Sell your car in Tacoma: running, dead in the driveway or leaving JBLM
Selling a car in Tacoma can mean getting someone through a JBLM gate, weighing whether to ship the car from Kent instead, or taking it off a Good To Go! account. The offer itself is an instant cash offer online, with pickup where the car is parked.
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Listing a car on a JBLM resale lot
- Register at the Northwest Adventure Center. It's at 8050 NCO Beach Rd. Bring proof of insurance for the car you're selling and its current state registration.
- Park it and show the permit. You get a numbered space and a 14-day Resale Lot Permit to display on or in the car. Take your things out and lock it.
- Pay by the week. A standard car space is $5 a week for up to three weeks, paid weekly or all at once. There's no refund if it sells early, and a full lot means a first-come waiting list.
Where we pick up around Tacoma
Pickup covers Tacoma and reaches addresses on Joint Base Lewis-McChord (98433) and McChord Field, plus Lakewood, Spanaway and Parkland outside the gates. It also runs north to Federal Way, east to Puyallup, and west through University Place and over the Narrows Bridge to Gig Harbor.
Narrows tolls on a Good To Go! account: take the car's plate off the account the day the car is picked up. As of September 2026, the account site warns that if you don't, you may keep being charged tolls for that vehicle.
Shipping it from Kent, or selling it here
If your orders include shipping a car, the Defense Department's shipping rules send you to PCSmyPOV, and the car has to be turned in at a vehicle processing center (VPC). Washington has just one, in Kent; its address and appointment hours are in the box below. The same program also handles vehicle storage for service members.
To sell it yourself on post, JBLM runs its own resale lots, and the steps are further down this page. If you'd rather take an offer, put your report date in the request. Pickup gets built around your clearing appointments, and the sale is set up to finish in days. A title from another state is fine; what sets the pace is having it in hand and knowing whether a lender is listed on it. Our guide to selling before a PCS goes through the timing.
Cash for your car in Tacoma
An August 2021 military news story from JBLM counted more than 500 vehicles abandoned across the base so far that year, from cars and trucks to boats and RVs, and said an abandoned one gets towed off base to a lot for potential resale. Off post, the City of Tacoma says it can't remove an inoperable car from private property and doesn't provide removal service. If you want cash for junk cars in Tacoma, our junk car page explains how selling one in that shape works.
When the car is dead in the driveway with a blown engine or a transmission that slips or won't shift, selling a car with a blown or overheating engine and selling a car with a slipping transmission help you decide whether the repair is worth paying for. If a crash did the damage, start with selling an accident-damaged car.
The VPC and the three resale lots
- •Seattle VPC, 7855 S. 212th St., Kent: by appointment only, with appointments from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday to Friday; 253-948-3488 (PCSmyPOV)
- •JBLM resale lots: Lewis at Kaufman and Pendleton avenues, McChord Field next to the commissary, and a large-vehicle lot at the American Lake Conference Center (JBLM MWR)
Asked by Tacoma sellers
Which JBLM visitor center issues a pass, and when is it open?
Anyone without a DoD ID needs a temporary pass from a Visitor Control Center. The Lewis Main center, off I-5 exit 120, is open 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., and the McChord Field Visitor Center, off exit 125 at Bridgeport Way, is open 6 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., both every day. The clerk checks the driver's license, registration and insurance, a DoD sponsor has to be available by phone, and there's a background check. For a pickup, the simpler plan is usually to meet just outside the gate or at an off-base address in Lakewood or Spanaway. Put the base address in your request and we'll sort the logistics up front.
Where's the vehicle licensing office in Tacoma, and is one open Saturday?
The county's own is the Pierce County Auditor's Office at 2401 S. 35th St., Suite 200, open weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and closed Saturdays. Washington DOL's list for Pierce County has ten other vehicle licensing offices, including ones in Lakewood, Spanaway, University Place and Puyallup, and each of those lists Saturday hours. Every office on that list also offers Quick Titles.
Will one of JBLM's eight storage lots take my car?
JBLM's MWR rents those spaces by the month for privately owned recreational vehicles and lists trailers, camper trailers, motor homes, RV vans, fifth wheels, pickup campers and boats. An everyday car isn't on that list, so check with the Northwest Adventure Center before you count on a space. The lots are for DoD ID cardholders, with active duty living on post first in line, and insurance, registration and tabs have to stay current.
What does Tacoma count as an abandoned car on the street?
A car that stays on a city street for an extended period and meets any one of these: it hasn't moved in a long time, it's unused or inoperable, it's in disrepair, it's missing major parts, or its plates are expired or missing. Anyone can report one to Tacoma FIRST 311 online, in the app, or by dialing 311 inside city limits.
A Narrows Bridge toll bill came after I sold the car. What now?
Dispute it online at MyGoodToGo.com. WSDOT accepts a dispute when you sold the car before the toll happened, and it asks for your Report of Sale with its confirmation number from the Department of Licensing. Have the toll bill in front of you, since it has details the dispute needs.
The title steps themselves are on our Washington page.