Selling a junk or dead car in Michigan

Who issues a Michigan title

Michigan titles are issued by the state, not by your county. The Michigan Department of State, which most people still call the Secretary of State or SOS, handles them at its branch offices.

Your part as the seller, per the SOS:

• Hand over the original title, not a photocopy.
• Complete the odometer reading and the seller's block.
• Sign. If two owners are named, both sign.

No notary appears anywhere in those SOS steps. One shortcut exists: when a single private seller deals with a single private buyer, and each holds a Michigan license or state ID, the two of you can finish online. Approval from the SOS may take as long as 3 days.

Your plate stays yours

Michigan ties the plate to its owner. State law says plates are "removed and retained by the owner," who can move them to another vehicle. A spouse, parent, brother, sister or child taking over the car may keep the plate on it instead.

Why bother? The SOS says you "could be responsible for violations" the buyer racks up, such as parking tickets. Without a plate, the buyer still gets three days to drive home.

Proving you sold it

Michigan offers no release-of-liability form. Michigan shows you as owner until the buyer files the transfer, which is why the SOS suggests you both go to a branch.

If that is not practical, MCL 257.240 lets you protect yourself on paper. Deliver the car plus a properly signed-over title, then either accompany the buyer or hold a "record of the sale" for 18 months minimum. Either of these counts:

• a photocopy of the reassigned title
• a note listing the buyer's name, home address, license number and signature, plus the sale price and date

The SOS's own tip: copy both sides of the completed title and file it away for 18 months or longer.

Doing neither is a $15 civil infraction. Worse, the law then presumes the tow and storage bill for an abandoned car is yours.

No title in hand

Order a replacement first. Mail costs $15 and runs roughly 14 days. Paying $20 gets you the faster version. A lone owner may apply and sign when nothing but a duplicate is needed.

If a Michigan buyer never received the seller's title, the SOS allows three routes: a court order declaring them owner, a surety bond worth twice the fair market value, or a TR-205 where it fits.

TR-205 is self-certification. It's for when the prior owner can't be located, and it covers only a Michigan-bought car that's 10 or more calendar years old and valued at $2,500 or less. Out-of-state titles and nonresident owners are excluded. More in selling a junk car with no title.

Salvage, scrap and flood brands

For late model cars, the brand follows the repair bill measured against the car's value before the damage:

For the SOS, "late model" covers vehicles under 8,000 pounds from the last six model years, and heavier ones from the last 16.

The brands print on gray-and-yellow titles. Salvage is rebuildable; with repairs the car can return to the road. Scrap is final: parts and scrap metal only. Flood damage gets its own Flood brand.

You need not wait for an insurer's verdict. Michigan lets an owner pick salvage or scrap whenever they like, regardless of age or damage, and no value figure is required to call it scrap.

The scrap certificate of title carries a $15 application fee. With one, the car may be hauled, never driven, and ownership goes to a scrap processor, recycler, parts dealer or foreign salvage dealer. Michigan never titles that car again. For an older car sold to a dealer for scrap, the dealer must get an assigned title, and the scrap processor sends it back to the SOS within 30 days of crushing it. See our salvage title guide.

The abandoned-car statute

MCL 257.252a reaches two cases: a car left on private land with no consent from whoever owns that land, and a car parked on public property 48 hours or longer.

Your own junk car, on your own lot, with your own blessing, is outside it. Cities and townships set those rules by ordinance. The list below shows 46 Michigan town pages where we quote the town's own junk-vehicle code. Look for yours.

Towed or impounded

Landowners with an unwanted car may phone a local towing agency. Its storage lot has to sit no farther than 15 miles from the local unit, and police get a call from the tow company before removal. Police may also move a car off public or private property for safekeeping, billed to the last titled owner (MCL 257.252d).

What follows a tow:

1. Within 7 days, the SOS hands over owner and lienholder details.
2. A notice goes to the owner. It warns that a sale may follow unless, inside 20 days, the owner redeems the car or asks for a hearing.
3. Contesting means petitioning the court inside 20 days and posting $40.00 bond, with the accrued tow and storage charges on top.
4. In Michigan, the public sale waits at least 20 days past the hearing, or past the notice if nobody asked for one.

Plates that expire while it sits

Michigan does not charge back years on lapsed plates. Renew late and a $10 fee is added; the renewal fee itself is not prorated. Driving on an expired registration invites a ticket.

We found no state page on emissions testing that we could cite, so this page says nothing about it.

Selling in Michigan, step by step

1. Locate the original title, or apply for a replacement.
2. Ask us for an offer, with what runs and what is missing.
3. Complete the odometer and seller sections; every named owner signs.
4. Photocopy both sides and keep the copy 18 months.
5. Unscrew the plate before loading.

Michigan's largest cities

Population figures below come from U.S. Census Bureau estimates.

Every Michigan town page

Detroit, Grand Rapids, Warren, Sterling Heights, Ann Arbor, Lansing, Dearborn, Livonia, Troy, Farmington Hills, Westland, Flint, Wyoming, Rochester Hills, Southfield, Kalamazoo, Novi, Pontiac, Taylor, Dearborn Heights, St. Clair Shores, Royal Oak, Kentwood, Battle Creek, Portage, East Lansing, Roseville, Saginaw, Midland, Lincoln Park, Muskegon, Holland, Bay City, Jackson, Burton, Oak Park, Southgate, Madison Heights, Port Huron, Allen Park, Hamtramck, Garden City, Auburn Hills, Norton Shores, Inkster, Romulus, Wyandotte, Marquette, Birmingham, Mount Pleasant, Adrian, Monroe, Traverse City, Niles

Want to talk it over first? Call (877) 421-6008.

Cities and towns in Michigan

• Adrian
• Allen Park
• Ann Arbor
• Auburn Hills
• Battle Creek
• Bay City
• Birmingham
• Burton
• Dearborn
• Dearborn Heights
• Detroit
• East Lansing
• Farmington Hills
• Flint
• Garden City
• Grand Rapids
• Hamtramck
• Holland
• Inkster
• Jackson
• Kalamazoo
• Kentwood
• Lansing
• Lincoln Park
• Livonia
• Madison Heights
• Marquette
• Midland
• Monroe
• Mount Pleasant
• Muskegon
• Niles
• Norton Shores
• Novi
• Oak Park
• Pontiac
• Port Huron
• Portage
• Rochester Hills
• Romulus
• Roseville
• Royal Oak
• Saginaw
• Southfield
• Southgate
• St. Clair Shores
• Sterling Heights
• Taylor
• Traverse City
• Troy
• Warren
• Westland
• Wyandotte
• Wyoming