Sell your car in Suffolk: running, inoperable or towed by the city
In Suffolk, one inoperable vehicle may be kept on private property for 180 days, and only in a garage or fully covered. Our buying partner's cash offer starts with a short online form, and the free pickup goes to the car, downtown or out in North Suffolk.
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Getting a towed inoperable car back in Suffolk
- Find the tow sheet. When the City tows an inoperable vehicle from private property, a tow sheet notification form is left at the location (City of Suffolk).
- Call the tow company and prove the car is yours. The city's answer is to contact the tow company and demonstrate that you own the vehicle.
- Settle up with the tow company. Any fees that are due go to the tow company when you pick the car up (City of Suffolk FAQ). Once it's back, it can be sold as it is; say it doesn't run, and that it was towed, when you ask for an offer.
Where we pick up around Suffolk
Pickup is free anywhere in Suffolk, from the streets around City Hall on West Washington Street out to North Suffolk. If the car sits down a long lane, behind an outbuilding or at a relative's place, tell us how a truck gets to it; reaching it costs you nothing.
E-ZPass for the next car. The Centerbrooke Lane DMV center sells standard and Flex E-ZPass transponders, though full-service account management isn't offered there (Virginia DMV). If your drives take you through the Downtown or Midtown tunnel between Portsmouth and Norfolk, VDOT says E-ZPass is how you pay the lowest toll (VDOT).
How Suffolk values a car on the tax bill
Suffolk values motor vehicles from the J.D. Power Official Used Car Guide, using the guide's “clean loan” value as of January 1 (Personal Property Tax). That's the Commissioner of the Revenue's job, and the office's main number is 757-514-4260 (Commissioner of the Revenue).
If you've sold the car, or are about to, that's the office to ask how the sale affects your bill; have the sale date ready when you call.
Cash for your car in Suffolk
Suffolk's limit is one inoperable vehicle, stored in a garage or fully covered, for 180 days on private property (City of Suffolk). The city takes property maintenance complaints online, and its examples include inoperable vehicles parked on property (Report Code Violations).
State law backs the city here. Suffolk is one of the cities named in Virginia Code § 15.2-905, which allows a ban on inoperable vehicles left outside a building unless shielded or screened from view (Virginia Code).
If you have two dead cars, the simplest fix is to sell one and keep the other in the garage or under a full cover. When you ask for an offer, say whether the car is covered or garaged and roughly how long it has sat. Whether it's that second car or a covered one past its 180 days, it can still be sold, and the pickup comes to it free. Our junk car page walks through selling one that's only worth its metal and parts, and how to get rid of an old car compares selling, scrapping and donating.
The DMV customer service center on Centerbrooke Lane
- •1040 Centerbrooke Ln, Suffolk, VA 23434-3815, is the Suffolk DMV customer service center (Virginia DMV)
- •Hours: Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, and Saturday, 8:00 am to 12:00 pm (DMV locations)
- •Three ways to be seen: an appointment, a spot reserved for the day you come in, or walking in (Virginia DMV)
Asked by Suffolk sellers
How many inoperable cars can I keep at my Suffolk house?
One, kept in a garage or fully covered, for 180 days on private property (City of Suffolk).
Can a neighbor report my broken-down car in Suffolk?
Yes. The city's Report Code Violations page takes property maintenance complaints online, lists inoperable vehicles parked on property among its examples, and gives 757-514-4000 as its phone number (City of Suffolk).
I live in North Suffolk. Do I have to go downtown to the tax office?
No. Besides its City Hall office at 442 W Washington St, the Commissioner of the Revenue has a North Suffolk office at 2000 Bennetts Creek Park Rd (Commissioner of the Revenue).
Does Suffolk assess my car at what I paid for it?
No. The city uses the J.D. Power Official Used Car Guide's “clean loan” value as of January 1 (Personal Property Tax), so neither the price you paid nor the price you sell for is the starting figure.
Is the Suffolk DMV center open on Saturday?
Yes. The Centerbrooke Lane center opens Saturday mornings, closing at 12:00 pm, on top of its weekday hours (DMV locations), and it takes appointments, reservations for that day and walk-ins (Virginia DMV).
Virginia's title, plate and sale-notice rules are the same in Suffolk as in the rest of the state, and our Virginia page covers them. If the title is missing on an old car, see junking a car without a title.