Sell your car in Madison: running, not running or before you move out
Selling your car in Madison, WI before a move comes down to three dates: when the lease ends, when the truck comes, and how long the car can stay where it's parked. Ask for a firm cash offer online, and we come to you for a free pickup anywhere in Dane County.
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Madison permits and tickets to settle before the car goes
- Cancel or return a UW–Madison parking permit. Transportation Services says a permit you no longer need must be canceled or returned. Paid by card, check or cash? It may qualify for a prorated refund. Payroll deductions keep coming until you return it to Transportation Services.
- Skip next year's residential parking permit. City permits run September 1 to August 31, applications for the next year open in July, and the fees aren't refunded. If this is your only car and it will be sold before September, you won't need one.
- Look up unpaid City parking tickets. The City's Parking Tickets site finds citations by plate number or VIN. Clear anything still on the car before you hand over the keys.
Where we pick up around Madison
Free pickup covers every Madison ZIP and the rest of Dane County, including Sun Prairie, Fitchburg and the lake towns of Monona and McFarland. We come to where the car is: an apartment garage off the isthmus, an office lot in Verona, a driveway in Middleton. It just has to be somewhere we can legally load it. Payment comes before your signature on the title.
Selling between November 15 and March 15? That's Madison's alternate side parking season. Outside the Snow Emergency Zone, a car on the street must be on the odd-numbered side on odd dates and the even side on even dates, 1 to 7 a.m. Inside the zone (the downtown isthmus and nearby neighborhoods such as Vilas and Tenney-Lapham), that applies only during a declared Snow Emergency. Outside the zone, a car that won't start will soon be parked on the wrong side, so put its street and side in the form.
Moving out around August 15
The City's Streets Division calls them the annual downtown August moving days: thousands of residents change homes on or around August 15 along the isthmus. In 2026 its crews ran extra collections from August 3 to 21 and hauled more than a million pounds of extra material to the landfill. If your lease ends that week, the car is one more thing to clear out. Offers hold for days, so ask early and book pickup ahead of the busiest days.
Watch the curb, too. Temporary No Parking signs for a moving truck come from the City's Parking Division at 608-266-4761, and they must be posted at least 48 hours ahead to be enforceable. If the car sits where the truck needs to go, have it picked up before the signs take effect.
Cash for your car in Madison
Looking for cash for cars in Madison, WI because one has stopped running? Know the City's timeline. When an inspector sees an inoperable vehicle on private property, the property owner gets an Official Notice to remove it by a due date, usually two to four weeks out. If it's still there, tickets follow: $172, then $298, then $361, each with a new due date. After the third, the car is tagged and towed in 72 hours.
The Inspection Unit may allow more time when someone is actively working to repair or remove the car, so if a notice has arrived, don't wait for the first ticket. You can get an offer on an old, wrecked or non-running car as it sits, and pickup is free. See our junk car page.
Before paying to fix a blown engine or a failing transmission just to buy more time, read selling a car with a blown engine or selling a car with a failing transmission; both compare the cost of the fix with the car's value. A wrecked car is covered in selling an accident-damaged car.
What a Snow Emergency means for a parked car
- •Breaking winter parking rules costs $20 on an ordinary night and $60 during a declared Snow Emergency. If the City tows the car, a $115 towing fee is added to the ticket (City of Madison fines and towing)
- •The City declares a Snow Emergency when it needs to plow every residential street, usually at 3 inches or more of snow on the roads. It usually lasts two days and is always declared before 9 p.m. on the night it starts (City of Madison)
- •During a declared Snow Emergency, gated sections of City-operated garages are free from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m., except the top level, and the Brittingham Park Shelter lot at 829 W Washington Ave. is open too (City of Madison)
Asked by Madison sellers
What is a Street Storage Citation in Madison?
The ticket for leaving a car in the same spot on the street for more than 48 continuous hours. The City mostly writes it in busy parking areas, on complaints, or when snow builds up around a car. A car with expired registration or stickers can't be parked on the street at all; it has to wait on private property.
I moved out and left my car at my old Madison rental. Can I still sell it?
Move quickly, because the property owner can have it towed. Once you no longer live there, the City can treat the car as abandoned: the property owner calls Parking Enforcement at 608-266-4275, and a parking monitor tags it and arranges the tow. Ask for an offer, give us the address, and tell the property owner a pickup is coming.
The police impounded my car in Madison. How do I get it released?
Call the Madison Police Department at 608-266-4170 first to confirm what's owed and how you can pay. Bring a driver's license or photo ID and arrive before 3:30 p.m. If you aren't the registered owner, you also need an original notarized letter from the owner listing the make, model, plate, VIN and your name.
We went electric. What does keeping the old car cost in Madison?
Every registration renewal for a car kept in Madison includes two local wheel taxes that WisDOT collects: $40 for the City and $40 for Dane County, on top of the state fee. That's $80 a year before the car moves an inch. (Fitchburg's city wheel tax is also $40; Sun Prairie's is $30.)
Leaving Wisconsin after the sale? The state paperwork to finish first is on our Wisconsin selling guide.