Selling a junk car without a title

Why buyers ask for the title

The title is the proof that the car is yours to sell. The keys aren't.

Buyers also have their own paperwork to do. Every month, junk and salvage businesses send the federal National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS) a record of each junk or salvage car they took in and who sold it to them. It keeps a crushed car's VIN from turning up on a stolen one (U.S. Department of Justice). Some states also make the buyer turn the title in: Massachusetts and Ohio both give a junk buyer ten days to send it to be canceled (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 90D, s. 20E, Ohio Rev. Code 4738.16).

So a buyer who skips the title is either using a narrow legal route or taking a risk with your name on it.

The usual fix: a replacement title

If the car is titled in your name, you can order a replacement. Fees run from $2 (Texas, by mail) to $101 and up (Oregon), and some states let you apply online, Colorado among them (Colorado DMV).

A few things slow people down:

• Only the owner of record can apply. In Colorado, only the listed owner, the lienholder or an authorized agent can request a duplicate, and if a lien is still on record only the lienholder can (Colorado DMV).
• Some states make you wait. North Carolina has a 15-day waiting period after it receives the application (form MVR-4). Iowa has a 5-day wait when the original is lost (Iowa county treasurers).
• Some want a notary. Idaho won't process the application unless your signature is notarized (ITD 3367). Missouri asks for the same on its form (Missouri DOR).
• Newer cars may need it no matter what. Oregon tells sellers of a 2011-or-newer car under 20 years old to get a replacement title before selling, because the odometer reading has to go on it (Oregon DMV).

Order it as soon as you know the title is gone.

Every state at a glance

Each fee and rule links to the state's own page or statute. We checked them in October 2026.

How to read the table

• † This agency's site refused our automated re-check in October 2026, or the page has moved. The entry comes from the agency's page as we read it in August 2026, or from an archived copy, so confirm it with the agency first.
• "check fee": the agency's current pages didn't show a replacement fee we could confirm, so we link the agency instead of printing a number.
• — in the age column: the state titles cars of every age, or we found no age cutoff on its own pages.
• — in the scrap column: we didn't find a scrap-only route in the state's own sources. Plan on a replacement title.

What the scrap-only routes have in common

Fourteen states on the table have some way to sell a car for scrap or parts without the title. They're narrower than they sound.

• Most need an old car. The age floor runs from 8 model years in New York to 25 years in Arkansas. Twelve model years is the most common line.
• Some cap the value. New York's MV-35 is for cars worth $1,250 or less (MV-35). Arizona's cap is $1,200 (A.R.S. 28-2098), Alabama's is $1,000 (Ala. Admin. Code 810-5-75-.48), and Florida's is under $1,000 (HSMV 82137).
• They only work with licensed buyers. New York's form works only for a sale to a DMV-registered business that dismantles, collects or scraps cars; a tow truck driver can't take a car on it (MV-35).
• You sign a statement, and lying on it is a crime. North Carolina makes a false seller statement a Class I felony with a $1,000 minimum fine (G.S. 20-62.1). Arizona makes it a class 1 misdemeanor (A.R.S. 28-2098).
• There can't be a loan on it. Arizona, North Carolina and Florida all ask the seller to certify there's no lien.
• The car can never be titled again. New York's and Florida's forms say so in capital letters. That's fine for a dead car. It's a bad trade for a car someone could have fixed.

A few states use a different tool. Texas lets a recorded owner get a $2 Certificate of Authority to hand a car to a demolisher, and doesn't require the title if TxDMV can confirm you're the owner in its system (TxDMV). Indiana's BMV issues a similar Certificate of Authority for a $4 fee when your title is lost (Indiana BMV).

Cars that never had a title

Some states stopped titling cars past a certain age, or never titled them. In those states the registration, sometimes with a bill of sale, is the ownership paper. New York issues no title for a 1972 or older car; a transferable registration is the proof (NY DMV). Georgia asks for a bill of sale on a 1985 or older car (Georgia DOR).

Rhode Island is the trap. Cars older than model year 2001 don't need a title until they change hands, so the sale itself triggers one (R.I. Gen. Laws 31-3.1-38).

If there's a loan on the title

Get the lien release before anything else. Oregon says plainly that you can't sell a car with a loan that isn't paid off; the lienholder signs the title or gives you a signed release (Oregon DMV). If the loan was paid years ago but the lien still shows, call the lender for a release letter, then order the replacement title.

If the title isn't in your name

A parent died, an ex kept the paperwork, you bought it and never transferred it, or it was abandoned on your property. Each of those has its own route, and none of them is a replacement title in your name. See the guide for cars titled to someone else.

Telling us about a missing title

When you ask for an offer, say the title is lost or that there isn't one. A missing title can usually be sorted out, but the route depends on your state and your situation. If the title is simply lost, ordering a replacement from your state is usually the first step.

Once the car is gone, the plates and any notice of sale are next. Every state's rule is on after you sell.