), and no one may move a booted car without a peace officer's written direction (Sec. 26-267). Release needs an appearance on each citation plus fees (Sec. 26-265).
Cash for your car in Houston
We pay cash for cars in Houston whether they run or not, including flood, hail, salvage and rebuilt-title cars, lapsed registrations and cars that won't pass emissions. We buy junk cars in Houston too; our junk car page explains that sale. No title in hand? Call and describe what you have; in some cases your registration and ID can work.
A dead car in the yard can become a city case. Houston's neighborhood protection official can cite it or, after a hearing, have it hauled off (Sec. 10-534). At that hearing the car is presumed not to run unless the registered owner shows it does, and moving it to another property in the city doesn't restart the notice (Sec. 10-536).
If your insurer declared a flooded car a total loss, selling a totaled car covers the payout, buying the car back and the salvage title that follows. For hail dents or crash damage, read selling a car with hail or accident damage, and if the engine blew or seized, selling a car with a blown or seized engine weighs the repair bill against selling it as is.
When the car died in water or on a freeway
The Harris County Flood Control District says a major flood hits somewhere in the county about every two years (HCFCD, checked September 2026). If your car took water in one, our guide to selling a flood-damaged car explains what that means for the title.
Stalled on a Houston freeway? The city's Tow and Go program tows the car free to a nearby safe spot off the freeway if someone is with it when help arrives. Tollways and the Katy Freeway HOT lanes aren't covered (City of Houston). Leave the car and it gets the standard $232 city tow instead (HPD).
Asked by Houston sellers
Is a dealer's car trade-in value in Houston worth more than a cash offer?
Compare them. A trade-in value only counts toward a car you buy from that dealer; this offer is cash with nothing to buy, and getting it is free. Our guide to trading in versus selling explains the difference.
Do I have to visit the Harris County Tax Office to sell?
You don't have to, but with a private buyer the TxDMV tells sellers to go along so the title application really gets filed. The transfer is filed at a county tax assessor-collector office, the “county tax office.” Harris County's downtown branch is at 1001 Preston Street. Every branch closes Wednesdays to process title work and opens Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; ownership changes can walk in without an appointment from 8 to noon (HCTax). Salvage or rebuilt title questions go to the TxDMV regional office, 713-316-6100 (Auto FAQ).
My car was towed in Houston. Can it be sold from the lot?
Pickup from a storage lot works. Find the car through HPD's tow line, 713-308-8580, or Findmytowedcar.com, with the VIN or plate (HPD). Storage is charged by the day, so tell us it's on a lot; faster scheduling saves you money. To contest a tow in Harris County, file a written request with a justice court in Precinct 2, 3, 6 or 8 before the 14th business day after the tow; the fee is $54 (JP courts).
Where can I meet a private buyer safely in Houston?
HPD suggests a busy public place, never your home, and during business hours the parking lot of a police station, fire station or library. Bring a friend or family member. Officers won't run serial numbers or witness the sale (HPD).
Title signing, the TxDMV transfer notice and the other paperwork work the same across Texas, so our Texas selling guide covers each step.
Street rules while the car waits
- •24 hours is the longest a vehicle may sit in one spot on a public street (Sec. 26-93).
- •No “for sale” parking. You can't park a car on a roadway to show it for sale, to wash it, or to repair it unless it's an emergency (Sec. 26-98).
- •$1 to $200 a day is the civil fine for those street violations, and each day counts again (Sec. 26-10).
- •$150 a day is the top fine for parking on an unpaved front or side yard in neighborhoods where city council has applied the yard-parking rule (Sec. 28-303, 28-305).