South Dakota rules for selling a junk or dead car

County treasurers handle titles

The Department of Revenue's Motor Vehicles Division sets the rules, but you title and register at the county treasurer's office. The record owner signs, or an agent holding a power of attorney.

DOR lists three forms for a sale: a bill of sale with the price, date and chain of ownership, an odometer disclosure, and the seller's report of sale. The DOR seller steps list no notary. You have 45 days to get the title to the buyer.

From there, the buyer gets 45 days to title and register the car. Miss that and a $1.00 weekly late penalty begins, and the 4% excise tax starts drawing interest plus a one-time penalty.

Plates go with the owner

South Dakota calls itself a "plate with owner" state. Under SDCL 32-5-2.7, the seller removes the plates when ownership changes. In South Dakota, move them to your next car at the county treasurer and keep the months still left. The manual lists a $5.00 reassignment fee.

Leaving the plates on the sold car is a Class 2 misdemeanor and costs you the credit. Plates you never reattach get no refund.

The seller's permit and report of sale

Two duties fall on you on sale day, and skipping either one is a Class 2 misdemeanor.

• Seller's permit. Print it free online through the my605drive portal or at a county treasurer's kiosk. It is good for 45 days and lets the new owner drive legally until they title the car.
• Report of sale. SDCL 32-5-2.10 requires the seller to "file a report of sale" with the department when the sale happens, listing the buyer's name and address. The form is on DOR's list as the Seller - Report of Sale Form.

No title in hand

If you had a paper title and lost it, file the Duplicate Title Application at your county treasurer. It costs $10.

A buyer who can't get a proper title can ask DOR about a bonded title on request form 1203. We didn't read the bond terms. One auction rule doesn't cover a private sale. A car 20 years or older that is titled in the seller's name can be sold on consignment at public auction without a South Dakota title. Read more on selling with no title.

Salvage in South Dakota

In South Dakota the insurer decides. Under SDCL 32-3-51.19, a car becomes salvage once an insurer or self-insurer calls it a total loss, whether the cause was flood, fire, theft, a crash, vandalism or weather. No repair-cost percentage applies, and flooding is just one cause on the list, not its own brand.

Older cars, more than ten model years, are outside the definition, as are vehicles over 16,000 pounds GVWR. An insurer that ends up with a salvage car but no salvage title must surrender the title within 45 days of getting it. Arriving from another state with a salvage-type brand, a car can get either a South Dakota salvage title or, at its owner's choice, a junking certificate. See our salvage title guide.

Junking certificates

Pulling a car apart to sell the pieces requires a junking certificate. Mail DOR the South Dakota application with the plates, registration card and title, and it removes all three from its records. Any lienholder must sign off on the title.

There's no going back: DOR describes the certificate as one that "may not be restored to a title document." It's also what a car gets when its title says nonrebuildable or parts only, or when the owner declares it off the road for good. Taking off a car's identification numbers is a Class 6 felony.

The state's junk and abandoned car law

Chapter 32-36 labels abandoned, derelict and junk cars "a public hazard and blight." A car counts as abandoned when it's left on a public street or highway, or on private land without the landowner's or tenant's say-so. In this chapter, a junk motor vehicle is one sitting on a recognized junk dealer's property for salvage.

Removal is the job of a "removal agency". That can be a public body, a private or nonprofit group, or a business, and a public body may hire or appoint one. It may enter land once the owner or tenant authorizes it. A car sitting unused in your own yard is left to city and county nuisance rules, and most of our South Dakota town pages quote the local one.

After a removal or tow

After hauling a car away, the removal agency has 45 days to send the registered owner and lienholders certified notice on a DOR form, and DOR supplies their last known details free. Storage fees stop at 10 days until that letter is mailed. Unknown owners get a single newspaper notice instead.

Thirty days after mailing, the car's title belongs to the agency, permanently. Reclaim it before then and notify DOR that you intend to. Otherwise the agency applies for a salvage title on a junk car, or a title stamped "abandoned vehicle" for others. See towed or impounded.

No emissions or safety test

South Dakota has no emissions testing. The DOR's private-sale instructions also list no safety or emissions inspection before a sale or titling. A lapsed registration is the real cost: a late renewal pays the full year's fee.

Selling, start to finish

1. Check for the title, or file for a $10 duplicate.
2. Request an offer and describe the car's condition and location.
3. Sign the title over and fill out the bill of sale.
4. Print the seller's permit for the buyer.
5. File the report of sale and take your plates.

Where most South Dakotans live

South Dakota town pages

Local junk-car rules for each town, with free pickup in all five.

• Sioux Falls
• Rapid City
• Aberdeen
• Brookings
• Watertown

We'll take the whole car as it sits. Reach us at (877) 421-6008.

Cities and towns in South Dakota

• Aberdeen
• Brookings
• Rapid City
• Sioux Falls
• Watertown