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The bottom line: A junk car in Washington is one where the repair bill would be higher than any offer for the car. That covers a car with a dead engine or a failed transmission, a wreck, a car with a salvage title, and a car that has not started in years. One like that is offered $435, against $565 across the country, and 46% of the junk cars quoted here are offered under $400.
To sell a junk car in Washington, start with quotes. Enter the car details once in our comparison tool and a few online buyers quote it in minutes.
Accept the best quote, and that buyer sends a tow truck. Before it comes, have the title in your name and a photo ID ready. A lost title takes time to replace: 4 to 6 weeks in person, or 6 to 8 weeks by mail.
When the truck arrives, you sign the title over to the driver and are paid before the car is loaded. Notarization is not required. Plates stay with the seller.
Once the car has gone: File online through the Department of Licensing website, or mail Form 420-062 to a vehicle licensing office, within 5 days of the sale. Cancel the insurance last, once the paperwork is done.
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 Washington?
Six steps, from the first quote to the paperwork after the truck has gone. Have the title in your hands before you start.
Step 1: Get quotes from several buyers
Each buyer’s form asks for the year, make, model and mileage, your ZIP code, and whether the car starts and rolls. Have the VIN handy: it is stamped on the driver’s side of the dashboard, readable through the windshield, and printed on your registration.
Answer the condition questions exactly. A missing converter or a car that will not roll changes the number, and the driver checks the car against your answers before paying.
Get at least three quotes. None of them commits you to anything, and these are the three to start with.
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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
- Quote stays valid for 7 days
- Handles all the paperwork too
- Buys cars that are missing keys
- Pays cash or check 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
- Assists with replacement titles
- Buys cars stripped for parts
- Driver pays you before loading
- Quote often needs a phone call
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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
- Over 200 locations nationwide
- Drop off your car at any yard
- Backed by Copart auction yards
- Pays a check right at pickup
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.
Where each signature goes on the Washington title is covered in our guide to selling a car in Washington. A missing title or a title in someone else’s name does not stop the sale, and each has its own form. A lender on the title has to be released first.
Every form you might need
The first card is the one every Washington junk sale needs, once the car has gone. The others cover a missing title, the odometer line and an owner who has died.
Reporting the sale
After the sale: Form 420-062 (Vehicle Report of Sale)
Tells the state the car is no longer yours. When and how.
Lost title
Use: Form 420 040 (Affidavit of Loss/Release of Interest)
Covers a title that is lost or damaged. What the state accepts.
Odometer disclosure
Inherited vehicle
Use: Affidavit of Inheritance/Litigation (Form TD-420-041)
Goes with the estate papers. The rest of it.
Step 3: Accept an offer and book the pickup
Accept the offer online, and the buyer hands the job to a tow company near you. That company calls to fix a day, and what you get is a window of a few hours rather than a set time.
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 needs a straight approach and room behind the car. Move whatever is parked in front of it, and mention a steep drive, a gate or soft ground when you book.
Take everything out of the car before the truck comes: glovebox, trunk, door pockets, under the seats and the spare tire well. Take off any toll pass or parking permit.
Plates stay with the seller. Take them off before the truck arrives.
Lost keys do not stop the pickup, because the driver winches the car on. Say so on the form all the same, since the driver may not be able to read the mileage, and our guide to selling a car with lost keys covers what else to tell the buyer.
Step 5: Sign the title and take payment
The driver looks the car over and you sign the back of the title. Payment is usually cash or check. It depends on the tow company.
You are paid before the car goes on the truck, so count the cash or read the check before it moves.
Sign the seller’s section of the title exactly as your name is printed on the front. The report of sale asks for the buyer’s name and address: use the company’s, from your offer confirmation, not the driver’s, since the driver is usually a tow contractor.
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: Report the sale and deal with the plates
Plates first, then the paperwork.
- What to do with the plates: transfer to a like-kind vehicle, or surrender at a vehicle licensing office.
- How and when: File online through the Department of Licensing website, or mail Form 420-062 to a vehicle licensing office, within 5 days of the sale.
- Deadline: 5 days.
- If you skip it: the seller may remain liable for towing charges, civil and criminal liabilities, tickets, and tolls until the Report of Sale is filed.
Cancel the insurance last, after the car has gone and the notice is filed. A tow that slips to the next day leaves the car yours for another night.
Keep a photo of the signed title, the payment record and the filing confirmation in one place. Together they show the day the car stopped being yours.
Washington Junk Car Checklist
Before the Sale
At Pickup
After the Sale
What Is Your Junk Car Worth in Washington?
In Washington, a typical junk car is offered $435 (cars 10 years and older, 410 offers, ranked 41 of 44 states). Across the country, half of all offers on old cars fall between $380 and $1,080.
Of the junk cars quoted in Washington, 39% are sedans, coupes and hatchbacks, offered $390 in the middle. Ford is the make quoted most often, and its typical offer is $380. Cars 15 years and older are offered $355, from our own quote data.
