Selling a junk or dead car in Spokane

The definition that is left

With both city chapters gone, RCW 46.55.010 sets the test. A car is legally junk once it has been certified as matching three of the following:

• it is past its third year
• it has major damage, such as busted glass or no wheels, motor or transmission
• it looks inoperable
• its scrap value is all it is worth

Three out of four is the line. One flaw alone, like a cracked windshield on a car that still runs, does not meet it.

A car left on land you don't own

RCW 46.55.230 runs in three steps:

1. Inspection. A police officer, health department staff or another authorized person checks the car and may approve disposal.
2. Letters. Both the registered owner and the legal owner get a notice from the landowner by mail.
3. The wait. A Spokane landowner holds the car 15 days. If no one claims it, they may junk it or title it with a signed affidavit of sale. With no owner on file at DOL, there is no wait.

The law reads "landowner" widely: the legal owner of private land, whoever possesses or controls it, and a public official in charge of public property. An owner who walks away pays for it. Leaving a junk car behind is a gross misdemeanor. In Spokane the owner repays double the removal cost, divided between the landowner and the investigating agency. Car abandoned on your property has the landowner's side.

Street, tow yard, auction

On a city street, a registration more than 45 days out of date can get a car impounded. At a tow lot, 120 hours in a row of storage makes it an abandoned vehicle under state law. Next, the tow company sends out a notice of custody and sale by mail. If 15 days pass with no claim, and the car was not stolen, it is auctioned to the public, and the high bidder must apply for title within 15 days.

Wrecked, salvage or destroyed

Washington's salvage definition has no percentage in it. A Spokane car is salvage if its title went back to DOL after a wreck or total loss, if its records say salvage, or if repairs plus salvage value mean fixing it makes no sense. A car rebuilt afterward carries the Rebuilt brand for good, and Washington keeps no separate flood brand.

If a Spokane car is destroyed rather than sold, report it to DOL within 15 days. A Spokane owner sends DOL the title stamped "DESTROYED," or an "affidavit in lieu of title" stamped that way. Having that title still on day 16 counts as a gross misdemeanor. If you would rather sell it whole, see wrecked or totaled and salvage title.

The office on West Broadway

For Spokane County we checked 1116 W Broadway Ave, phone (509) 477-2222. It sits under a mile southeast of downtown's center, as the crow flies, and is on DOL's quick title list. Other county offices may exist. DOL's advice is for both sides to meet at a licensing office to handle the money and the signed title.

Your part of the sale

• Sign the release of interest and give the buyer the title, with an odometer disclosure where one is required.
• Spokane buyers and sellers both sign a bill of sale, except when the title shows the sale amount and day.
• Pull the plates; they belong on another vehicle of yours or back with DOL.
• File the Vehicle Report of Sale, form 420-062, within 5 days. Giving the car to a wrecking yard counts here.

No notary is needed for your side. A replacement title costs a Spokane owner $39.50. Expect it by mail in 4 to 8 weeks, though DOL can sometimes accept an affidavit in its place. Emission checks ended statewide on January 1, 2020. More on the Washington page.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or use the form for a Spokane offer. We collect from a driveway by the river, a parking garage downtown or a repair shop. Spokane Valley is next door with its own page, and Pullman has one too.