State guide
Washington junk car sales: what the seller does
A Washington seller needs a valid title, or an affidavit DOL accepts, before the sale. Then release your interest on the title, keep the plates, and file the Vehicle Report of Sale with DOL within 5 days. We buy whole non-running and junk cars and offer free pickup anywhere in the US.
Updated · 16 sources
Washington rules at a glance
- Agency
- Department of Licensing, through county and subagent offices
- Report of Sale
- Seller files within 5 days, even for a wrecking yard
- Plates
- Seller removes them; the buyer can't use them
- Notary
- Buyer's title application, not the seller's
- Lost title
- $39.50; 4 to 8 weeks by mail
- Emissions
- No test since January 1, 2020
- Junk vehicle
- RCW 46.55.010; three of four conditions
- Destroyed car
- Report to DOL within 15 days
Where Washington titles get done
The Department of Licensing (DOL) owns the title system. The counters you actually visit belong to county auditors and to private subagents. DOL suggests both sides meet at one of those offices to pay and sign over the title.
What the seller signs:
- The title's own release section, where you give up your interest, or a form DOL approves for it.
- A Bill of Sale with your signature and the buyer's. A Washington title that already lists the price and sale date means you can leave it out. Hold on to your copy.
- An odometer disclosure if one is required.
The notary step belongs to the buyer, who signs the Vehicle Title Application in front of one or at a licensing counter. A buyer who is late moving the title pays $50 on the sixteenth day plus $2 for each extra day, capped at $125.
The Report of Sale protects you
Washington's DOL wants the Vehicle Report of Sale in within 5 days of the sale, while the statute says 5 business days, so don't wait. Online, by mail or in person all work. The Washington form lists the VIN, the plate number, the sale date, and the buyer's and seller's names and addresses.
Washington needs this filing after any sale, gift or trade, after handing a car to an insurer or a wrecking yard, and whenever a car is "disposed of" some other way. DOL says the report shields you from towing charges and from civil and criminal liability the new owner runs up.
Keep your plates
DOL says the seller is "legally obligated" to take the plates off. A seller in Washington has two choices for the plates: hand them in, or move them to another vehicle of that type they own. The buyer can't use them. Plates left on a sold car can bring you parking tickets, speed camera tickets, toll bills and tow charges.
When the title is missing
DOL says a car must have a valid title before it is sold. You have two paths:
- Replace it. Washington has every registered owner sign an "Affidavit of Loss/Release of Interest" with a notary watching. The fee is $39.50 and the new title arrives in 4 to 8 weeks. A quick title costs more.
- Sell on an affidavit. DOL will take either that same affidavit or an Affidavit in Lieu of Title instead of a paper title. A licensing office can tell you which one fits.
Hulk haulers, who buy cars to resell to wreckers and scrap processors, can also work from an endorsed title or an affidavit of lost or stolen title signed by the record owner. See selling with no title.
Destroyed cars and salvage brands
When a Washington car is destroyed, its owner tells DOL within 15 days and surrenders the title, or a sworn affidavit replacing it, marked "DESTROYED". A Washington seller still holding the title once day fifteen passes commits a gross misdemeanor.
A "salvage vehicle" is one whose title was surrendered for destruction or total loss, one declared salvage, or one so damaged that repairs plus salvage value make fixing it uneconomical. No percentage applies.
A salvage car put back on the road gets a Rebuilt brand. Brands stay on the record indefinitely. Washington keeps title brands added by other states, but it doesn't issue a flood brand itself. More in our rebuilt title guide.
The junk vehicle statute
Under RCW 46.55.010, a car becomes a "junk vehicle" when someone certifies it meets three or more of these:
- age of three years or more
- heavy damage: think a smashed windshield, or no wheels, tires, engine or transmission
- apparently inoperable
- worth only its scrap value
A police officer, health department or other authorized person inspects the car. In Washington the landowner sends notice by mail to the registered and legal owners. If nobody claims the car in more than 15 days, the landowner may dispose of it or sign an affidavit of sale, which the state accepts as a title document. If DOL has no owner record, there is no wait.
In Washington, leaving a junk vehicle behind is a gross misdemeanor. The registered owner must also repay cleanup at twice what removal cost. Cities and counties can add their own nuisance codes; our town pages quote them where we found them.
Impounds and expired tabs
A car with tabs expired more than 45 days, parked on a public street, may be impounded. Once a registered tow operator has held a car for 120 hours in a row, the law calls it abandoned.
A notice of custody and sale is mailed to the registered and legal owners. Fifteen days later, an unclaimed car that isn't stolen goes to public auction. See towed or impounded.
