Selling a junk or dead car in Wyoming

County clerks run titles

The state splits the job in two. Titles and lien filings go through the county clerk, in the county seat of the county you live in. Standard plates and registration come from the county treasurer in that same county seat.

Clerk offices we have on file include Laramie County for Cheyenne, Natrona County for Casper, Campbell County for Gillette and Albany County for Laramie.

The notary step

Under Title 31, the seller signs and dates an "assignment and warranty of title" in front of a notarial officer. That assignment lists any liens. The seller then hands it to the buyer together with the car.

Clerks apply this to everyone selling. Owners joined by "or/and" must both sign, and a notary must witness each signature.

For a car built within the last 10 years, add a conforming odometer statement. Either the seller or the buyer may sign it.

Your plates, not the car's

In Wyoming the plates belong to the person. Pull them before the tow truck loads the car. They can go onto your next vehicle, and any credit left on the registration goes with them.

Release of liability

None of the Wyoming sources we read offered a state release-of-liability form. Save a copy or a photo of the notarized assignment as proof you sold the car. Our after you sell page lists other loose ends.

No title? Order a duplicate

We found no Wyoming path for selling a car without its title. Get a duplicate from your county clerk first.

State law lets any one owner shown on the title apply, with a sworn affidavit explaining what happened to the original. The replacement is marked as a duplicate. Teton County charges $15; its form wants every owner's signature, each notarized, and you can file in person or by mail. Read more on selling with no title.

How Wyoming defines salvage

Title 31 makes a car a "salvage vehicle" in one of two ways. Its insurer called it a total loss. Or, with no insurer in the picture, the repair bill tops 75% of actual retail cash value.

Brands cross the state line with the car. A "salvage," "rebuilt" or "flood" brand from another state lands on the new Wyoming title. Wyoming also adds brands from NMVTIS records when the current title shows none. Other brand words the statute lists: "unrebuildable," "parts only," "scrap," "junk," "nonrepairable" and "reconstructed."

Bringing in a title from another state? Law enforcement must inspect the VIN. See out-of-state titles and the salvage title guide.

Abandoned and junk vehicles

The law defines a "junk vehicle" by starting from an "abandoned vehicle." A car counts as abandoned in three cases:

• it sits on a highway past 24 hours after a notice of intent to impound
• it sits on public or private land without permission, 5 days after that notice
• it sits on private land without permission for over 30 days

To be junk, the car must also be wrecked, damaged, disabled or apparently inoperable, abandoned in one of the last two ways, and worth under $2,000.

Tow and recovery companies can ask the county clerk for a "junk" certificate of title on such a car. They file a sworn affidavit and the itemized tow bill. The car must have been abandoned 30 days or more, or 10 days after personal property was removed.

Landowners get a remedy as well. When a car stays on private land past 30 days with no consent, the owner of the land or whoever controls it may sell it, either at a public auction or through a court case. Your town may have its own junk-vehicle code, so check your town page below.

After an impound

A mailed impound notice is treated as received four days after it goes in the mail. The next step turns on value:

• Worth $2,000 or more: a public auction run by the sheriff, once 30 days have passed since notice. The sale notice is published 10 or more days beforehand.
• Worth under $2,000: it is sold at public auction or handed to a disposal facility under contract.

A completed sale wipes out the liens, and neither the former owner nor a lienholder keeps any right to the car or what was in it. More on towed or impounded cars.

Emissions and inspections

The Wyoming law we read sets up no emissions test and no periodic safety inspection. For a dead car, the title is the paperwork that matters.

Four steps for Wyoming

1. Locate the title. Missing? Request a duplicate from the clerk.
2. Ask for an offer. Describe the damage and where it sits.
3. Sign with a notary present. Co-owners sign too.
4. Keep the plates.

Wyoming's largest cities

Every Wyoming town page

Each one quotes that town's own junk-vehicle code: Cheyenne, Casper, Gillette, Laramie, Rock Springs and Sheridan.

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

Cities and towns in Wyoming

• Casper
• Cheyenne
• Gillette
• Laramie
• Rock Springs
• Sheridan