New York junk car sales: title, plates and scrap rules

The DMV handles New York titles

New York titles come from the state DMV (dmv.ny.gov). After the sale, the buyer brings the paperwork to a local DMV office to title and register the car. Any transfer rests on two proofs: one of ownership and one of sale.

What you sign as the seller:

• The transfer block printed on the reverse of the title.
• Vehicle Bill of Sale MV-912, listing both people, the vehicle, the VIN, the price and the date. Each of you keeps a copy, and the buyer hands the original to the DMV.

There's no notary step on either paper. The sale has to come from someone whose name is printed on the title. When two names appear, either one may sign. For a company car, someone who belongs to the business does the selling.

Giving the car away? Write $0 on the bill of sale and use the DTF-802 Statement of Transaction. Some sellers must also fill in Section 6 of the DTF-802.

Model years up to 1972 carry no New York title at all. For those, the transferable registration is what changes hands.

Your plates go back to the DMV

Take off the plates and scrape off the windshield registration sticker when the car is sold. Then right away, either surrender the plates to the DMV or put them on a different vehicle that is yours.

The order matters. The DMV's rule is "No insurance, no plates": the plates and registration must be turned in before your liability coverage ends. Drop the insurance first and the registration can be suspended, and your driver license may be too. Bring the plates themselves, not the frames or screws, and ask for the surrender receipt, form FS-6T.

No release form exists here

Sellers in this state have no sale-notice form to file. What protects you is the plate surrender plus the bill of sale you kept. Hold on to both. If the DMV ever mails you an insurance-lapse letter about the car, those papers answer it.

Lost the title? Two routes

Order a duplicate. File the MV-902 duplicate title application online, in person, or by post; a mailed one needs a photocopy of your ID. The fee is $20.00. Albany handles the printing and mailing.

Use form MV-35 for a scrap sale. This statement is for an owner without a valid title, such as someone who lost it or bought the car and never titled it. Its limits are strict:

• New York limits the buyer to a DMV-registered dismantler, a certified scrap processor, or an itinerant vehicle collector.
• Its value can't top $1,250, and it has to be eight model years or older.
• Unlicensed parties such as tow-truck drivers can't take a car this way, and neither can private buyers.
• You and whoever delivers the car attach government ID, and the dismantler files the form within 15 business days.

That car is finished for good. No one can ever title it again; the only paths left are dismantling and scrap. VTL 415-A makes dismantler registration mandatory for any business buying cars to take apart or crush, and skipping it is a class E felony. More options are in our no-title guide.

How New York brands a salvage car

The DMV treats a car as salvage in any of these cases:

• an insurer acquired it with a Salvage Certificate (MV-907A) for significant damage from a crash, theft, vandalism or water
• fixing it would run past 75% of its pre-damage retail value
• it already carries a salvage title from some other state
• the seller declared it a "wreck" in the space on the title's back when it sold

Under 15 NYCRR 20.20, a brand never leaves the title. New York folds out-of-state brands into its own "salvage rebuilt" label, whether the other state wrote "water damage," "junk," "parts only," "rebuilt" or "salvage." If the DMV learns that a recently registered car hid a salvage history, the car must go through the salvage process before it gets a title or a renewal. See our salvage title guide.

VTL 1224, the abandoned-car law

Under VTL 1224, a car counts as abandoned after these time limits:

The town, city or village where it was left gets custody. A plateless car with a wholesale value of $2,250 or less becomes that locality's property at once, and the locality doesn't need a title to junk or scrap it.

A junk or unregistered car on your own land is outside VTL 1224. Local laws in each town, village and city govern that case. Many of our town pages quote the local code; start with Rochester or Syracuse.

Towed as abandoned

For an abandoned car that doesn't fall into the low-value rule, the locality notifies the last owner. Ten days after that notice, ownership passes to the locality, and an unclaimed car can be sold at public auction or by bid. An owner who reclaims it pays for the removal and the storage.

Yearly inspection, statewide

Every car in New York needs a safety inspection every 12 months and on a change of ownership. Most of those inspections add an OBDII check of the emissions equipment; diesels get a diesel emissions inspection instead. No emissions check applies to motorcycles, electric cars, most diesels, cars on historical plates, or models newer than two years or older than 25.

Someone who buys from a private seller has a 10-day inspection grace period, counted from registration. A dead car that can't pass is often one you sell rather than fix; see failed inspection.

An expired registration can be renewed online for up to one year past its date. After that, the car is registered again at an office or by mail.

The sale in five steps

1. Locate the title, or order a duplicate on MV-902.
2. Request our offer. Say if it starts and the address where it sits.
3. Sign over the title and the MV-912.
4. Remove the plates and sticker when the car is picked up.
5. Surrender the plates, keep the FS-6T, then cancel the insurance.

Largest New York cities

Every town below gets free pickup. Populations are from our town data.

All New York town pages

New York City · Buffalo · Yonkers · Rochester · Syracuse · Albany · New Rochelle · Mount Vernon · Schenectady · Utica · White Plains · Hempstead · Troy · Niagara Falls · Kiryas Joel · Binghamton · Freeport · Valley Stream · Long Beach · Spring Valley · Ithaca · Poughkeepsie · Port Chester · Harrison · Rome · Middletown · North Tonawanda · Saratoga Springs · Glen Cove · Newburgh · Jamestown · Ossining · Lindenhurst · Elmira · Auburn · Peekskill · Rockville Centre · Kingston · Watertown · Garden City · Mineola · Lynbrook · Lockport · Glens Falls

Questions about your car? Call (877) 421-6008. You sell the whole car as it sits.

Cities and towns in New York

• Albany
• Auburn
• Binghamton
• Buffalo
• Elmira
• Freeport
• Garden City
• Glen Cove
• Glens Falls
• Harrison
• Hempstead
• Ithaca
• Jamestown
• Kingston
• Kiryas Joel
• Lindenhurst
• Lockport
• Long Beach
• Lynbrook
• Middletown
• Mineola
• Mount Vernon
• New Rochelle
• New York
• Newburgh
• Niagara Falls
• North Tonawanda
• Ossining
• Peekskill
• Port Chester
• Poughkeepsie
• Rochester
• Rockville Centre
• Rome
• Saratoga Springs
• Schenectady
• Spring Valley
• Syracuse
• Troy
• Utica
• Valley Stream
• Watertown
• White Plains
• Yonkers