The bottom line: To sell a junk car in New Hampshire, you and the buyer both sign the back of the title. No notary is needed. For a 2011 or newer car, write the mileage there too.
New Hampshire does not title cars from 1999 or older. You sell one of those with Form TDMV 22A, plus a VIN check on Form TDMV 19A or the old registration.
Replace a lost title on Form TDMV 18 for $35, by mail or at a DMV office. It takes 5 to 10 days. If there is a loan, the lender signs a release on Form TDMV 20A.
Your plates stay with you, and your town or city clerk can move them to your next car. There is no form to file after the sale, so keep a copy of the signed title or bill of sale.
In New Hampshire, the typical offer in our data for a junk car 10 years or older is $475.
What would buyers pay for your junk car in New Hampshire?Fill in one form, including whether you have the title, and see which buyers make an offer.
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Offer amount 30% 5/5
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Quote speed 20% 5/5
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Pickup speed 20% 4/5
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Vehicle acceptance 15% 5/5
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Process ease 15% 5/5
- Buys any car in any condition, running or not
- Free towing, with no fees taken off the offer
- You can cancel before pickup at no cost
- Pays by check on the spot at pickup
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Offer amount 30% 5/5
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Quote speed 20% 5/5
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Pickup speed 20% 5/5
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Vehicle acceptance 15% 4/5
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Process ease 15% 4/5
- Buys damaged cars, even ones that can't be driven
- The engine and transmission must still be in
- Free towing, included with every offer
- Picks up within 48 hours, sometimes the same day
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Offer amount 30% 4.5/5
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Quote speed 20% 5/5
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Pickup speed 20% 4/5
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Vehicle acceptance 15% 4/5
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Process ease 15% 2/5
- Owned by Copart, the salvage auction company
- Buys almost any vehicle with a motor, running or not
- Free towing, and it handles the title transfer
- Hands you a check at pickup, or mails it
Automated assistant: general info, not legal advice
Answers come from our state paperwork data and published guides. Confirm anything binding with your state DMV.
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How Do You Sell a Junk Car in New Hampshire?
Six steps. Five happen before the pickup and one after it.
Step 1: Get quotes from several buyers
A quote form wants the year, make, model and mileage, then your ZIP code and whether the car starts. Expect to spend a few minutes on each one.
Some buyers ask for the VIN too. It is on the plate at the bottom of the windshield on the driver’s side, and it is printed on your registration card.
List what is wrong with the car and what is missing from it. The form asks whether the wheels, the engine and the catalytic converter are still on the car, and the driver looks for all three.
Get at least three quotes. None of them commits you to anything.
Step 2: Check your paperwork
Get the title and a photo ID out before you accept anything. The name on the title has to be yours, and no lender can still be listed on it.
Title needed to sell: yes (model year 1999 and older exempt).
Odometer reading: required for model year 2011 and newer vehicles, with model year 2010 and older, trailers, and vehicles rated over 16,000 lbs exempt.
Every form you might need
A plain sale with the title in your name uses none of these. They come up when the title is missing, when a loan was once on the car, or when the car is sold under the no-title rule.
Step 3: Accept an offer and book the pickup
Accepting the offer takes a click or a phone call. The buyer passes the job to a tow company near you, and that company contacts you to set a pickup window.
Tell the tow company where the car is parked and how a truck gets to it. A dirt drive, a steep bank or a barn with the car at the back is worth saying on the phone.
You meet the driver, sign the title, and take the money. If someone else will do that for you, tell the buyer when you book.
Step 4: Get the car ready for the tow truck
A flatbed backs up to the car and tilts its bed down to it, so it needs a straight, clear run to the car. In winter that means the snow around the car is shoveled before the truck comes, not after.
Take everything out of the car before the truck comes: glove box, trunk, door pockets, under the seats and the spare tire well. Take off any toll pass or parking permit.
Plates stay with you. Take them off before the truck arrives.
Lost keys do not stop the pickup, because the driver winches the car on. Put it on the quote form all the same, and read our guide to selling a car with lost keys if the car is locked.
Step 5: Sign the title and take payment
The driver looks the car over and you sign the back of the title.
You are paid before the car goes on the truck, so count the cash or read the check before it moves.
Photograph both sides of the signed title before the driver takes it. That photo is your own record of the day the car changed hands.
Keep any paper the driver leaves with you, and check your inbox, because some buyers email the bill of sale and the confirmation instead.
Step 6: Deal with the plates and the insurance
Cost to move them to another car: varies, set by the town or city clerk that processes the transfer.
Keep the title photo with the driver’s paperwork. If anyone asks about the car later, those two show the day it stopped being yours.
Cancel the insurance once the car has gone. If you cancel on the morning of the pickup and the truck runs late, the car sits in your driveway with no coverage.
New Hampshire Junk Car Checklist
Before the Sale
At Pickup
After the Sale
What Is Your Junk Car Worth in New Hampshire?
In New Hampshire, buyers typically offer $475 for a junk car (cars 10 years and older, 55 offers, ranked 33 of 44 states). Across the country, half of all offers on old cars fall between $375 and $1,075.
