Sell your car in Morgantown: running, damaged or won't start
A car left sitting in Morgantown can be towed by the City or by WVU. Selling it takes a cash offer online, in minutes, and free pickup wherever it's parked, from a numbered WVU lot to a driveway outside town.
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Selling a car parked in Morgantown, step by step
- Describe it as it is. Worn brakes, a slipping clutch, a car that won't start: say so on the form, and the offer is based on what you describe. If another person must sign, call and we'll line up the signatures with the pickup.
- Book the pickup before you lose the spot. Pickup books around your move-out day or lease end. After the lease ends, a car left in the lot without permission can be moved by the property owner, and the car's owner pays the removal costs (Sec. 361.04).
- Close the WVU account. A campus permit is tied to you and that car and can't be transferred. Return it to the Parking Management Office in Mountaineer Station to end charges or get any refund due (policy). If another car replaces this one, update the plate in the Parking Portal, since plate-reading cameras check campus lots (WVU Parking).
Where we pick up around Morgantown
We come to wherever the car actually lives: a numbered lot in Evansdale, a Sunnyside street, a driveway in Brookhaven. That covers Morgantown's own streets and the communities around them, including Westover, Star City, Granville, Sabraton and Maidsville. Pickup also reaches east to Cheat Lake (26508) and south down I-79 to Fairmont (26554).
Winter on a side street. The City's snow plan clears major arterials and busy collector streets first, then secondary roads, and dead-end streets come last (City of Morgantown). Police can impound an illegally parked car that gets in the way of snow removal (Sec. 307.01). If yours sits on a dead end or a narrow side street, mention it when you book the pickup.
Clear the campus tickets before the car goes
If the car is parked on WVU property, the University's parking policy follows it to the sale. A car with $100 or more in unpaid campus citations can be towed, and Parking Management may keep it, with a lien for the amount due, until they're paid. Students with unpaid fines can also get an academic hold that blocks class registration and transcripts (WVU parking policy).
So check the Parking Portal before you book the pickup. If a ticket was wrong, the appeal must be filed within ten business days of the citation.
Cash for your car in Morgantown
City code sets a deadline for junk cars in Morgantown. A non-operating, wrecked or partly dismantled vehicle may not stay on a property for more than 15 days unless it's inside an enclosed building (Sec. 361.07). Code Enforcement ranks inoperable and abandoned vehicles No. 6 on its “Dirty Dozen” of the most-violated property codes (City of Morgantown).
Getting cash for cars in Morgantown that are old, damaged or no longer run starts with the same offer online. Pickup is free and comes to the car, so it doesn't have to drive anywhere. If the car is finished for good, start at our junk car page.
If the car is sitting in a driveway or a WVU lot because the engine seized or the transmission started slipping, read selling a car with a seized engine or selling a car whose transmission slips. If a wreck is why it hasn't moved, selling a car after an accident covers that sale.
What a car that sits can cost here
- •48 hours is the longest a car may stay parked on a city street, and the Municipal Court fine for that, or for an abandoned car with expired registration or inspection, is $30 (Sec. 361.12; fine schedule)
- •Two unanswered tickets are enough for city police to impound a car, and a car with an unsettled past ticket can be booted (Sec. 307.01, 307.08)
- •$93.50 is WVU's tow fee for a car not moved out of certain permit lots before a home football game. Towed cars go to Area 46 on the Evansdale campus (WVU Parking)
Asked by Morgantown sellers
Do I have to visit the DMV to sell my car in Morgantown?
Not for the offer or the pickup. If you need a replacement title first, the WV DMV's Morgantown regional office is at 1525 Deckers Creek Blvd, open weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., for walk-ins or same-day appointments (WV DMV).
I sold my car. Do I still owe Monongalia County's car tax?
It depends on the date. The county taxes personal property to whoever owned it on July 1, and the return due October 1 lists what you owned that day (Monongalia County Assessor). A car sold before July 1 stays off that year's return. The Sheriff's Tax Office at 243 High St., Room 300, collects the bill (Sheriff).
My car won't start in a WVU lot. What now?
Call University Police at 304-293-3136, any hour. An officer will come to jump-start it anywhere on the WVU campus, when staff are available (WVU Police). If it still won't start, leave it where it is and say so on the form.
An online buyer wants to send a check and have me send some back. Is that normal?
Treat it as a warning sign. On March 9, 2026, WVU Police told students to “ask questions before any kind of large transaction” and not to rush money back after a check is deposited into their account, since they could be responsible during the check's float time (WVU Today).
Everything the state asks of a seller is covered in our West Virginia guide.