Selling a junk or dead car in Nevada

The DMV issues every Nevada title

Counties play no part. The Nevada DMV issues titles through its Carson City Titles/Records unit and its DMV offices, and the metropolitan offices take appointments.

The DMV's seller checklist asks for:

• a properly signed title
• photo ID showing the same name as the title
• the mileage, if the Nevada car is a 2011 or later model
• a Bill of Sale (VP-104) for your own records

Sign exactly as the name appears. With two owners joined by "AND," both sign. With "OR," either one may sign alone. The seller steps list no notary.

On a 2011 or newer car, the buyer must get a paper title. The DMV does not accept "a bill of sale plus an application for duplicate title, or a non-secure power of attorney" in its place.

Liens come first. Any loans or liens must be satisfied before the sale, and take-over payments are illegal.

Keep your plates

The plates stay with you. Registration expires when the car changes hands. Within 60 days of the sale you either move the plates to another car (there is a transfer fee) or surrender them for cancellation by the 60th day (NRS 482.399).

File the resale notice in MyDMV

For release of liability, Nevada uses an online MyDMV filing named the Registration Cancellation and Vehicle Resale Notification. File it during or after the sale. The DMV treats it as proof the car is no longer yours. Keep the VP-104 bill of sale too, though a bill of sale alone does not prove ownership for registration.

Keep the insurance active until the registration is cancelled, or fines can follow.

Title missing?

If Nevada issued the last title, ask for a new one on the "Application for Duplicate Nevada Certificate of Title" (VP 012). You can apply at an office or by mail. It costs $20.00 sent to a Nevada address and $35.00 sent out of state. When a Nevada lien remains on file, the lienholder is the one who requests the paper title.

A buyer who cannot reach the last owner may qualify for a Bonded Title. See bonded titles and selling with no title.

Salvage and total loss in Nevada

NRS 487 counts a car as a "salvage vehicle" if it was ever declared a total loss, flood-damaged or nonrepairable, or had salvage or a similar word on any title. A total loss means repair costs of 65 percent or more of the fair market value right before the damage. Paint and certain electronic parts are left out of that math.

Orange salvage titles may not be sold or registered until the car is repaired and inspected. To sell one to a private party, it must first be rebuilt, inspected and titled Rebuilt. A licensed automobile wrecker with a $50,000 bond can process a car as parts or scrap after reporting it to the DMV and waiting five or more business days, and the DMV then issues a nonrepairable vehicle certificate.

The two-car rule and junk vehicles

Nevada state law limits dead cars at home. Unless you are a licensed wrecker or salvage pool, you "shall not keep more than two" unregistered vehicles on property you own or control when they are no longer meant for, or fit for, highway use. The civil penalty runs up to $100 a day. Dealers, farms, ranches, repair shops, restorers and residential complexes have exceptions.

Cities and counties may adopt their own ordinances against the same conduct, and every Nevada town page we have quotes the local code, such as Las Vegas and Reno.

A "junk vehicle" in NRS 487 has all of these traits:

• discarded or abandoned
• ruined, wrecked, dismantled or inoperative
• unfit for its original purpose
• not registered, or not claimed within 15 days after notice
• worth no more than $500 as scrap

When a wrecker or tow operator removes such a car, it can obtain a junk certificate, endorse it and sell the car on to an automobile wrecker.

Nevada wants a dealer's license from anyone who sells more than three of their own vehicles in one year. Got several dead cars? See selling several junk cars.

Towed, tagged or impounded

• The 7-day tag: an unregistered car with an unknown owner that looks like junk can get a notice saying it may be junked after 7 days. The owner can ask for a justice court hearing.
• The 15-day letter: the registered owner and lienholder are notified by registered or certified mail. Leaving a car appraised at $500 or less unclaimed for 15 days waives your interest, and the tow operator may get a salvage title.
• The tow lien: the tow operator or garage holds a lien for towing and storage up to 90 days. A car appraised under $1,500 can be kept on a salvage title. One over $1,500 left unclaimed for 45 days can be sold under the lien statutes.

More on towed or impounded cars.

Emissions in Clark and Washoe

Only Nevada cars based in the built-up areas of Clark or Washoe County face an emissions test each year. That covers 1968 and newer models: gas cars of any weight, and diesels up to 14,000 lb GVWR. A new car is exempt for its first three registrations, and hybrids for five model years. A Nevada pass lasts 90 days, or 180 days when a Nevada dealer did it.

Nevada private sales leave that test to the buyer. Clark County's Smog Free program pays up to $975 for emissions repairs on 1968 to 1999 vehicles, for owners within its income limits.

If registration lapses while a dead car sits, Nevada gives no grace period. You owe the full year ahead, pro-rated fees for the lapsed time, $6 per month late on the registration fee, and a 10% penalty on the governmental services tax. Selling it stops that.

Selling in Nevada: the order

1. Pay off any lien and find the title, or order a duplicate.
2. Get an offer from us. Tell us its condition and location.
3. Sign the title exactly as your name reads.
4. Take the plates and file the resale notice in MyDMV.

Nevada's biggest cities

Free pickup covers each one. Populations are Census estimates.

All Nevada town pages

• Las Vegas
• Henderson
• North Las Vegas
• Reno
• Sparks
• Carson City
• Fernley
• Mesquite
• Elko

Prefer the phone? Call (877) 421-6008.

Cities and towns in Nevada

• Carson
• Elko
• Fernley
• Henderson
• Las Vegas
• Mesquite
• North Las Vegas
• Reno
• Sparks