Selling a junk or dead car in Connecticut

One state office handles every title

Connecticut has no county or town title offices. The state Department of Motor Vehicles issues all titles, from its main office at 60 State Street in Wethersfield and from hub offices around the state. Full-service hubs do every job. Limited-service and express offices, run by partners, do fewer. Most take appointments.

What the seller does:

• Put your signature on the reverse side of the title.
• Hand your Connecticut buyer a bill of sale along with the title you signed.
• Hold on to copies.

The DMV's checklist for sellers has no notary step. Form H-31 works as the bill of sale, or you can draft your own. A homemade one still needs certain details: who is buying and who is selling, with addresses; the car's year, make, model, color and VIN; what was paid and when; and the seller's signature at the bottom.

From there the buyer registers the car and applies for a fresh title.

Your plates, your cancellation

Connecticut plates belong to the seller. Unscrew them before the car leaves, then cancel the registration with the DMV. Online, that takes about 7 minutes.

Don't skip this step. Until the registration is cancelled, the car is still on your town's property-tax list. Should a Connecticut town still send a tax bill after the sale, show the assessor your cancellation receipt along with a copy of the bill of sale.

Some cars qualify for a registration refund. When yours does, the online cancellation screen asks whether you want one, and the check comes from the State Comptroller.

The receipt is your release of liability

There is no Connecticut form for telling the DMV you sold, and none called a release of liability. The cancellation receipt, which the DMV calls a plate disposition receipt, proves the registration ended. Keep your liability insurance until the DMV has cancelled.

One more reason to close things out: a town that lists you as tax delinquent can report it, and from then on no registration in your name gets approved.

Cars over 20 years old, and lost titles

Connecticut does not title cars more than 20 model years old (C.G.S. 14-166). No title is issued or required. For those, the paperwork is Form Q-1 (a supplemental assignment) plus the latest registration certificate, both handed to the buyer. If anyone doubts the exemption, the DMV's own exemption letter settles it.

Newer cars need their title to be junked. Chapter 246 bars a recycler from receiving a car that must be titled without that title (an insurer's copy also works), and the recycler stamps it "JUNKED".

Lost the title on a newer car? A replacement costs $25. The form is H-6B, and the new title comes by mail within 20 business days. See selling with no title.

Salvage and other title brands

Connecticut has no percentage-of-value rule for salvage. The brand comes from the insurer. A total loss it takes and resells gets "SALVAGE" stamped on the title. Count ten or more major component parts ruined beyond repair, and the stamp becomes "SALVAGE PARTS ONLY", meaning the car can never be rebuilt.

Before a SALVAGE car can be driven again, the DMV has to inspect it and re-title it. The DMV may also brand titles REBUILT, UNREPAIRABLE, FLOOD, GLIDER KIT, MANUFACTURER BUYBACK, BOND POSTED, or WARNING: ODOMETER DISCREPANCY. FLOOD is added for water damage once an insurer has called the car salvage or taken it in a claim. Read more in our salvage title guide.

What state law says about junk and abandoned cars

Abandoning a car is an infraction in Connecticut once it passes 24 hours, whether the spot is a highway or private land you don't own. Expect a fine of $85 or more.

State police, DMV inspectors and local police can take custody of any car that is "a menace to traffic or public health or safety", on a highway or off it. Officers can also put a notification sticker on a car that seems abandoned or carries no registration. One day later it can be hauled to storage, and the owner pays.

Some cars go straight to the town. Picture one missing valid plates, apparently abandoned, worth $500 or less and unusable. Title to that car vests in the town, and a recycler takes it. For a year afterward, the former owner may claim what the town got for it (or fair market value, whichever is more), minus costs.

Blight ordinances are a town matter. The statute requires the town to notify the owner in writing and allow reasonable time to correct things. It never mentions vehicles, so each town's own ordinance decides whether a junk car counts. Our town pages quote that local code where we found it.

Towed or impounded

Notice goes out fast: certified mail to owner and lienholders inside 48 hours of the tow, from police or the parking authority. The owner then has 10 days to dispute it. A car valued at $1,500 or less may be sold 15 days on; a pricier one waits 45 days. Cars already vested in the town follow the rule above. More in towed or impounded.

Emissions tests across the whole state

Connecticut tests emissions everywhere, not just in some counties. Cars are tested every two years at more than 200 private service stations. The test costs $20.

Exempt vehicles include the four newest model years, model year 2001 and older, vehicles of 10,001 pounds GVWR or more, fully electric cars, motorcycles and farm vehicles. Miss the test, or let insurance lapse, and the DMV may suspend the registration. For a car that won't pass, selling it ends the cycle.

A Connecticut sale in four steps

1. Check the model year. Over 20 years old, find the registration and Form Q-1. Newer, find the title or order a replacement.
2. Ask us for an offer. Mention if it starts and the town it sits in.
3. Sign over the title, fill in the bill of sale, and photograph both.
4. Pull the plates and cancel the registration, then save the receipt for the assessor.

Connecticut's largest cities

Pickup is free in all of them. Populations are the Census Bureau's latest estimates.

Every Connecticut town page

Each page covers that town's own rules where we found them:

Bridgeport, Stamford, New Haven, Hartford, Waterbury, Norwalk, Danbury, New Britain, Fairfield, Greenwich, West Hartford, Bristol, Hamden, Meriden, Manchester, West Haven, Stratford, East Hartford, Middletown, Wallingford, Southington, Shelton, Enfield, Norwich, Groton, Trumbull, Torrington, Glastonbury, Naugatuck, Newington, Cheshire, Vernon, Windsor, Mansfield, New Milford, Branford, Farmington, Westport, Newtown, New London, East Haven, Wethersfield, South Windsor, Simsbury, Ridgefield, North Haven, Windham, Darien, Watertown, Guilford, Bloomfield, Bethel, Rocky Hill, New Canaan, Berlin, Southbury, Waterford.

Your town isn't listed? We still sell the whole car as it sits from anywhere in the state. Call (877) 421-6008.

Cities and towns in Connecticut

• Berlin
• Bethel
• Bloomfield
• Branford
• Bridgeport
• Bristol
• Cheshire
• Danbury
• Darien
• East Hartford
• East Haven
• Enfield
• Fairfield
• Farmington
• Glastonbury
• Greenwich
• Groton
• Guilford
• Hamden
• Hartford
• Manchester
• Mansfield
• Meriden
• Middletown
• Naugatuck
• New Britain
• New Canaan
• New Haven
• New London
• New Milford
• Newington
• Newtown
• North Haven
• Norwalk
• Norwich
• Ridgefield
• Rocky Hill
• Shelton
• Simsbury
• South Windsor
• Southbury
• Southington
• Stamford
• Stratford
• Torrington
• Trumbull
• Vernon
• Wallingford
• Waterbury
• Waterford
• Watertown
• West Hartford
• West Haven
• Westport
• Wethersfield
• Windham
• Windsor