Selling a junk or dead car in Wenatchee

Wenatchee's city code

Our search turned up no Wenatchee city code online, so Washington state law is what this page covers. Washington cities are free to layer nuisance rules on top of it, and Wenatchee may have done so. Check with the city before a broken car spends a winter in the yard.

When Washington calls a car junk

Meet three of these four, under RCW 46.55.010, and the state calls it a "junk vehicle":

1. an age of three years or more
2. serious damage, like busted glass or a missing wheel, tire, motor or transmission
3. it appears unable to run
4. it is worth scrap and nothing more

A car parked since last season usually has the first and third already. A cracked windshield finishes the set. Leave a junk car on someone else's Wenatchee land and it's a gross misdemeanor. The registered owner also pays double what removal costs.

A stranger's car on your property

RCW 46.55.230 reads "landowner" broadly: anyone who owns, possesses or controls private land. After an officer, a health department or another authorized inspector has looked at the car, the landowner sends a letter to its owner and lienholder of record. If the letter gets no reply in 15 days, a Wenatchee landowner can scrap the car, or use an affidavit of sale that the state takes instead of a title. If DOL has no owner listed, there is no wait. See a car abandoned on your property.

Impound on Wenatchee streets

On public streets, a car with tabs lapsed beyond 45 days can be impounded. If a tow yard keeps it 120 hours without a break, state law labels it abandoned. The yard mails a custody-and-sale notice, and after 15 days the unclaimed car is auctioned. Whoever wins the bid has 15 days to apply for title.

Destroyed, salvage and rebuilt

Washington separates damaged cars from destroyed ones. A destroyed car must be reported to DOL inside 15 days, together with its title or an affidavit in lieu, stamped "DESTROYED". Holding on to that title into day 16 counts as a gross misdemeanor.

Under RCW 46.04.514, a "salvage vehicle" is one too costly to fix once repair parts, labor and its salvage value are weighed together, and the law sets no percentage. Once a salvage car is fixed and driven again, DOL's record shows a Rebuilt brand on it for good. Washington has no separate flood brand. More at insurer totaled it.

No emissions hurdle

The state's 38-year emission check program closed out on January 1, 2020. An older Wenatchee car that would have failed a tailpipe test needs none to renew.

Handing over the title in Wenatchee

DOL suggests the two parties meet at a licensing office to sign and pay, and the Orondo Ave office is one place to do it. Its listing showed no phone number.

As the seller:

• Sign off your interest in the title's release section, or on an approved form.
• Give the buyer that title, plus an odometer disclosure where the law calls for one.
• Fill out a bill of sale together if the title lacks price and date, and keep copies.

The buyer handles the notary step on their application. Buyers who miss the transfer deadline pay $50 on the sixteenth day plus $2 a day after, capped at $125. The buyer pays that fee. Your report of sale, filed within 5 days, is what protects you if the buyer later runs up tow bills or legal trouble with the car.

Lost the title? Every registered owner of a Wenatchee car signs DOL's Affidavit of Loss/Release of Interest before a notary. The new title is $39.50 and comes in the mail after 4 to 8 weeks. An Affidavit in Lieu of Title may be accepted for the sale instead. See selling with no title.

Plates and the sale report

Plates belong to the seller in Washington. Unbolt them and reuse them on a vehicle of that same type, or surrender them, so the car's future tolls, camera tickets and tow bills cannot be traced to you. Even for a sale to a wrecking yard, tell DOL about it within 5 days. An online filing made after hours goes through as soon as payment clears.

Getting an offer

Got a Wenatchee car to sell? Call (877) 421-6008 or fill in our offer form. Pickup works from a Wenatchee driveway, a place by the Columbia River, or the shop where it broke down. Other Washington pages: Yakima, Ellensburg and Washington.