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State guide

Junk and dead car sales in Texas

Texas sellers have one job after the sale: the Vehicle Transfer Notification, due inside 30 days. The title, bill of sale and odometer form need no notary, and the plates can leave with you. We buy whole non-running and junk cars. Sell the whole car as it sits, with free pickup anywhere in the US.

Updated · 11 sources

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Texas rules at a glance

Titles
County tax assessor-collector office
Notary
Not required
Seller's notice
Vehicle Transfer Notification within 30 days
Plates
Seller may remove them
Certified title copy
$5.45 in person, $2 by mail (VTR-34)
Emissions
17 counties; safety inspection ended Jan. 1, 2025
No-title route
Parts recycler, car 13+ years old, unregistered 7 years
Junk-car law
Transportation Code Chapter 683

Where a Texas title gets filed

Not at a state counter. TxDMV writes the rules, while each county's tax assessor-collector office takes the title applications. TxDMV's website has a lookup for finding yours. The buyer is the one who files.

Hand the buyer two things:

  • The title, signed, with the odometer reading and the date you sold it.
  • Form 130-U, the state's title application, signed, with the price written in.

Skip the notary. Per TxDMV's title manual, a title assignment, bill of sale or odometer statement does "not require notarization."

A Texas buyer has 30 days to move the title into their own name. Miss that and they may face delinquent transfer penalties. Write down who bought it, how to reach them, the day of the sale and the VIN, and keep that note.

Your plates, your call

Texas lets the seller keep the plates and pull the registration sticker. Kept plates may move to a replacement of the same class at no charge, and the county tax office prints a fresh sticker for it. The old sticker never transfers. Any plate you won't reuse must be defaced before it goes in the trash.

Paper temporary tags ended July 1, 2025. Texas now hands out metal plates instead (HB 718).

Filing the transfer notice

This notice is how a Texas seller steps away from the car. Send it on paper as Form VTR-346, or online through TxDMV.gov/VTN, inside 30 days of the sale. On time, it shields you from the buyer's parking and toll violations.

It matters because the state record keeps showing you as owner until the buyer's new title is issued. A buyer who never transfers could stick you with their tickets, their tolls, even a crime done with the car.

Filing does not move ownership. Your buyer must still apply at the county. By law, TxDMV notes the sale on the vehicle's record when your notice arrives.

Dealers are a special case. A dealer can resell a car without titling it first, so it may sit under your name for a while. File the notice anyway.

No title in Texas

Old scrap cars have a legal path. A used automotive parts recycler can buy one without a title if every point below holds:

  • The car is 13 years old or older.
  • Parts, dismantling or scrap is the only purpose.
  • Seven or more years have passed since it was last registered.

After buying, the recycler reports the car to TxDMV and holds it. With no lien, that hold lasts 3 business days.

If yours went missing, a certified copy comes through Form VTR-34. In person it costs $5.45; by mail the fee is $2, paid with a check or money order. All owners on record must sign, and a 30-day wait applies after your previous copy. Read selling with no title.

Texas salvage and nonrepairable titles

Texas compares repair cost with value. If repairs, minus repainting and sales tax, would top the car's actual cash value right before the damage, it is a salvage motor vehicle. Coming in from another state on a salvage title also qualifies.

A "nonrepairable" vehicle is worse off. Damage has left parts or scrap as its only value, or it was turned in to be dismantled or scrapped. Its nonrepairable vehicle title limits it to used parts or scrap metal.

Other marks show up on Texas titles as well. Salvage vehicle titles are one. Notes carried over from other states are another, such as rebuilt, flood damage, fire damage or owner retained. Sec. 501.1002 deals with owner-retained cars on its own. And a salvage dealer that buys a car to dismantle, scrap or destroy must report it to the state.

Chapter 683 and junked vehicles

In Texas law the phrase is "junked vehicle." It means any self-propelled vehicle that fits one of two conditions. The Texas vehicle has been wrecked, dismantled or discarded, or else it has not run for:

  • over 72 straight hours while on public property, or
  • over 30 straight days while on private property.

Visibility is the trigger. One that can be seen "from a public place or public right-of-way" is a public nuisance, and keeping it that way is an offense. Texas cities and counties can set their own removal rules, but only after giving the owner a hearing and at least 10 days' notice.

Three cases are exempt: a car closed up inside a building, one parked on the premises of a dealer or junkyard, and an antique a collector keeps orderly and screened. Got a letter about one? See notice to remove a car.

Abandoned and towed

A car parked over 48 hours on another person's private land, without consent, may count as abandoned. When police take custody, certified-mail notice goes out within 10 days. Owner and lienholder then have through the 20th day after that notice to reclaim it.

Unclaimed means rights waived. The agency may then auction the car, and whoever buys it gets a title with no liens.