By age, Washington offers beat the national figure on cars 10 to 14 years old and trail it from 15 years on. Washington trails by most on cars 18 to 19 years old, and both charts are our own offer data for Washington.
Middle offer on old cars in Washington 410 Washington offers · 12,827 nationally · Age of car when the offer was made (years)Show the numbers
Age (years) Washington Offers All cars nationally Offers 10-12 $1,395 72 $1,240 2,936 13-14 $850 33 $720 1,835 15-17 $500 93 $560 2,843 18-19 $365 65 $465 1,571 20-24 $315 78 $410 2,445 25+ $270 69 $355 1,197 
By body type, every group is offered less in Washington than nationally. Pickups get the highest offers and sedans, coupes and hatchbacks the lowest, while the shortfall against the national figure is biggest on SUVs and crossovers.
Middle offer on old cars in Washington by body type 310 Washington offers, cars 10 years and olderShow the numbers
Body type Washington Offers All cars nationally Offers Pickup truck $750 39 $850 1,083 SUV / crossover $545 111 $675 3,607 Car (sedan, coupe, hatch) $390 160 $510 5,327
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 -68%. If it is missing, say so on the form.
The next biggest factor is whether it starts. Against a comparable car that drives, once age and mileage are matched, a car that won’t start moves the offer by about -47%. Our guide to selling a non-running car explains what the buyer wants to know, and the junk car value statistics page shows how each figure is worked out.
Companies That Buy Junk Cars in Washington
Peddle
Peddle buys junk, salvage, and non-running cars
- Buys junk cars across Washington and hauls them away
- Tell it about the car online and see the offer on screen
- Buys used cars in any condition, including ones that have sat for years
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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 is the quote to get first for a car with a blown engine, a failed transmission or crash damage.
Wheelzy
Wheelzy is best for older, junk or damaged cars
- Free pickup in 42 Washington cities, Arlington to Yakima
- Guaranteed offer in minutes, then a team member confirms it
- No dealer, title-transfer or removal fees in Washington
- Cashier's check at the car, cashable 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. It buys from any city or town in Washington.
CashForCars
CashForCars runs on Copart's nationwide auction yards
- Yards in Graham, Pasco, Seattle and Spokane
- Sixty seconds on the form or the phone gets you a number
- You are paid on the spot, as the truck loads the car
- Motorcycles, 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 belongs to Copart, and the car ends up in one of 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 $328 apart. The best offer is at least double the lowest one in 44% of those cases.
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Can You Sell a Junk Car Without a Title in Washington?
The rule as Washington writes it: a title is required for all sales; the Department of Licensing accepts an Affidavit of Loss/Release of Interest in place of the original paper title (no junk-specific exception).
The law: RCW 46.12.520.
The form: Form 420 040 (Affidavit of Loss/Release of Interest).
The safer route is a replacement title in your own name, because every buyer then quotes the car. If you would rather not wait, ask the buyer what it accepts in place of the paper title before you take its offer.
The other option is to sell the car for parts. No vehicle changes hands, so no title is needed, and our guide to selling a car for parts covers how long it takes and where to keep the car meanwhile.
Learn more: How to Sell a Car Without a Title
Getting a Replacement Title in Washington
A replacement title in Washington takes:
- Application: Form 420 040
- Where to submit: by mail to a vehicle licensing office, or in person at any vehicle licensing office or Quick Title office
- Fee: $39.50
- Processing time: 4 to 6 weeks in person, or 6 to 8 weeks by mail
- Rush option: $89.50
Send the application on the day you start asking for quotes, so the two waits run at the same time.
Take your photo ID with you if you apply in person.
If a lender still holds the title
A lender printed on the title has to release it before any yard takes the car. How that happens in Washington: the lender holds the paper title until the loan is paid off, then either signs the title at closing or mails the released title to the seller.
When the payoff is more than the offer, the difference comes out of your pocket before the lender releases the title. Our guide to selling a financed car goes through the options.
If your title is electronic
Electronic titles in Washington: ELT for lienholders only; sellers need paper title.
If the loan is paid off and no paper title ever reached you, ask the lender for it before you apply for a replacement.
If the car is titled in another state
A car sitting in Washington with another state’s title can still be sold here. Sign it the way that state’s title says, since its rules on signatures may differ from Washington’s.
A lost out-of-state title is replaced by the state that issued it, on that state’s form and at its fee. The details for that are in our guide to selling a car out of state.
Selling a Junk Car That Isn’t in Your Name
The buyer pays whoever is named on the title. When that is not you, get the title into your name before you ask for quotes.
If the owner has died, Washington’s form is Affidavit of Inheritance/Litigation (Form TD-420-041). Once the title is in your name, the junk sale is the same as any other.
Washington’s rule on a gifted car: The previous owner must have paid Washington retail sales or use tax. A vehicle with an outstanding loan generally does not qualify until the lien is cleared.
