Used Cars in Clifton, NJ

Clifton is 91,127 people across 11.28 square miles, the second largest city in Passaic County and the eleventh most populous municipality in New Jersey. It runs 59.6% owner occupancy, 2.65 people per household, a median household income of $98,237, and 56.3% of residents speak a language other than English at home.

The useful geographic accident is that both Apex Motors lots sit on Route 46, the road that runs east to west straight through Clifton. South Hackensack is about 9.5 miles east; Pine Brook is about 11.7 miles west. Whichever end of the city you are on, one of our lots is a straight run down a road you already drive.

Why buy a used car in Clifton

Clifton bans overnight street parking of work vehicles, city-wide

This is the single most important thing to know before you buy anything large here, and it catches people out constantly. Clifton’s code prohibits parking on any street, highway or public place in the city between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. every day for omnibuses, school buses, pole trailers, road tractors, trailers, semitrailers, truck tractors, tow trucks, taxis and limousines — and separately for any vehicle over four tons registered gross vehicle weight or over 25 feet in overall length, plus any flat beds.

Fines run to $250 and vehicles in violation are towed at the owner’s expense. If you are buying a pickup, a van or anything on the larger end, get the GVWR and the overall length before you sign, and know where it will sleep. A mid-size pickup is usually the practical ceiling for street parking here. Confirm the current ordinance with the city — municipal codes get amended.

Two rail stations and five highways in eleven square miles

Clifton has Route 3, Route 21, Route 19, Route 46 and the Garden State Parkway running through it, plus two Main Line rail stations — Clifton and Delawanna — to Hoboken and Suffern. Clifton station has 236 parking spaces across two lots at Elm Street and Clifton Boulevard. Buses 190, 191, 192 and 195 reach the Port Authority. Mean travel time to work is 28.3 minutes. For a city its size, that is unusually good coverage, and it means Clifton households genuinely do run one commuter car and one everything-else car.

A mixed market, not a single one

59.6% owner occupancy and a $98,237 median income put Clifton between its neighbours — considerably better off than Paterson or Passaic, considerably less so than Wayne or Fair Lawn. In practice that means the full range: first cars, family SUVs, work vehicles and second cars. There is also a residential permit scheme, at $10 for two calendar years, with hours that vary street by street and a limit of three visitor permits per dwelling.

Neighbourhoods we cover

Clifton’s named sections — Botany Village, Athenia, Allwood, Delawanna, Richfield, Dutch Hill, Montclair Heights — are genuinely distinct places, and several already appear on our Honda and Toyota pages for Clifton. Dedicated neighbourhood pages for Botany Village and Athenia are planned.

What a used car actually costs in Clifton

New Jersey charges 6.625% sales tax on a used vehicle, and it is calculated after your trade-in allowance comes off — so a trade-in lowers the tax as well as the price. Three things have to line up: the trade-in is a motor vehicle, it goes to a registered dealer for resale, and the purchase and the trade-in happen at the same time. Sell your old car privately first and the credit is gone.

The title fee is $60 outright, $85 with financing attached. Registration is charged on weight and model year rather than value. Most used passenger cars land between $46.50 and $84 a year. The MVC publishes a calculator if you want the exact figure for a specific car.

Documentation fees are uncapped in New Jersey, which sounds worse than it is once you know the other half of the rule — the advertised price is required to include them, with only licensing costs, registration fees and taxes allowed to sit outside it. Each documentary service also has to be itemised on the sale document in at least 10-point type.

A dealer purchase keeps you out of the MVC. The title and registration paperwork is ours to file, and you leave on a temporary registration while it processes. For reference, the nearest licensing centre is Paterson at 125 Broadway, the nearest vehicle centre is Wallington at 450 Main Avenue, and the only state inspection station in Passaic County is Wayne at 481 Route 46 West. Lodi is nearer as the crow flies but its inspection lanes are currently listed as temporarily closed.

Distance and directions

From Clifton to Apex Motors of South Hackensack

About 9.5 miles east on Route 46 — thirteen or fourteen minutes when the road is clear, longer at peak. If you are at the eastern end of the city, this is your lot.

From Clifton to Apex Motors of Pine Brook

About 11.7 miles west on Route 46 — around sixteen minutes free-flowing. If you are at the western end, near Montclair Heights or Albion, Pine Brook is barely further than South Hackensack and often the easier drive.

Sunday closing

Both lots close Sundays. New Jersey makes buying or selling motor vehicles on a Sunday a disorderly persons offence statewide — this is a state rule, not a county one, and it applies to our Morris County lot too.