How to sell a junk car in Iowa

County treasurers run Iowa titles

The Iowa DOT's Motor Vehicle Division sets the rules. The paper itself comes from the county treasurer, who issues titles, junking certificates and plates.

Your part as the seller:

• Sign the reverse side of the title as seller.
• Print who bought it, their address, and the day it sold.
• Share the car's last county of registration and its expiry date with the buyer.

Age decides the extra forms. An odometer statement is required for vehicles nine model years old or newer, and a damage disclosure for seven or newer.

Check the word between the owners' names. "And" means all owners sign as sellers. "Or" means one signature is enough.

Take your plates off

Iowa plates belong with the seller. Remove them and keep them before the car is hauled away. Dealers get no exception: once the car is delivered to one, the plates still come off.

Protecting yourself after the sale

The Iowa DOT names three ways to show the car is no longer yours:

1. A receipt from the buyer.
2. A copy of the back of the signed title.
3. Form 411107, a notice of sale and title delivery, filed with the registering county.

The DOT offers these three as ways to protect yourself.

The junking certificate

Iowa Code 321.52 sends scrap cars down their own path. When a titled car is sold for scrap or junk, the buyer surrenders the endorsed title to a county treasurer. The buyer then applies for a junking certificate within 30 days. The treasurer issues it without a fee.

Sellers have a second option. They can obtain the junking certificate themselves and sign that over instead of a title.

All owners must sign the application for a junking certificate, whatever word joins their names on the title. If a car arrives on another state's title showing it was junked, Iowa issues a junking certificate for it.

Lost or faulty title

A replacement title comes from the county treasurer. It costs $35.00, and a mandatory 5-day waiting period starts once the treasurer has your application. Every owner signs that application too.

Iowa Code 321.90 adds a second route. An owner who cannot transfer the car because the title is faulty, lost or destroyed can ask the police authority for permission to dispose of it to a demolisher. Our guide to selling a junk car with no title covers more.

When Iowa brands a title salvage

Iowa Code 321.52 says a "wrecked or salvage vehicle" is one where repair cost exceeds seventy percent of fair market value before the damage. The Iowa DOT adds that the car's market value must be $500 or more.

A salvage title points to serious collision damage or weather damage, such as flood, fire, vandalism or theft, with an insurer total loss. A title from another state that shows flood, fire, vandalism or theft damage carries that designation onto the Iowa title. See our salvage title guide.

Iowa's abandoned-vehicle law

Iowa Code 321.89 defines an "abandoned vehicle". Two common cases:

• Parked unlawfully on private property, or left there without the owner's consent, for more than 24 hours.
• Sitting on public land for over 24 hours, either unplated or so stripped that it cannot run at all (two or more wheels or other parts gone).

Cities and counties also write their own junk-vehicle rules. Most of our Iowa town pages quote the local code, such as Des Moines and Cedar Rapids.

After a tow or impound

A car that police legally impound and nobody reclaims in ten days counts as abandoned. Police can start the notice sooner.

The owner gets a notice and then has ten days to take the car back, covering the costs of towing, keeping and storing it. Not reclaiming it is treated as consent to a public auction or disposal to a demolisher.

Garages have their own clock. Once the agreed period runs out, a car there is deemed abandoned ten days after a certified-mail notice (Iowa Code 321.90). More in our guide to towed or impounded cars.

Inspections and back registration

The Iowa DOT lists inspections only for titling cases. One example is a car bought in another state when the only proof of ownership is a registration.

A car that sat unregistered can carry a bill. At 24 months or more delinquent, Iowa Code 321.134 adds one lump penalty of 150 percent of the yearly fee, owed alongside the current year's charge.

Four steps for an Iowa sale

1. Locate the title, or apply for a replacement.
2. Request an offer. Mention if it starts and where it is parked.
3. Sign the title back with the buyer's details and the sale date.
4. Remove your plates, then save a photo of the title you signed.

The largest Iowa cities

Pickup is free in each one. Populations are Census Bureau estimates.

Every Iowa town we cover

Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Davenport, Sioux City, Ankeny, Iowa City, West Des Moines, Ames, Waterloo, Council Bluffs, Dubuque, Urbandale, Marion, Cedar Falls, Bettendorf, Waukee, Marshalltown, Mason City, Ottumwa, Johnston, Fort Dodge, Clinton, Coralville, Burlington, Muscatine, Altoona and North Liberty.

Questions about an Iowa car? Call (877) 421-6008.

Cities and towns in Iowa

• Altoona
• Ames
• Ankeny
• Bettendorf
• Burlington
• Cedar Falls
• Cedar Rapids
• Clinton
• Coralville
• Council Bluffs
• Davenport
• Des Moines
• Dubuque
• Fort Dodge
• Iowa City
• Johnston
• Marion
• Marshalltown
• Mason City
• Muscatine
• North Liberty
• Ottumwa
• Sioux City
• Urbandale
• Waterloo
• Waukee
• West Des Moines