Selling an old or high-mileage car

Age changes the paperwork more than it changes who will buy. Old cars often skip the mileage statement, and in some states a car past a certain age has no title at all.

How many miles counts as high?

There's no legal line, but federal highway data gives you a yardstick. In 2024, the average light-duty vehicle covered 10,787 miles, and short-wheelbase vehicles (cars, light trucks, vans and SUVs with a wheelbase of 121 inches or less) covered 10,812 (FHWA, Table VM-1).

Multiply your car's age by that figure to see where it stands. So if your odometer reads 200,000 on a car that's 12 years old, it was worked harder than most. If it reads 120,000 on a car that's 20 years old, it spent a lot of time parked, which brings its own problems. Our car sitting for years guide covers those.

Who actually buys these cars

The buyer you want depends on whether the car still runs and what you need from the sale.

• A private buyer looks at the mileage and the fault. They want a car they can drive, or a cheap donor for one they already own. Expect questions, test drives and no-shows.
• A parts or junk-car buyer cares about the car as a set of parts and metal. Mileage barely matters, and a car that doesn't run is normal. Our page on who buys cars for parts compares them.
• A junkyard or scrap yard buys mostly for the metal and the parts it can pull and sell. Our guide to junkyards and scrap yards explains how they differ.
• A dealer trade-in is possible on a car that runs. Our guide to trading in a broken car covers what to expect.

What sets the price on an old car

We can't give you a figure, and we'd be wary of anyone who quotes one without asking about the car. What changes an offer is the same list every buyer asks about: does it run, what's broken, what's missing, does it have a title, and where it's parked. Our junk car value page goes through each one.

The practical step is to get offers from more than one kind of buyer and compare them side by side, giving each buyer the same description of the car.

Mileage paperwork: the 20-year rule

You may not need to write down the mileage at all. In 2019, NHTSA extended the federal odometer-disclosure exemption from 10 years to 20, effective January 1, 2021 (Federal Register, Nov. 2019). Under the amended 49 CFR 580.17(a)(4), a car from model year 2011 or later is exempt only when the sale happens 20 or more years past New Year's Day of its model year.

Cars built for model year 2010 and earlier were already exempt under the old 10-year rule, and the change didn't pull them back in. Here's what that means for a car you sell in 2026:

The federal exemption doesn't erase your state's form. Many titles still have a mileage line. Alabama, for one, wants certified mileage, and the figure on the buyer's application has to match the title (ADOR). Fill in the line if it's there.

When a car is too old to have a title

Some states stop titling cars after a certain age, and then something else proves ownership.

• Connecticut doesn't title motor vehicles more than 20 model years old, and the DMV says the registration certificate is then "considered proof of ownership" (CT DMV). You sell the car with that registration.
• New York doesn't title cars from model year 1972 or earlier. Those cars get a transferable registration, and the transferable portion proves ownership and is what you use to sell it (NY DMV).
• Maine requires a title only for cars from the last 25 model years (Maine BMV), and Vermont needs no title for a 2009 or older car registered in Vermont in the owner's name (Vermont DMV).

A missing title on a newer car is a different problem, and selling without a title covers the routes for that.

Old car, no title: what each state allows

This table pulls each state's route for an older car without a title, or the closest rule we found, from the state packets we've checked. Some routes are only for cars sold to scrap, parts or salvage buyers, and the cell says so.

Fix it or let it go?

High mileage on its own isn't a reason to sell. A car that runs well at 220,000 miles can be worth keeping. The decision usually comes down to the next repair:

• Keep it if the fault is small and the rest of the car is sound, especially when replacing it would mean a loan.
• Sell it when the repair is a big one, like a blown engine or a failing transmission, on a car that's already due for tires, brakes and more.
• Sell it if it has failed inspection and the fix list keeps growing.
• Run the numbers with our guide to repairs that cost more than the car when you can't decide.

Selling your old car to us

We buy whole non-running and junk cars, including old, high-mileage ones. Sell the whole car as it sits, with free pickup anywhere in the US. To get an offer, tell us:

• the year, make and model, and the mileage if you know it
• whether it runs, and what's wrong with it
• what you have for paperwork: a title, or a registration in states that don't title old cars

Have questions about your paperwork first? Call (877) 421-6008.

Once it's gone, take care of the plates and your state's sale notice. Our after you sell page has each state's rule.