Arizona junk car sales, start to finish

Where Arizona titles are handled

ADOT's Motor Vehicle Division handles titles. Arizona counties don't handle titles. Arizona handles this at MVD offices and authorized Third Party providers. Much of it runs online through AZ MVD Now. Arizona titles live in MVD's computer now, and a paper copy is no longer mailed out as standard.

Two ways to transfer:

1. Use eTitle Transfer online.
2. With an Arizona paper title, sign the back and give it over when the car leaves.

ADOT MVD's steps for sellers include no notary. If two or more people own the car, the OR, AND or AND/OR between their names sets who signs. Most 2011-and-newer vehicles also need the mileage disclosed.

For Arizona-titled cars, MVD's form 38-1306 is a ready-made bill of sale. An Arizona buyer gets 15 days to apply for the new title.

Your plate stays yours

In Arizona the plate belongs to the seller (ARS 28-2356). Pull it before the new owner leaves with the car.

The registration ends with the sale. An Arizona plate then needs one of three things inside 30 days: go on another vehicle, go back to MVD, or get an affidavit stating it was destroyed. Arizona MVD can also credit unused registration fees back to you, minus a $12 processing fee.

Why the Sold Notice matters

It costs nothing. You have 10 calendar days, and you can file through AZMVDNow.gov or with paper form 46-8502.

Skip it, and MVD records may keep your name on the car. That gets expensive if the car is later dumped: the abandoned-vehicle fee is $500 or higher. ARS 28-4835 says a filed transfer report overturns the assumption that the last registered owner left the car behind.

The no-title scrap sale

ARS 28-2098 lets some cars go to scrap without a title. That buyer has to be a registered scrap metal dealer or an automotive recycler licensed by Arizona, and no one else. The car must meet three conditions:

• 12 model years or older
• valued at $1,200 or below
• never titled by the owner, or its title lost or returned to MVD

The dealer photographs the seller, the car and the VIN, and pays by check rather than cash. You sign a statement that no lien exists and the car will be scrapped or dismantled. After reporting, the dealer waits 3 business days before crushing. Lying on that statement, or selling a car with a lien still owed, is a class 1 misdemeanor carrying a $2,500 fine.

Newer or pricier cars need a replacement title: $4 online through AZ MVD Now (Title Replacement), or form 96-0236 by mail. One owner's signature covers it; mail can take up to six weeks. See selling with no title.

Branded titles in Arizona

Arizona issues salvage, restored salvage, nonrepairable and stolen-vehicle certificates of title (ARS 28-2091). There's no damage percentage. A car is salvage when its owner, lessor, lender or insurer decides fixing it isn't economical.

Water damage has separate flood salvage and flood restored salvage titles under ARS 28-2096. ARS 28-2003 sets $4 for each title, salvage, restored salvage or nonrepairable certificate. More in the salvage title guide and on flood-damaged cars.

Abandoned and junk cars under state law

Under ARS 28-4831, leaving a vehicle behind is banned anywhere in Arizona, even on private land. Left unattended 72 hours on public or private land, or 48 hours in a road right-of-way, a car is "prima facie evidence" of abandonment.

Arizona's junk vehicle is one so deteriorated that dismantling, salvaging or restoring it can't turn a profit. After notice, MVD can let the landowner or a recycler dispose of it.

Towns and cities may adopt their own removal ordinances (ARS 28-4833). Expired tags alone don't make a tenant's car in its assigned space abandoned. Most of the town pages linked below quote the local code.

Towing and the owner's bill

Towing from private property takes the landowner's signed authorization on MVD's form. In an Arizona county under 1.5 million people, a landowner who reports the car within 48 hours can bill up to $5 a day for storage, capped at $500.

MVD mails the owner and lienholder a notice, within 5 days if Arizona has the record and within 30 days if not. A 30-day claim window follows. If nobody claims a car that isn't stolen, MVD can transfer it lien-free to whoever has it, a tow yard for example.

Whoever was the Arizona owner of record at abandonment also owes MVD a fee, billed at their next registration or license renewal. Back vehicle license tax is a different story: MVD can collect it only from someone who held the car during the unregistered stretch, never from a later buyer. See towed or impounded cars.

Emissions testing: Phoenix and Tucson only

Emissions tests are handled by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality at myAZcar.com, in just two zones:

• Area A: sections of Maricopa, Pinal and Yavapai counties
• Area B: part of Pima County

Exempt: cars five years old or less, cars from 1966 or earlier, and electric vehicles. The rest of Arizona has no test. See failed emissions.

Arizona sale checklist

1. Get an offer. Let us know if it starts and where it's parked.
2. Transfer ownership with eTitle or the paper title.
3. Keep your plate.
4. Send the Sold Notice inside 10 days.

Arizona's biggest cities

We pick up free in each. Population numbers are Census estimates.

Every Arizona town page

Phoenix, Tucson, Mesa, Gilbert, Chandler, Glendale, Scottsdale, Peoria, Tempe, Surprise, Buckeye, Goodyear, Yuma, Avondale, Queen Creek, Maricopa, Flagstaff, Casa Grande, Lake Havasu City, Prescott Valley, Prescott, Oro Valley, Apache Junction, Sierra Vista, Bullhead City, San Luis, Sahuarita, Kingman, El Mirage, Florence, Fountain Hills

Questions about a car in Arizona? Call (877) 421-6008.

Cities and towns in Arizona

• Apache Junction
• Avondale
• Buckeye
• Bullhead City
• Casa Grande
• Chandler
• El Mirage
• Flagstaff
• Florence
• Fountain Hills
• Gilbert
• Glendale
• Goodyear
• Kingman
• Lake Havasu City
• Maricopa
• Mesa
• Oro Valley
• Peoria
• Phoenix
• Prescott
• Prescott Valley
• Queen Creek
• Sahuarita
• San Luis
• Scottsdale
• Sierra Vista
• Surprise
• Tempe
• Tucson
• Yuma