Should I renew the registration on my junk car?

Not too long ago, you were driving your vehicle on a regular basis. That was before it earned “junk car status.” You’d take it to and from work, or use it to run to the store on the weekends. It ran reliably for many, many years.

A while back, though, something went wrong. A major repair cropped up. Maybe the head gasket blew, or the transmission completely gave out. Whatever happened, it’s going to cost thousands of dollars to fix. So, you parked the car, and there it’s sat for months and months.

Maybe you’ve gotten a new vehicle, or you’re borrowing one from a friend. Maybe you’ve started biking or using public transit. Whatever the situation, you’ve got an old junk car parked in your driveway (or yard, or garage, or on the street) that’s just collecting dust.

Then, one day, it hits you: your registration! You never renewed it. Well, you’re planning on selling the junk car anyway. Do you really need to renew your registration? Wouldn’t that just be a waste of money? Not necessarily. Read on to learn more about what you should do.

Grace period

First off, find out whether your state’s DMV offers a grace period for registration renewal. To figure out whether or not your state offers something along these lines, just call your local DMV and ask. You may still be within the grace period, in which case you can simply renew your registration right then and there without a penalty.

Penalties for late registration

If you’re outside of the grace period, or if you live in a state that doesn’t have one, there will likely be a fine or other penalty associated with your lapsed registration. Again, your local DMV office can tell you what that fine will be. Some states charge a flat penalty, while others charge a different amount depending on how expired your registration is. It’s therefore crucial to find out what the penalty is in your state, and go from there.

Sell your vehicle

If you don’t plan on driving the car, it’s possible to remove the plates, turn them into the DMV, and allow the registration to lapse. As long as you’re not still operating the vehicle, and you’ve turned in the plates, there shouldn’t be any penalty associated with the registration expiring. When you go to sell your car, you’ll need to draft a bill of sale and transfer the title to the new owner.

In the meantime, keep in mind that many cities and counties will fine you for having a “junk car” sitting on the street alongside your property. If you’ve taken the tags off of a vehicle and it’s no longer registered, you could be fined a significant amount of money.

So, the bottom line is that you should sell that old clunker as soon as possible. The sooner it’s gone, the less you have to worry about. When you’re ready to sell, choose a junk car buyer with top customer service and an excellent reputation, like Junk Car Traders.We offer top notch costumer service, great quotes, free towing, and cash payouts. We also can work all over the country. If you have a junk car in Main or Michigan don’t let it sit any longer.

References

https://www.dmv.org/articles/registration-renewal-grace-periods-how-long-do-you-have/