Sell your car in Seattle: running, broken down or sitting for months
A spare car costs money in Seattle even parked. Each tab renewal at a Seattle address adds the city's $50 transportation benefit district fee and Sound Transit's 1.1% car-tab tax, and the Sound Transit part isn't refunded if you sell soon after. Get an instant cash offer online, and pickup comes to your curb or garage.
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If the city towed it first
- Find it. Look up the plate or VIN in the city's impound vehicle search (Seattle Municipal Court). Still can't find it? The non-emergency line is (206) 625-5011 (SDOT).
- Bring what the lot asks for. The car goes to the registered owner, with proof of ownership, the registration or title, and photo ID; anyone else needs the owner's notarized statement. A licensed driver has to drive it out, or you pay for a tow from the lot (City of Seattle).
- Can't pay? Ask for a hearing at the tow yard. A magistrate may lower the ticket fines or approve a monthly payment plan. To dispute the tow after you get the car out, ask the lot for an Impound Hearing Request form and get it to the court within 10 days of the tow (Seattle Municipal Court).
Where we pick up around Seattle
Pickup covers every Seattle neighborhood, and a Capitol Hill street spot and an Eastside garage in Bellevue, Kirkland or Redmond are the same trip to us. The area also runs north to Shoreline and south through Burien and Tukwila to Renton and Kent.
Looking for the Washington DMV? King County's own vehicle licensing office is its Customer Service Center at 201 S. Jackson St., second floor, open weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Join its line before you go by texting "Join the CSC Line" to 206-539-0413. The six subagent offices in the city charge the same service fees (King County; office list).
Where a spare car can wait in Seattle
At a house in a neighborhood residential zone, city code generally allows up to three cars parked outside. A driveway that leads to a garage is fine, but a car can't sit within 20 feet of the front lot line or in a side yard that faces the street (City of Seattle).
On the street, the limit is 72 hours on the same block face, whether or not a sign says so. A Restricted Parking Zone permit lets you stay past the posted time limit, but not past that citywide one (SDOT; SDOT RPZ permits).
Cash for your car in Seattle
Seattle's junk-storage rule counts a car that doesn't run as junk. It can't be kept outdoors on your property or the planting strip beside it, only in a garage or off site. Breaking that rule, or the yard rules above, costs $150 the first time and $500 after that (City of Seattle).
A car that has sat for months is squarely in scope. Don't sweat the dead battery or flat-spotted tires: jump-starting it is our problem. Our junk car page explains how cash for junk cars in Seattle works.
If a blown head gasket or a seized engine is why it stopped, selling a car with a blown engine or head gasket weighs the repair against what the car is worth, and selling a car with a bad transmission does the same for a transmission that slips or won't go into reverse.
Car trade-in value in Seattle, with the tax counted
A dealer trade-in carries a tax break a separate sale doesn't. The trade-in value comes off the price before sales tax when the trade and the purchase are one transaction (WAC 458-20-247). Sales tax on a car at a Seattle dealer is at least 10.55% through December 2026 (Department of Revenue), so a $10,000 trade-in saves at least $1,055. Compare our offer with the trade-in number plus that saving. Our guide to trading in versus selling covers the rest.
What a tow or a toll costs here
- •A car towed on police orders costs $297 to retrieve in the city's north zone and $263 in the south zone, plus a $35 city fee. Storage is free for the first 12 hours, then $22 (north) or $19 (south) per 12 hours (Seattle Consumer Protection, 2026 rates)
- •The SR 520 bridge costs $4.90 at weekday peak with a Good To Go! pass and $6.90 by mail. The SR 99 tunnel costs $2.80 from 3 to 6 p.m. on weekdays, $4.80 by mail. Bills go to the name on the Good To Go! account, or by mail to the registered owner on DOL's records (WSDOT: SR 520; SR 99; toll bills)
Asked by Seattle sellers
Can I sell my junk car in Seattle if it's been booted?
Move fast. A boot means four or more unpaid parking tickets in collections put the car on the city's scofflaw list, and it can be booted even when legally parked. You have 48 hours, not counting weekends, to pay the tickets and the boot fee or set up a payment plan, with at least 10% or $200 down, whichever is more. After that, police tow it, and after 15 days in impound it may be auctioned (Seattle Municipal Court).
A Seattle parking or camera ticket came for a car I already sold. What do I do?
Email the Seattle Municipal Court at SMC_SoldVehicles@seattle.gov with the subject "Sold Vehicle," the plate number and state, and the ticket numbers, or call (206) 684-5600. A clerk checks your Report of Sale with the Department of Licensing, and if it shows a sale date before the ticket, the ticket goes to the buyer. The court counts a report as complete only if it has the buyer's full name and complete address (Seattle Municipal Court).
If I sell my car myself in Seattle, WA, where can I meet a buyer safely?
In 2021, after three people reported gunpoint robberies during vehicle deals arranged online, Seattle police pointed buyers and sellers to the public parking lots at the North, South and Southwest precincts (SPD). Those are at 10049 College Way N., 3001 S. Myrtle St. and 2300 SW Webster St. The lobbies open only when staffed, so call ahead (North; South; Southwest).
Can you pick up from a condo or apartment garage downtown?
Usually, yes. Low-clearance parking decks sometimes mean a handoff at street level instead, so describe the garage when we schedule and we'll plan around it. Downtown, check the curb first: a red curb or a tow-away sign means no stopping, even briefly (SDOT).
The paperwork side of a Seattle sale, from the title to the Report of Sale, is covered on our Washington page.