Buyers typically offer $425 for cars 15 years and older. Of all offers here, 35% are under $400, from our own quote data.
Nothing moves the offer more than the catalytic converter. With the converter gone, and age and mileage matched, the offer against a comparable car with it moves by about -57%. If it is missing, say so on the form.
Whether the engine starts is the next thing. Against a comparable car that drives, once age and mileage are matched, a car that won’t start moves the offer by about -46%.
Companies That Buy Junk Cars in New Hampshire
Peddle
Peddle buys junk, salvage, and non-running cars
- Buys junk cars anywhere in New Hampshire
- Offer in minutes, no sign-up
- Takes damaged cars and cars missing parts
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Offer amount 30% 5/5
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Quote speed 20% 5/5
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Pickup speed 20% 4/5
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Vehicle acceptance 15% 5/5
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Process ease 15% 5/5
Peddle buys a car with a blown engine, a failed transmission or crash damage.
Wheelzy
Wheelzy buys cars in any condition, running or not
- Free removal from any New Hampshire address
- Branches in Concord, Derry, Manchester, Nashua and Rochester
- No title-transfer or removal fees in New Hampshire
- Cashier's check you can cash the same day
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Offer amount 30% 5/5
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Quote speed 20% 5/5
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Pickup speed 20% 5/5
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Vehicle acceptance 15% 4/5
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Process ease 15% 4/5
When the title is missing, get the quote from Wheelzy first, because it helps with the replacement. In New Hampshire a replacement takes 5 to 10 calendar days once the DMV receives and verifies your application.
CashForCars
CashForCars is owned by Copart and buys cars in any condition
- Its one New Hampshire yard is in Candia
- Sixty seconds on the form or the phone gets you a number
- You are paid on the spot, as the truck loads the car
- RVs and boats as well as cars, trucks and SUVs
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Offer amount 30% 4.5/5
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Quote speed 20% 5/5
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Pickup speed 20% 4/5
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Vehicle acceptance 15% 4/5
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Process ease 15% 2/5
CashForCars is owned by Copart. The cars it buys in New Hampshire are sold on through Copart’s auction yards.
Collect all three numbers even if the first one looks fine. When two or more buyers quote the same car on the same day through our own quote form, the highest and lowest offers are typically $314 apart. In 39% of those cases the highest offer is at least double the lowest.
If the car still starts and drives and has a clean title, a private sale usually pays more than a junk buyer. Our guide to selling a car privately in New Hampshire covers the paperwork.
Can You Sell a Junk Car Without a Title in New Hampshire?
Yes, for some older cars. These are the three ways to go about it.
Option 1: Sell it without the title. New Hampshire lets a car go without a title on these conditions: the vehicle must have a model year of 1999 or older and not be a heavy truck or truck-tractor over 18,000 pounds gross vehicle weight, which must always be titled regardless of age. Bill of sale: required for title-exempt vehicles, model year 1999 and older; recommended otherwise. The statute: RSA 261:3 exempts any motor vehicle whose manufacturer's model year is before the year 2000 from the title requirement, except heavy trucks and truck-tractors over 18,000 pounds, so a title-exempt vehicle is sold without a title.
Say on the quote form that the car has no title, and let the buyer answer whether the yard it sends can take it that way.
Option 2: Get the title replaced and sell with it. Every buyer can then quote the car.
Option 3: Sell the parts one by one. A part changes hands with no title at all. Expect it to take weeks, and our guide to selling a car for parts covers what to pull and where to list it.
Getting a Replacement Title in New Hampshire
What a replacement title takes in New Hampshire:
- Application: Form TDMV 18
- Where to submit: most DMV offices, or by mail to NH Dept. of Safety DMV – Title, 23 Hazen Drive, Concord NH 03305
- Fee: $35
- Processing time: 5 to 10 calendar days once the DMV receives and verifies your application
Send the application off in the same week you collect quotes. The title wait and the quotes do not depend on each other, so the two run side by side.
If the old title turns up after that, use the replacement and tear the old one up.
If a lender still holds the title
A lien on the front of the title stops the sale until the lender clears it. Your lender releases it one of these ways: the lienholder signs a Release of Lien or Other Encumbrances (Form TDMV 20A) or provides a release on bank letterhead.
When the loan balance is more than the offer, you pay the gap before the car can go. Our guide to selling a financed car covers the payoff figure and the release.
If your title is electronic
New Hampshire issues paper titles and does not title vehicles model year 1999 or older. There is no electronic title for sellers to print. The driver takes the paper title away with the car, so have it in your hand before you book.
If the car is titled in another state
A car with a Maine or Massachusetts title can be junked in New Hampshire without being retitled here first. Name the state on the quote form, and sign the title the way that state’s form says.
If that title is lost, apply to the state that issued it, since New Hampshire cannot replace a title from somewhere else.
Selling a Junk Car That Isn’t in Your Name
The buyer pays whoever is named on the title. When that person has died, the person the probate court appointed signs the title instead, and the junk sale is then the same as any other.
New Hampshire’s rule on a gifted car: No gift form. The title assignment shows $0 or gift as the purchase price.
