Selling a junk or dead car in Sammamish

Sammamish's code, and the state's

We came up empty looking for Sammamish's municipal code online. Washington law guides this page, though the city could have additional local rules.

RCW 46.55.010 sets a four-part test, and a certified "junk vehicle" meets three parts or more: "three years old or older," "extensively damaged," "apparently inoperable," and a worth equal only to scrap.

Where the doubled cost goes

The restitution is shared. The statute divides it between the landowner and whichever agency investigated. "Landowner" reaches past the deed holder, too: anyone possessing or controlling the private land counts, and so does a public official over public ground.

Landowners have a clock of their own. Sammamish starts with an authorized inspection and a letter to the registered and legal owners. In Sammamish, a car still unclaimed at 15 days can be junked by the landowner, or titled through a signed affidavit of sale.

The paper trail to a wrecker

Around Sammamish, a licensed hulk hauler can buy cars and sell them on to a wrecker or scrap processor. For a Sammamish car, WAC 308-65-080 allows four papers: a correctly signed-over title; the record owner's sworn word that the title was lost or stolen, plus a release of interest; a junk-vehicle affidavit of sale under RCW 46.55.230; or an affidavit of sale from a registered tow operator.

Title in someone else's name? Start with car not in your name.

Title, report, plates

The closest King County title counter for Sammamish owners is Suite 206 at No. 201 South Jackson Street in Seattle. The phone is (206) 477-4000. It is near 14 miles west of downtown Sammamish in a straight line.

A Sammamish sale takes your signature on the title and a bill of sale, plus a Report of Sale sent to DOL inside 5 days. Buyer's share: transferring the title, with a late penalty of $50 on day sixteen and $2 more daily, capped at $125. That penalty is the buyer's problem; your report is what clears your record. Unscrew the plates first. They can't go with the buyer. A Sammamish seller may turn them in to the state or move them to a similar car bought later.

Won't start at all? Car doesn't run covers that.

Nearby

Straight-line from Sammamish: Issaquah 3.5 miles, Bellevue 5.5, Redmond 6.8, Renton 10.8. Statewide: Washington.

Getting an offer

Ring (877) 421-6008 or use the form. Get a Sammamish offer from the form. We collect from a wooded driveway's end or inside a garage.