Sell a junk car in West Virginia

The state DMV runs titles

West Virginia titles are a state job. You can mail them to the Division of Motor Vehicles, walk them into a DMV Regional Office, or use one of the private license services the state authorizes. Counties only handle personal property tax: the assessor sets it and the sheriff collects it.

On the back of the title:

• Seller and buyer both sign.
• The seller writes the exact mileage in the assignment section. If the title has no space for it, use Form DMV-TM-1.
• Two owners? "AND" between the names needs both signatures; "OR" or "AND/OR" needs just one.

The title fee is $15.00. Titling also carries a 6% sales tax on a net price over $500, or a flat $30.00 under $500. If the price is below 50% of NADA Clean Loan book value, a notarized bill of sale or Form DMV-7-TR must go with the application, or tax is charged on book value.

Your plates, your registration

A transfer ends the registration on the spot, and the statute has the original owner hold on to the plates. Moving them to another car you own takes an application within 60 days. Switching to a different class of vehicle costs a $10 exchange fee plus any difference in value.

Form DMV-1-S tells the DMV you sold

The statute says to notify the commissioner "immediately" after a transfer. West Virginia's form for this is DMV-1-S, the "Sold Vehicle or Watercraft Notice." Mail it to the DMV Insurance Division, PO Box 17020, Charleston, WV 25317.

• The seller signs it, and the buyer too if available.
• Selling to a junk dealer or salvage yard? Put that business down as the buyer.
• Write "UNKNOWN" if you don't know the buyer. The DMV won't accept the form with blank lines.

The form notes it is not for a junked vehicle, so ask the DMV which paper fits if the car is being junked rather than sold.

Scrap sales and the 45-day surrender

Most sellers must hand over the title within sixty days. A car sold as scrap or to be dismantled is exempt. The buyer instead surrenders the title, or a cancellation statement the seller signed, within 45 days. An owner who scraps a titled car on their own surrenders the title within 45 days too.

Lost title

Get a duplicate before you sell. Use Form DMV-4-TR, the Affidavit of Duplicate Title, which has a notary line. The fee is $15.00. Our no-title guide has more.

Abandoned-vehicle titles are not a route for private owners. The DMV takes those applications only from towing companies, dealers, repair facilities, auto auctions and salvage yards that hold a state license. Form DMV-130-TR covers a junked or abandoned car worth $9,500 or less on loan value, after the legal notices.

Salvage, cosmetic and nonrepairable

When an insurer totals a car, it decides before paying which of three papers applies:

• Salvage certificate, for a car that can be repaired.
• Cosmetic total loss title, $22.50.
• Nonrepairable motor vehicle certificate, for a car that can't be run safely and is worth something only for its parts or as scrap metal.

A reconstructed car can't be titled or registered until an official inspection station and the DMV both inspect it. See nonrepairable titles.

West Virginia's junked vehicle law

Under Chapter 17, Article 24A, a "junked motor vehicle" is discarded, wrecked, ruined, scrapped or dismantled, and can't pass state inspection. On top of that, it either serves no functional purpose or sits somewhere other than an enclosed building, a salvage yard with a state license, or a demolisher's lot.

A car is "abandoned" when it sits inoperative on public property more than five days. On private land it counts after more than five days without the owner's or controller's consent.

Towing by an enforcement agency

An enforcement agency may take an abandoned or junked car into custody. From private land, it must warn the property owner and the car's owner first.

1. Within 15 days of the tow, the agency writes by certified mail to the car's last registered owner and to every lienholder.
2. Each then has 10 days from getting that letter to pay the tow and storage bill and take the car back.
3. If no one does, they waive all rights. The agency then auctions the car publicly or sells it to a salvage yard or demolisher, and the buyer takes it free of liens.

For a car worth $7,500 or less on loan value, a tower hired by the agency can title it and sell it. See towed or impounded.

Safety inspection every two years

West Virginia moved from yearly to every-24-month safety inspections on January 1, 2024. The sticker costs at most $19 for the two years. If a West Virginia purchase has no valid sticker, the new owner gets it inspected within three days.

A dead car can't make that trip. The sale ends the problem, since your registration expires at the sale. Our failed inspection guide covers the choices.

Five quick steps

1. Find the title or apply for a duplicate.
2. Request an offer, naming the county the car is in.
3. Sign the title's back side, mileage included.
4. Keep the plates.
5. Mail Form DMV-1-S with the buyer listed.

The state's largest cities

Every one gets free pickup. Population figures come from the Census.

Town pages in West Virginia

Each one quotes that city's own junk-vehicle code:

• Charleston
• Huntington
• Morgantown
• Parkersburg
• Wheeling
• Weirton
• Beckley

You sell the whole car as it sits. Call (877) 421-6008 with questions.

Cities and towns in West Virginia

• Beckley
• Charleston
• Huntington
• Morgantown
• Parkersburg
• Weirton
• Wheeling