Selling a junk or dead car in Idaho

Titles go through the county assessor

The Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) runs titles through its Division of Motor Vehicles. Each county assessor runs a motor vehicle office, and that is where private-sale paperwork is filed. ITD charges $14 for the title; counties add their own admin fee. ITD in Boise also takes titles by mail.

The buyer needs your existing title with proper signatures releasing your interest, plus any lienholder's release. Cars newer than 2010 and under 16,000 pounds also need an odometer disclosure. The buyer then has 30 days from the transfer to file with the assessor, or pays a $20 late-filing penalty.

Plates and the registration card stay with you

Idaho plates belong to the seller (Idaho Code 49-431). Keep them, and keep the registration card too. You can put the plates on another car only after you register that car, and the transfer costs $5.

File the release of liability

This is the step that protects you. You have 5 days from delivery to send ITD a Release of Liability statement, with a $3.50 fee. Once it is on file, later tickets, tows, storage bills, and repair or service charges are not yours (Idaho Code 49-526). The release must be accurate; knowingly filing false information is against the law.

Lost title? Order a duplicate

We found no title-free route for junking a car in Idaho Code. The fix is a duplicate on form ITD 3367. It must be notarized, and ITD accepts it from the owner of record, the lienholder of record, or an agent of either. The fee is $14 plus the county fee.

If you are selling right away, ask about Duplicate with Transfer. It lets you get the copy and sell at once, for $14, but only on odometer-exempt vehicles.

ITD also has a fallback when no properly released title exists at all: a bill of sale, backed by a Conditional Title Statement of Facts. See selling with no title.

Junk-only titles and dismantled cars

Idaho Code 49-522 covers cars sold "not to be used as an operating unit". At the sale, the owner endorses "for junk only" on the title's front side. Every later title repeats it, and the car can never be sold to drive again or run on a highway.

Paperwork alone can't make a car disappear. Every owner of a car that gets dismantled or destroyed has to send its title to ITD, which records a cancellation. Failing to surrender it is unlawful under 49-519.

Salvage titles in Idaho

Idaho sets no damage percentage. Three things make an Idaho car a salvage vehicle: someone declares it salvage; repair would be uneconomical once parts and labor are weighed against its salvage value; or an insurer settled it as a total loss. The salvage certificate then stands in for the old title. Insurers and salvage pools must apply within 30 days of getting the released ownership papers.

After repair, the car gets a branded title reading "rebuilt salvage vehicle". Brands from other states and from NMVTIS carry forward. See our salvage title guide.

Idaho's abandoned vehicle law

Idaho Code 49-1801 bars abandoning a vehicle on a highway. It also bars leaving one on public or private land unless the owner or possessor agreed.

On land that is not commercial and has no posted signs, the person in control of it can have a tow company haul off an abandoned car by signing the tow company's release form. An expired or improper registration, on its own, does not make a car removable.

A court can also act. Once it finds a partly dismantled, junked, abandoned or non-running vehicle to be a public nuisance, ITD cancels its title. Many cities add their own junk-vehicle code; our town pages quote it where we found one.

When a car gets towed

Roadside cars get a 48-hour warning notice before the tow. If the plates are current, the officer attempts to contact the owner, though a failed attempt doesn't cancel the tow.

The tow company logs the tow in ITD's portal within 1 business day. If the car isn't claimed in 5 business days (or 10, on some tracks), a second notice goes out by first-class mail, and a third after 15 business days. Thirty days after the first notice, the tow company can apply for a title or a junk certificate. More in towed or impounded.

No emissions tests in Idaho

Idaho tests emissions nowhere. The Treasure Valley program in Ada County was the last one. Lawmakers ended the requirement as of July 1, 2023, and EPA signed off on dropping Ada County that year. A car that can't pass a smog test is not a problem here; a car that won't start still is.

How to sell a junk car in Idaho

1. Find the title, or file a notarized ITD 3367.
2. Request an offer. Let us know whether it starts and its location.
3. Sign the title, adding the "for junk only" endorsement up front if it's headed for scrap.
4. Take your plates and registration card.
5. File the $3.50 release of liability inside the 5-day window.

Idaho's largest cities

Pickup is free in each. Populations are the Census Bureau's latest estimates.

All Idaho city pages

• Boise City
• Meridian
• Nampa
• Caldwell
• Idaho Falls
• Pocatello
• Coeur d'Alene
• Twin Falls
• Post Falls
• Rexburg
• Lewiston
• Eagle
• Kuna
• Moscow
• Star
• Ammon

Somewhere smaller? We sell the whole car as it sits anywhere in Idaho. Call (877) 421-6008.

Cities and towns in Idaho

• Ammon
• Boise City
• Caldwell
• Coeur d'Alene
• Eagle
• Idaho Falls
• Kuna
• Lewiston
• Meridian
• Moscow
• Nampa
• Pocatello
• Post Falls
• Rexburg
• Star
• Twin Falls