Sell your car in Charleston: running or not, wrecked or flood-damaged
To sell your car in Charleston, WV, send the year, make and miles. The number comes back fast, and the truck comes to you anywhere in the Kanawha Valley.
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Where Charleston car paperwork gets done
- WV DMV Kanawha City regional office. 5707 MacCorkle Ave SE, open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. to noon Saturday. It takes walk-ins, and 304-558-3900 books appointments, same-day included (WV DMV). Selling a late parent's car? Call us and we'll walk through what the DMV will want in your case.
- Kanawha County Sheriff's Tax Office. Pay personal property tax by mail to 409 Virginia St E, Room 120, Charleston 25301, or by card at 304-357-0210 (Sheriff's Tax Office).
- Charleston Parking Operations Center. 915 Quarrier Street, Suite 2, 304-348-8158, for resident permits and parking-ticket questions (City of Charleston).
Where we pick up around Charleston
Pickup is free on both banks of the Kanawha, from downtown in 25301 and Kanawha City in 25304 west through South Charleston and Dunbar to St. Albans (25177) and Nitro. It also reaches Cross Lanes, Sissonville to the north, Elkview up the Elk River, and Hurricane over the Putnam County line.
Pay any Charleston parking tickets before you sell. A ticket left unpaid for ten days costs more; an expired meter goes from $10 to $40 (Sec. 114-3). After that, the municipal court can issue a warrant and notify the DMV (Sec. 114-88). Pay online at charlestonwvpayments.com or at the City Collector's Office, 915 Quarrier Street, Suite 4.
Why a sold car can stay on your Kanawha County tax bill
Kanawha County taxes cars as personal property, and the bill runs a year behind. The Sheriff's Tax Office gives the example that 2025 taxes cover what you owned on July 1, 2024. So a car you sell this fall can still be on the statement mailed next July.
The Kanawha County Assessor requires a property return by October 1 listing what you owned on July 1, so a car you sold before July 1 does not go on that year's return. If a statement still carries a car you no longer had, the Sheriff's Tax Office says to call the Assessor's Office at 304-357-0250.
Cash for your car in Charleston
Under Sec. 50-82 of Charleston's code, a wrecked or dismantled car that can't pass the state inspection is a junked vehicle if it sits outside an enclosed building, and an inoperative car abandoned for more than five days is an abandoned one.
Before police tow either kind off private property, they must send the property owner and the car's owner 30 days' notice by certified mail that it will be taken unless it is restored to working use (Sec. 50-86). Leaving a junked car on a street or on land you don't control is a misdemeanor: up to $500, and each day is a new offense (Sec. 50-84, 50-90).
Selling it before that letter comes is simpler. A non-runner still gets an offer; if it sits on a steep driveway or a hollow road, say so, and the truck comes with a winch. Start with our offer page for junk and non-running cars.
If the Elk or the Kanawha got into the car, or a wreck left it undrivable, see selling a flood-damaged or wrecked car; if the insurer has already called it a total loss, selling a totaled car explains the salvage title that comes next. A blown engine is covered in selling a car with a blown engine.
Unpaid Charleston tickets and the city pound
- •Five or more unpaid parking tickets within 12 months make a car a public nuisance that can be booted or towed to a city pound at the owner's cost (Sec. 114-122; 114-123)
- •The registered owner is presumed to have owned the car when those tickets were written, unless someone took it without consent (Sec. 114-126)
- •Unclaimed 60 days after the mailed notice, title passes to the city, and the car goes to public auction no sooner than 30 days later (Sec. 114-125)
Asked by Charleston sellers
Is there a watched place in Charleston to meet someone answering my ad?
The Capitol Police run a Safe Zone on the Capitol Complex for in-person deals arranged online: the bus turnaround between the Culture Center and the West Virginia Veterans Memorial, entered from Greenbrier Street and Washington Street East and open daily 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. The curb is painted green, cameras watch it, and you can call 304-558-9911 to have an officer there.
I have a Charleston resident parking permit. What happens to it when I sell the car?
Each permit is good only for the vehicle named on it, so you surrender the old permit before a new one is issued for your next car. Permits cost $25 a year from the Parking Operations Center. Parking in a resident-only zone without a valid permit is a $75 ticket, or $110 if paid after ten days.
I drive the Turnpike out of Charleston. What should I do about my E-ZPass?
Take the car off your WV E-ZPass account before it leaves. You can update your vehicle information online after logging in, or get help in person at the E-ZPass Customer Service Center, 3310 Piedmont Road in Charleston (304-926-1900).
The Elk or the Kanawha got into my car. Will you still make an offer?
Water history lowers the number, but the car still gets an offer. If the June 23, 2016 flood or a later one reached your car, our flood-car guide covers what to check and what a buyer must be told.
Our West Virginia page covers the title and WV DMV paperwork, which works the same in Kanawha County as anywhere else in the state.