How to sell a junk car in Vermont

Who handles Vermont titles

The state does. The Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles issues titles, and you can visit one of its offices or mail papers to the Montpelier office. In Chittenden County the office is at 4 Market Street, South Burlington.

For a titled car, each person listed as an owner assigns it, and any liens must be released first. Vermont sellers of a 2011 or newer model year car also hand over an Odometer Disclosure Statement.

The bill of sale names the make, year and VIN, plus the price, the mileage, the seller's signature and the date. See our bill of sale guide.

One note for older cars: the DMV recommends getting a title anyway when the buyer will register the car in another state.

Plates come off at the sale

Vermont law says the seller must take the plates off a sold car right away. The plates are yours. You may move them to another unregistered vehicle you own. With no transfer application filed, they are due back to the Commissioner once five days have passed since the transfer.

Sending back the registration

Vermont has no separate release form in the facts we gathered. Vermont law instead tells the seller to send the registration certificate back to the Commissioner at once, noting on its back the sale date and the new owner's name and home address.

That return also opens the door to a refund. The DMV says it considers one when you send back the registration certificate or the plates.

Lost title or no title

First check the model year. Cars from 2009 back, registered in Vermont to you, skip the title entirely.

For a newer car, replace the lost title before you sell. Use form VT-004, the Replacement Title Application. You can apply online, at a DMV office (an appointment is a good idea), or by mail to Montpelier. The fee is $42.00. If a paid-off loan is still shown, include the lien release. More in selling with no title.

Salvage and rebuilt brands

Vermont law calls a car "salvaged" when it was bought or acquired as salvage, scrapped, dismantled or destroyed, or declared a total loss by an insurer. There is no damage percentage.

Vermont gives that car 15 days to get a salvage certificate of title. Cars more than 15 years old, and those exempt under 23 V.S.A. 2012, are left out.

Keeping a Vermont car after the insurance company totaled it means it has to pass through the rebuilt vehicle process. The Commissioner inspects a rebuilt car before it can be titled or registered, and its new title carries the word "rebuilt". Read more in our salvage title guide.

Vermont's junk vehicle law

Title 24 defines a "junk motor vehicle" broadly. It covers a discarded, dismantled, wrecked, scrapped or ruined vehicle or its parts. It also covers a car left unregistered or uninspected for 90 days from discovery, unless it is a utility vehicle used on the premises.

That second part matters for a dead car in the driveway. A car left unregistered or uninspected for 90 days from discovery can meet the definition with no damage at all.

Running a salvage yard takes two things from the state: approval of the location, and a registration issued by the Secretary.

Abandoned cars and towing

A car is abandoned under Title 23 when it stays on public or private land, or along a highway, more than 48 hours without consent. With no valid plate, or with the VIN removed, any length of time counts.

The landowner asks the DMV to certify the car as abandoned within 90 days of finding or moving it. When the car can be traced, the DMV has three business days to write, by certified mail, to whoever registered it last and to the lender if there is one. If it can't be traced and no owner turns up in 21 days, the Commissioner issues a certificate of abandoned motor vehicle.

Storage fees can't be charged for any time before the certification form goes to the DMV. If yours was towed, see towed or impounded.

Inspection and the OBD check

Vermont has required safety inspections since 1935. Federal law also requires an emissions program, and Vermont runs it as an OBD II check. A car fails that check if its OBD connector is missing or doesn't work.

A dead car can't drive to a station. Registrations can be renewed up to three years after they expire, but selling the car ends the question.

Steps to sell in Vermont

1. Check the model year. 2009 and earlier cars use the registration in place of a title.
2. Ask us for an offer. Mention if the engine starts and the town where it sits.
3. Sign the paperwork. In Vermont that is the title or registration and a bill of sale, plus an odometer statement on 2011 and newer cars.
4. Take off the plates before the truck leaves.
5. Send the registration back to the DMV with the sale details on the back.

Vermont cities we serve

Pickup costs nothing in either city. Populations are Census estimates.

Every Vermont town page

Vermont's two largest towns each have a page of their own: Burlington and South Burlington. We sell the whole car as it sits, from either one or anywhere else in the state.

Questions before you start? Call (877) 421-6008.

Cities and towns in Vermont

• Burlington
• South Burlington