Inspections: emissions only, 17 counties

House Bill 3297 ended the yearly safety inspection for noncommercial vehicles as of January 1, 2025. Emissions tests continue. Gas vehicles aged 2 to 24 years get one each year in these counties: Williamson, Travis, Tarrant, Rockwall, Parker, Montgomery, Kaufman, Johnson, Harris, Galveston, Fort Bend, Ellis, El Paso, Denton, Dallas, Collin and Brazoria.

In those counties, a buyer who registers needs a passing test on record. If none shows, they will want your latest Vehicle Inspection Report.

In Texas, an expired registration can still be renewed online for 12 months, provided you got no citation for it. Driving on it, though, becomes an offense once five working days pass after expiration.

Texas sale checklist

  1. Get the title in hand, or order a certified copy.
  2. Request our offer. Describe what's wrong and where it is.
  3. Sign the title and the 130-U, with the date and mileage filled in.
  4. Take off the plates and sticker.
  5. Send the transfer notice inside 30 days.

Biggest cities in Texas

Ranked by Census population. Pickup is free in each one.

CityPopulation
Houston2,397,315
San Antonio1,548,422
Dallas1,329,491
Fort Worth1,028,117
Austin1,002,632
El Paso683,012

All 150 Texas town pages

130 of these quote the town's own junk-vehicle code.

Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, El Paso, Arlington, Corpus Christi, Plano, Lubbock, Laredo, Irving, Garland, Frisco, McKinney, Grand Prairie, Amarillo, Brownsville, Denton, Killeen, Mesquite, McAllen, Pasadena, Waco, Midland, Round Rock, Lewisville, Carrollton, Abilene, Pearland, College Station, Odessa, New Braunfels, League City, Conroe, Richardson, Tyler, Allen, Beaumont, Edinburg, Sugar Land, Georgetown, Wichita Falls, San Angelo, Temple, Bryan, Leander, Mission, Baytown, Mansfield, Longview, Pharr, Flower Mound, Cedar Park, San Marcos, Missouri City, Harlingen, North Richland Hills, Kyle, Pflugerville, Rowlett, Victoria, Fulshear, Celina, Wylie, Little Elm, Euless, Texas City, Burleson, DeSoto, Port Arthur, Rockwall, Galveston, Sherman, Grapevine, Waxahachie, Cedar Hill, Huntsville, Bedford, Midlothian, The Colony, Keller, Hutto, Schertz, Prosper, Haltom City, Weslaco, Princeton, Rosenberg, Forney, Coppell, Friendswood, Seguin, Weatherford, Lancaster, Copperas Cove, Cleburne, Cibolo, Hurst, Duncanville, Socorro, Farmers Branch, La Porte, San Juan, Greenville, Texarkana, Anna, Del Rio, Lufkin, Deer Park, Sachse, Nacogdoches, Converse, Southlake, Alvin, Fate, Eagle Pass, Katy, Royse City, Lake Jackson, Denison, Saginaw, Belton, Colleyville, Ennis, Kerrville, Corsicana, University Park, Paris, Horizon City, San Benito, Kingsville, Marshall, Benbrook, Boerne, Terrell, Manor, Watauga, Big Spring, Dickinson, Stephenville, Angleton, Murphy, Portland, Manvel, Alamo, Iowa Colony, Universal City, Red Oak, La Marque

Questions on a Texas car? Call (877) 421-6008.

Cities and towns in Texas

Questions people ask

Does a Texas sale need anything notarized?
No. TxDMV's title manual says no notary is needed for the odometer statement, the bill of sale or the title assignment.
The buyer files the title. Why should I file anything?
Because the state's record lists you until a new title is issued. A notice filed within 30 days protects you from the buyer's parking tickets and tolls.
Can a very old car be scrapped without a title?
Yes, through a used parts recycler, if the car is 13 or more years old, unregistered for seven years or more, and bought only for parts, dismantling or scrap.
Is a safety inspection still required?
Not for noncommercial vehicles since January 1, 2025. Seventeen counties still test emissions.

Sources

Every fact on this page comes from one of these. Checked October 11, 2026.

  1. TxDMV: Buying or selling a vehicle (seller duties, plates, transfer notice, emissions counties) txdmv.gov
  2. TxDMV: Motor Vehicle Title Manual (no notarization) txdmv.gov
  3. TxDMV: Form VTR-346, Vehicle Transfer Notification txdmv.gov
  4. TxDMV: License plates (free plate transfer) txdmv.gov
  5. TxDMV: Get a copy of your title (VTR-34) txdmv.gov
  6. TxDMV: Register your vehicle (late renewal) txdmv.gov
  7. Texas Transportation Code Chapter 501, Certificate of title (recycler exception, salvage and nonrepairable titles) tcss.legis.texas.gov
  8. Texas Transportation Code Chapter 502, Registration of vehicles tcss.legis.texas.gov
  9. Texas Transportation Code Chapter 683, Abandoned and junked vehicles tcss.legis.texas.gov
  10. TCEQ: Vehicle inspection and maintenance program tceq.texas.gov
  11. U.S. Census Bureau: city and town population estimates, Vintage 2025 census.gov