Sell your car in Norfolk: running or not, wrecked or flood-damaged
Selling a car in Norfolk, VA? Describe it online and an instant offer comes back in minutes. Take it, and free pickup comes to your address on the date you pick. Here is Norfolk's side of it: street rules, the Navy's lots and the city car tax.
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Three steps, ending at City Hall
- 1. Ask for the offer. Mileage and condition go into the instant offer, and high miles don't rule one out.
- 2. Pick the pickup date. Once you have dates, pickup at your address can usually happen within the same week. If you can't be there, an already signed title lets the sale go ahead without you.
- 3. Report the sale to the city. Use the Commissioner of the Revenue's online form, or report it in person at City Hall, the same office that runs Norfolk's DMV Select.
Where we pick up around Norfolk
Pickup comes to your address anywhere in Norfolk, from downtown (23510), West Ghent and Lamberts Point to Military Circle (23502) and Ocean View (23503). It also goes through the Downtown and Midtown tunnels to Portsmouth, through the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel to Hampton, Newport News and Poquoson, and on to Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Suffolk and Smithfield.
One office, two jobs. At City Hall, 810 Union Street, First Floor West Wing, the Commissioner of the Revenue is Norfolk's DMV Select and also records a car's sale for the city car tax. Walk-ins are served first come, first served, weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 3:45 p.m., for titles, registrations and plates, not driver's licenses. Virginia DMV's own customer service centers are at Military Circle and on Widgeon Road.
Ship, store or sell: your options on Navy orders
Ship it. On overseas orders the government generally pays to ship one vehicle, if the overseas installation allows it. Cars are turned in at the military's Norfolk VPC in Chesapeake, with no more than a quarter tank of gas.
Store it. The station's own MWR storage takes boats, jet skis, travel trailers and campers. For a car, the vehicle storage lot at NSA Hampton Roads HQ, on Noemfoor Avenue, charges $240 for six months or $450 a year; tags, registration and insurance must stay current.
Sell it on base. The MWR Resale & Impound Lot at 314 10th Ave. charges $25 for two weeks. You must own the car, sign it up there in person, keep it registered, insured and drivable, and be able to move it on 24 hours' notice.
Or take an offer. Pickup goes anywhere we're allowed to drive, but visitors without base credentials may be sent to the Visitor Control Center on Hampton Boulevard first, so an off-base address is usually easier. For timing, read how to sell your car before a PCS move.
When the city opens its garages to your car
When tides are forecast to reach 4.5 feet or higher at Sewells Point, Norfolk's Office of Emergency Management can switch on the city's Parking Strategy for Flooding Events. Residents may then move cars into designated city garages and lots, from Ocean View Elementary School to the York Street Garage, for the dates given through Norfolk Alert. A car left past the window can be ticketed and towed.
If the car has already taken on water, say so when you ask for an offer; a flood-damaged car can still be sold. Here's what a flood history changes.
Cash for your car in Norfolk
If you want cash for a junk car in Norfolk, an old, wrecked or non-running car isn't ruled out: ask for an offer, and pickup comes to where it's parked. Until then, keep it on pavement. In residential districts, Norfolk's code bars parking or storing a car on grass or dirt in a front, corner side or buffer yard. See how selling a junk car works.
For a car that sat in tidal floodwater or came out of a crash, our guide to selling a car with flood or crash damage sets out what the damage means for a sale, and the one on selling a car after an insurance total loss covers the payout, the buyback and the salvage title. If it quit on its own, see selling a car with a knocking engine or selling a car with no reverse or a failed CVT.
How long a stalled car can sit in Norfolk
- •4 days in one spot without a current plate or valid inspection, and the code presumes a car abandoned (City Code § 25-593)
- •$50 a day in storage at the city tow lot after the first 24 hours (Towing & Recovery)
- •40 days unclaimed, and the car is auctioned or goes to a state-run junk car program (Towing & Recovery)
Asked by Norfolk sellers
Does a car parked on a Norfolk street need a current plate and inspection?
It needs both. Norfolk's code bars parking on any street, alley or public place without a current state license plate and a current inspection displayed. A car that has lapsed on either should wait on your driveway or other paved space until pickup.
Which Norfolk police stations have an E-Commerce Exchange Zone?
Three patrol divisions, all under 24-hour video. The First Patrol Division lobby, 3661 E. Virginia Beach Blvd., never closes, but parking there is limited. The Second (2500 N. Military Highway) and Third (901 Asbury Avenue) divisions keep reserved parking open 24 hours.
Will my tunnel Toll Relief carry over after the sale?
It follows the transponder, not the car. Norfolk and Portsmouth residents earning under $50,000 can get 100% off up to 14 Downtown and Midtown tunnel trips a week, but only through a designated Virginia E-ZPass transponder mounted on the windshield of the car you drive. Take it off before pickup. The Norfolk E-ZPass Customer Service Center is at 1701 Church Street.
What will the Norfolk tow lot collect before releasing a car?
Everything owed to the city: towing charges, any unpaid parking tickets and delinquent taxes are all due when you collect the car. Bring your registration or title, or proof of insurance, plus a government-issued photo ID to Towing & Recovery, 1188 A Lance Road.
Virginia's title, plate and sale-notice steps are the same in every city; they're on our Virginia page.