Selling a junk or dead car in Washington, DC

The DC DMV issues every title

The District has no counties, so the DC Department of Motor Vehicles is the only title office. It runs service centers with hours that vary by location. Titles are not issued over the counter.

The DMV's selling instructions ask for three things from the seller:

• Sign the title properly and give it to the buyer.
• Remove the tags and return them to the DMV.
• Ask for a refund of the unused registration if more than 6 months remain.

There is no notary step in those instructions. The DMV does not accept altered titles, so sign carefully. In a private deal, the DMV advises the buyer to get a bill of sale. Once the tags are off, a buyer who wants to drive the car to inspection needs a temporary DC registration from a service center.

Tags come off at the sale

The tags belong to you, not the car. You have two choices. Move them to another car you own in the same vehicle class, for a $12 transfer fee, or surrender them. Expired or already surrendered tags can't be moved.

Surrender works through the DMV's Online Tag Cancellation system or by certified mail. The DMV then mails a surrender receipt. Wait for that receipt before you cancel your insurance.

Release of liability means surrendering the tags

DC has no separate seller notice form. Your protection is the tag surrender. Until you surrender them, you are responsible for tickets, violations and infractions tied to those tags. The selling page warns that tags left on a sold car can leave the seller liable for traffic violations committed with it.

Junk Vehicle Certificate, and selling without a title

DC law defines a "Junk Vehicle" as one "incapable of operation for use on the roads or highways with no resale value except as a source of parts or scrap", or one the owner chooses to designate that way. The owner of such a car must apply for a Junk Vehicle Certificate before ownership is transferred and within 30 days of the damage.

If the DC title is gone, every owner signs the Certificate of Title/Temporary Tag Application to get a duplicate. It costs $30. You can apply by mail, in person, or online if nothing on the title changes. If a lien was paid off, bring the lender's letter or the stamped title. The DMV mails the duplicate to the primary owner within 10 business days. More in selling with no title.

Salvage, flood and rebuilt brands

DC does use a percentage. A car is a salvage vehicle when it is damaged, wrecked or submerged so that repairs would cost more than 75 percent of its retail value before the damage, measured by a national value guide. An owner can also declare it salvage. The owner must apply for a Salvage Title before repairs start and within 30 days of the damage.

A "Flood Vehicle" is one submerged until water got into the passenger or trunk space, and its title notes the flood. Other brands are Non-Repairable and Rebuilt Salvage. A salvage car earns the Rebuilt Salvage brand after it passes DC's emissions, safety and anti-theft inspections. Brands from other states carry over. See our salvage title guide.

DC's abandoned and dangerous vehicle law

The District rewrote its rules in 2025. D.C. Law 25-325, in force May 2, 2025, repealed the old Chapter 24 on abandoned and junk vehicle removal. In its place are rules for abandoned and dangerous vehicles at sections 50-2431 and 50-2461 to 50-2465. The Department of Public Works, not the DMV, enforces them.

An "abandoned vehicle" has sat over 48 hours on public space, or over a month (30 days) on private land, and also meets one of these tests:

• It looks inoperable: missing its transmission, motor or tires, and not under emergency repair.
• It is harboring pests.
• It has no valid tags or registration sticker. Expired tags alone don't count unless they expired at least a year ago.

A "dangerous vehicle" is a hazard for at least 24 hours, such as one with heavy fire damage or exposed broken glass or metal shards.

How removal works:

• Public space. DPW places a warning notice. An abandoned car can go 48 hours later. A dangerous car goes at once after a notice of infraction.
• Private property. DPW mails a warning to the property owner listed in Office of Tax and Revenue records. The car can be removed 45 days after that mailing, with or without the owner's consent, and gets a notice of infraction first. The warning period can overlap the 30 days.

That second rule reaches your own driveway. In DC, a car that doesn't run, lacks valid tags and stays on private land past 30 days is treated as abandoned. It can be towed 45 days after a warning notice is mailed to the property owner.

After a tow or impound

DPW mails an impoundment notice within 5 days of the car reaching the lot. If the owner's address is unknown, the notice is published within 10 days. You then have 28 days to reclaim the car, or 14 days after publication. A car with no valid VIN and no recognizable registration can be disposed of with no further notice.

Private tow companies follow a similar path. DPW sends the towing notice within 5 days, and the owner gets the same 28 days (or 14). After that, the tow company can apply for a scrap title. A scrap-titled car is for parts only and can never be registered in the District. More in towed or impounded.

Inspection before registration

No DC registration is issued until the vehicle passes inspection, which checks both safety and emissions. A personal car's inspection lasts 2 years. The first one happens at the DC DMV Inspection Station.

A late fee starts the day the sticker expires and repeats every 30 days, with a $480 cap. The emissions waiver is steep: $1,208 or more in emission repairs within 60 days of the failed test buys a two-year waiver. Pre-1968 personal cars, zero-emission personal cars, motorcycles and brand-new cars with a Certificate of Origin are exempt.

A lapsed registration has limits too. Online renewal works only if it has been expired 90 days or less, with a valid inspection, credential and DC insurance. The DMV fee list also shows a $100 reinstatement fee. For a car that can't pass, selling it stops both clocks.

Selling a DC junk car, in order

1. Find the title, or order a $30 duplicate and wait for it in the mail.
2. Apply for a Junk Vehicle Certificate if the car has no road use left.
3. Ask for an offer. Describe whether it runs and give the address.
4. Sign the title over with no alterations.
5. Take the tags off and surrender or transfer them. Keep the receipt.

All of DC, one set of rules

Washington is the whole District, about 693,645 people in the 2025 Census estimate. There are no separate towns with their own junk-car codes. The DPW rules above apply in every ward and neighborhood.

We sell the whole car as it sits from any DC address. To talk it through, call (877) 421-6008.