A car someone left on your land and never came back for was never yours to sign over, and the abandoned vehicle route is a separate process with the state.
Local Dismantlers vs Online Buyers in Washington
Selling to a local yard
A yard prices the car by weight, and the scrap price changes from week to week, so the number depends on the day you ask. Two yards in the same town can be far apart on the same car.
Ask whether the price includes collection. A yard that wants the car delivered leaves the tow to you, and the tow then comes out of a low offer.
Selling to an online buyer
An online buyer prices the parts as well as the steel, and the tow is included in the offer before anyone has seen the car. You also get that number in writing, which a yard rarely gives you.
Three of them quoting the same car gives you offers to set against each other.
Our guide to how online buyers work out an offer goes through what moves the number.
When selling it yourself makes sense
A popular model with a sound engine may get a higher price from a home mechanic than from any yard. That is a private sale, with the weeks of waiting that come with it, and our guide to selling a car privately covers the safety side.
Storing a Junk Car in Washington
Keep the car on your own property. A car that does not run and sits on the street gets tagged and towed, and the tow bill follows the registered owner.
A long wait costs money too. Tires go flat and fluids leak, and our guide on how to store a junk car covers keeping the value up while it waits.
Washington Motor Vehicle Resources
Every Washington rule on this page comes from the state’s own pages, and you can check them here.
- Licensing agency: Washington State Department of Licensing (DOL)
- Selling a vehicle, the official page: Washington DOL, Buying and Selling Vehicles
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take to sell a junk car in Washington?
A few days from the first quote to the truck, when the title is in your name. The day is set by the tow company.
Add the state’s replacement wait if the title is missing, and the lender’s release time if there is a loan.
Is a bill of sale required to junk a car in Washington?
Bill of sale: required when the sale price and date are not on the title.
State form: Form 420 065.
Notarized: not required.
Write one regardless, with our bill of sale generator. It is your dated record of who took the car and what they paid.
Does handing the plates back release me from a junk car in Washington?
Handing plates back releases you from liability: no, you must file a Report of Sale to release liability.
Does anything have to be notarized to junk a car in Washington?
What Washington says about notaries: The title assignment itself never needs a notary; the Affidavit of Loss requires notarization or signing in front of a vehicle licensing agent.
Does a junk car need an emissions test or safety inspection to sell in Washington?
Emissions test to sell: no testing required.
Safety inspection to sell: not required.
Can I sell a junk car with expired registration in Washington?
Yes. Registration is about driving the car on the road, and a towed junk car is not driven anywhere. The buyer checks who owns the car, and the title shows that.
What if the junk car offer changes when the driver arrives in Washington?
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.
Should I repair the junk car or sell it in Washington?
Set the repair estimate against two figures: what the car is offered now, and what it would be offered running. When the repair costs more than the difference, the repair loses money.
On an old car with a lot of miles, one big repair is usually followed by another.
Learn more: When Is It Not Worth Repairing a Car
What happens to my junk car after I sell it in Washington?
The yard drains it and pulls the parts it can sell. What is left goes to the crusher as scrap steel. The title work on the buyer’s side is done by the yard.
Article Update History
Added Washington junk car statistics from our own quote data: the typical offer on cars 10 years and older, the offer by age and by body type against the national line, the share of offers under $400 and of $1,000 or more, the body type and make quoted most often, and the offer on cars 15 years and older.
Originally posted and shared with our readers.
Sources
Release of Liability Filing Deadline
"5 days" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"not required" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"Form 420 065" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"required for model year 2011 and newer vehicles, with model year 2010 and older, trailers, and vehicles over 16,000 lbs GVWR exempt" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Release of Liability Form Name
"Form 420-062 (Vehicle Report of Sale)" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"Form 420 040 (Affidavit of Loss/Release of Interest)" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Sell Without Title: Legal Authority
"RCW 46.12.520" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Replacement Title Processing Time
"4 to 6 weeks in person, or 6 to 8 weeks by mail" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"Washington State Department of Licensing (DOL)" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Emissions Testing Required to Sell?
"no testing required" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Inherited Vehicle Title Transfer Form
"Affidavit of Inheritance/Litigation (Form TD-420-041)" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
How to Complete a Gift Transfer
"The previous owner must have paid Washington retail sales or use tax. A vehicle with an outstanding loan generally does not qualify until the lien is cleared" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Middle offer on old cars in Washington, Junk Car Value Statistics
"410 Washington offers · 12,827 nationally" Accessed Sep. 17, 2026
Middle offer on old cars in Washington by body type, Junk Car Value Statistics
"310 Washington offers, cars 10 years and older" Accessed Sep. 17, 2026
Junk Car Value Statistics, Sell Car Advisor
"On this page: 11 figures from 18,326 instant cash offers, and 4 figures from same-day quotes by several buyers" Accessed Sep. 17, 2026
