Junk or dead car in North Dakota: how the sale works

NDDOT issues the titles

North Dakota titles come from the NDDOT Motor Vehicle Division in Bismarck, and new owners apply on form SFN 2872. NDDOT also lists motor vehicle sites around the state, including ones in Fargo, Grand Forks and Minot.

Your job as the seller is short:

• Write the buyer's name and the price in the title's assignment section, which also carries your warranty of title.
• Once the sale is made, a North Dakota seller has 30 days to deliver the signed title.

State law asks for no notary on a titled car. Once the buyer has it, they get 30 days to submit it along with a $5 transfer fee, and skipping that can lead to a suspended registration.

Your plates, your credit

Unbolt both plates before the tow truck pulls away. Whatever time remains on the registration becomes credit, usable on a single replacement vehicle. Moving that credit costs $5, and NDDOT does not refund unused months. A lost plate costs $5 to replace.

Proof you sold it

North Dakota has no separate release-of-liability form that we could find. A North Dakota sale starts with the seller signing the title over and handing it across. The buyer then has 30 days to title the car in North Dakota. A 1949 repeal ended an older rule that had sellers sign and mail in the registration card. Take a photo of the signed title before you hand it over.

Lost title: two fixes

The first fix is a duplicate. Check the Duplicate Title box on SFN 2872, give the reason (lost, stolen or mutilated) and pay $5.00. NDDOT prints a warning on every duplicate: someone holding the original could still have rights. Find the original later and you must turn it in.

The second fix is SFN 2888, a notarized seller's certificate that doubles as a bill of sale. On it you warrant ownership free of liens and explain why you can't produce a title. To title the car from there, NDDOT asks the buyer for:

• an NMVTIS history report
• a picture of the VIN plate
• your notarized SFN 2888
• SFN 2903, a Vehicle Statement of Ownership, also notarized

Cars 40 or more years old get a shortcut: NDDOT may take SFN 2888 together with an inspection certificate, SFN 2486, in place of a title. Regular cars get no age break. NDCC 39-05-02.2, the list of vehicles exempt from titling, has no age cutoff for them. A buyer stuck without a properly assigned title can still apply using other proof that they own the car. More in our guide to selling with no title.

The 75 percent salvage rule

The salvage trigger is damage "in excess of 75 percent" of retail value, measured with the NADA guide. At that point the owner has 10 days to send the title to NDDOT for a salvage certificate. Broken glass and hail don't count toward the figure.

Bringing in a car from elsewhere? Six out-of-state brands are refused outright: certificate of destruction, dismantled, junk, non-rebuildable, parts only and unrepairable. A title marked only salvage still goes through. The law also lets the department write rules for when a junk title is required. See the salvage title guide.

What state law calls an abandoned car

Chapter 23.1-15 in North Dakota lists three abandoned-car types. First, a car illegally parked on public property, or "lacking essential parts," past 48 hours. Second, a car left on someone's private land without their consent. Third, a car so damaged it has "no substantial further use," though that type is excused when it sits inside a closed garage or other storage building. Antiques, parts cars and special interest vehicles fall outside the chapter.

Two parts of the chapter matter for a seller:

• Giving your car to a permitted scrap iron processor brings it under the same chapter.
• When a car is worth $1,000 or less and a DOT records search turns up no owner or lienholder, it can skip the notice and title steps and go straight to a permitted scrap iron processor.

Its plates have to be pulled and destroyed before the new owner takes it. Cities add their own rules, and most of our North Dakota town pages quote that city's code.

Towed or impounded cars

On private land, the owner, a tenant or an occupant may call a commercial tow service to remove an abandoned car. Cities and counties may impound one themselves or hire a tower. Either way, within 10 days North Dakota sends certified mail to the registered owner and to any lienholder.

A North Dakota owner has 30 days after getting it to pay towing and storage and reclaim the car. Letting that pass counts as agreeing to its disposal. Storage for cars and light trucks registered under 20,000 pounds can't run past $50 a day. If nobody claims a car worth more than $1,000, the government may auction it after publishing notice, or get a DOT release so a scrap processor can take it. See towed or impounded.

Inspections

The only inspection in the NDDOT material we read is for reconstructed vehicles. A repair business in good standing fills out a Certificate of Vehicle Inspection before a rebuilt car gets a regular title.

The sale in five steps

1. Find the title, or order a $5.00 duplicate, or plan on SFN 2888.
2. Ask for an offer, and mention whether it starts, any missing parts and its location.
3. Endorse the title with the buyer's name and the price.
4. Unbolt the plates to keep your registration credit.
5. Hand over the title within 30 days.

North Dakota's biggest cities

Every North Dakota town we cover

Each page has that town's local rules. Pickup is free in all of them.

• Fargo
• Bismarck
• Grand Forks
• Minot
• West Fargo
• Williston
• Dickinson
• Mandan

Sell the whole car as it sits. Call (877) 421-6008 with your North Dakota car's details.

Cities and towns in North Dakota

• Bismarck
• Dickinson
• Fargo
• Grand Forks
• Mandan
• Minot
• West Fargo
• Williston