A car a stranger left on your land is not yours to sign for. The abandoned vehicle process comes first, and it begins with the police or the town, not with a buyer.
Local Dismantlers vs Online Buyers in New Hampshire
Selling to a local yard
A yard sets its number by weight, and the scrap price changes from one week to the next. A figure given over the phone is not in writing, and it can be different once the car is on the scale.
If the yard collects the car, ask whether the tow is taken off the number. If you bring the car in on a trailer, ask what that saves.
Ask what license the yard holds before you sign anything.
Selling to an online buyer
An online buyer puts its number in writing before any truck is booked, and three of them fit on one screen in an afternoon. It prices the parts it can sell again as well as the metal.
It sends the truck and takes the title away with the car, so there is no trip to a yard and no counter to stand at.
Our guide to how online buyers work out an offer goes through what moves the number.
When selling it yourself makes sense
A car whose engine still runs well, in a model that sold in numbers, can be offered more by a mechanic or a hobbyist than by any yard. It takes weeks, not days, and the buyer comes with a trailer.
Storing a Junk Car in New Hampshire
Each town writes its own rule on unregistered or non-running cars kept in view, and the town’s code office enforces it. A written notice can be followed by a fine, and then by a tow at your cost.
Keep the car on gravel or pavement if it has to wait. A car that has sunk into soft ground over mud season is harder to winch out, and the tires are flat by then.
Our guide on how to store a junk car covers leaks, flat tires and a complaint from the town.
New Hampshire Motor Vehicle Resources
- Motor vehicle agency: New Hampshire Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV)
- Selling a vehicle: NH DMV Purchasing or Selling a Titled Vehicle page
Compare instant offers before you accept one
Compare instant offers before you accept one
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take to sell a junk car in New Hampshire?
An offer comes back within minutes. The tow company sets the pickup day when it calls.
A lost title adds the replacement wait before any of that starts.
Is a bill of sale required to junk a car in New Hampshire?
Bill of sale: required for title-exempt vehicles, model year 1999 and older; recommended otherwise.
Write one whatever the rule says, because it records the price and the date in your own hand. Our bill of sale generator builds one from the details on the title.
Does anything have to be notarized to junk a car in New Hampshire?
Title notarization: not required.
Bill of sale notarization: not required.
Does a junk car need an emissions test to sell in New Hampshire?
Emissions test to sell: not required (it belongs to the annual state inspection, which is suspended until further notice).
Junk buyers do not ask for test results.
Do I have to tell New Hampshire I sold the car?
If you file nothing: no set statutory penalty, but keeping your copy of the signed title or bill of sale is what protects you if the buyer delays registration.
Can I junk a car with expired registration in New Hampshire?
Yes. Registration covers driving on the road, and this car is leaving on a truck. You don’t need to renew it first.
Keep the old registration card if you still have it, since it carries your name and the VIN on one piece of paper.
What happens to my junk car after I sell it in New Hampshire?
The yard takes off the parts it can sell again: the engine, the converter, the doors, the wheels. What is left is crushed and sold by the ton as scrap steel.
What if the junk car offer changes when the driver arrives in New Hampshire?
The driver can offer less when the car is not as described: a converter that is gone, wheels that are missing, an engine that was said to run and does not.
Nothing obliges you to accept the lower number. Until you sign the title the car is still yours, so you can send the truck away and use one of your other quotes.
Is it worth repairing my car instead of junking it in New Hampshire?
Get the repair estimate, then put it next to the junk offer and what buyers would offer for the car once it runs. When the estimate is bigger than the difference between those two, the repair loses money.
A car with a good engine or a part other owners want can also be sold for parts.
Article Update History
The page now covers New Hampshire's title exemption for older cars, and what to keep when the state asks for no release form.
Originally posted and shared with our readers.
Sources
"yes (model year 1999 and older exempt)" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"required for title-exempt vehicles, model year 1999 and older; recommended otherwise" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Duplicate Title Application Form
"Form TDMV 18" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"$35" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"varies, set by the town or city clerk that processes the transfer" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"New Hampshire Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV)" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Bill of Sale Notarization Required?
"not required" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Emissions Testing Required to Sell?
"not required (it belongs to the annual state inspection, which is suspended until further notice)" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
How to Complete a Gift Transfer
"No gift form. The title assignment shows $0 or gift as the purchase price" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Sell Without Title: Legal Authority
"RSA 261:3 exempts any motor vehicle whose manufacturer's model year is before the year 2000 from the title requirement, except heavy trucks and truck-tractors over 18,000 pounds, so a title-exempt vehicle is sold without a title" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"required for model year 2011 and newer vehicles, with model year 2010 and older, trailers, and vehicles rated over 16,000 lbs exempt" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"Report of Sale or Transfer of a Non-Titled Motor Vehicle (Form TDMV 22A), provided with a Verification of Vehicle Identification (Form TDMV 19A) or a copy of the previous registration or title" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"with you" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Junk Car Value Statistics, Sell Car Advisor
"On this page: 6 figures from 17,628 instant cash offers, and 4 figures from same-day quotes by several buyers" Accessed Oct. 19, 2026
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