No emissions test
Washington ended its emission checks on January 1, 2020, after 38 years. You don't need a test to renew. That removes one reason a dead car gets stuck: no failed test stands between you and a sale.
How to sell, in order
- Find the title, or start a replacement or affidavit.
- Request an offer with the model, the miles and what parts are missing.
- Sign the release and the Bill of Sale.
- Remove the plates.
- Send DOL the Report of Sale inside 5 days.
Largest Washington cities
Pickup is free in each. Populations are Census estimates.
All Washington town pages
Each page covers that town's own junk-car rules where we found them.
Seattle · Spokane · Tacoma · Vancouver · Bellevue · Kent · Everett · Spokane Valley · Renton · Federal Way · Yakima · Kirkland · Bellingham · Kennewick · Auburn · Pasco · Redmond · Marysville · Shoreline · Sammamish · Richland · Lakewood · Lacey · Olympia · Bothell · Burien · Bremerton · Edmonds · Puyallup · Lynnwood · Lake Stevens · Issaquah · Longview · Wenatchee · University Place · Mount Vernon · SeaTac · Walla Walla · Pullman · Des Moines · Maple Valley · Tumwater · Camas · Moses Lake · Mountlake Terrace · Mercer Island · Bainbridge Island · Kenmore · Oak Harbor · Battle Ground · Bonney Lake · Arlington · Tukwila · Covington · Ellensburg · Mukilteo · Mill Creek · Port Angeles · Monroe
Not on the list? You can still sell the whole car as it sits. Call (877) 421-6008.
Cities and towns in Washington
- Arlington
- Auburn
- Bainbridge Island
- Battle Ground
- Bellevue
- Bellingham
- Bonney Lake
- Bothell
- Bremerton
- Burien
- Camas
- Covington
- Des Moines
- Edmonds
- Ellensburg
- Everett
- Federal Way
- Issaquah
- Kenmore
- Kennewick
- Kent
- Kirkland
- Lacey
- Lake Stevens
- Lakewood
- Longview
- Lynnwood
- Maple Valley
- Marysville
- Mercer Island
- Mill Creek
- Monroe
- Moses Lake
- Mount Vernon
- Mountlake Terrace
- Mukilteo
- Oak Harbor
- Olympia
- Pasco
- Port Angeles
- Pullman
- Puyallup
- Redmond
- Renton
- Richland
- Sammamish
- SeaTac
- Seattle
- Shoreline
- Spokane
- Spokane Valley
- Tacoma
- Tukwila
- Tumwater
- University Place
- Vancouver
- Walla Walla
- Wenatchee
- Yakima
Questions people ask
- Do I still file a Report of Sale if the car goes to a wrecking yard?
- Yes. The law lists a car turned over to a wrecking yard or an insurer, or disposed of, among the events that need one. File within 5 days.
- Will I have to find a notary as the seller?
- No. In this state the notary step sits with whoever buys. They sign the title application in front of one, or at a vehicle licensing counter.
- What if I can't find my Washington title?
- DOL says a car needs a valid title before it is sold. You can order a replacement for $39.50, or ask a licensing office whether one of DOL's two affidavits can stand in for the missing title.
Sources
Every fact on this page comes from one of these. Checked October 11, 2026.
- Washington DOL: Sell a vehicle (Report of Sale, plates, bill of sale, titles, affidavits) dol.wa.gov
- Washington DOL: Vehicle title application instructions (buyer's notary) dol.wa.gov
- Washington DOL: Dispose of old plates dol.wa.gov
- Washington DOL: Replace a lost title or registration dol.wa.gov
- Washington DOL: Quick title offices dol.wa.gov
- RCW 46.12.650, Release of interest and report of sale app.leg.wa.gov
- RCW 46.12.600, Destroyed vehicles app.leg.wa.gov
- RCW 46.04.514, Salvage vehicle definition app.leg.wa.gov
- WAC 308-56A-530, Title brands app.leg.wa.gov
- WAC 308-65-080, Hulk hauler documents app.leg.wa.gov
- RCW 46.55.010, Junk vehicle and abandoned vehicle definitions app.leg.wa.gov
- RCW 46.55.130, Notice and public auction of impounded vehicles app.leg.wa.gov
- RCW 46.55.230, Junk vehicles on private property app.leg.wa.gov
- RCW 46.16A.030, Expired registration app.leg.wa.gov
- RCW 46.17, Fees (late title transfer) app.leg.wa.gov
- Washington Department of Ecology: Emission check program ends ecology.wa.gov