The bottom line: To sell a junk car in Alabama, sign the title over to the buyer. No notary is needed.
You can skip the title if the car is more than 35 model years old, or if it is at least 12 model years old, worth $1,000 or less, and sold to a licensed dismantler. The dismantler then files the paperwork.
If the title is lost, order a new one on the state’s Public Title Portal for $15, and allow three to four weeks. If the car had a loan, get a lien release from the lender. On a car 12 or more model years old, the lien clears by itself after 4 years.
Keep your plates. Alabama has no notice of sale to file, so keep a bill of sale as your proof.
In Alabama, the typical offer in our data for a junk car 10 years or older is $413.
What would buyers pay for your junk car in Alabama?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 Alabama?
Six steps, start to finish. The tow company sets the pickup day when you accept.
1. Get quotes from several buyers
You enter the year, make, model and mileage, your ZIP code, and what is wrong with the car. Some buyers ask for the VIN instead.
Your VIN is 17 digits. Look through the windshield at the driver’s side of the dashboard, or open the driver’s door and check the sticker on the frame. It’s also printed on your title, registration, and often your insurance card.
A number comes back quickly.
Say what is missing and whether the car rolls. The driver checks all of that at pickup.
Get at least three quotes. None of them commits you to anything.
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.
If the title is missing or a lender is still on it, fix that before you accept an offer. Otherwise the driver leaves without the car and you have lost a few days.
Title required to sell: yes (vehicles more than 35 model years old are exempt).
Every form you might need
Most junk sales need no forms at all. These come up when the title is missing or the car is not yet in your name.
Replacement title
Use: Form MVT 12-1
For a title that’s lost, damaged, or held electronically by a lender. Fee and timeline.
Odometer disclosure
Use: Form MVT 5-5
Only when the title has no space for the reading. The rule: required for model year 2011 and newer vehicles, with model year 2010 and older, trailers, and vehicles rated over 16,000 lbs exempt.
Selling without a title
Use: Form MVT 5-18, which the recycler files through the ADOR SCRAP portal
Nothing for you to submit. See the conditions.
3. Accept an offer and book the pickup
Once you accept, the buyer passes the job to a tow company near you, and that company contacts you with a pickup window.
You meet the driver, sign the title, and take the money. If that will be a co-owner rather than you, say so when you book.
4. Get the car ready for the tow truck
Clear a path to the car. Move anything parked in front of it, and cut back branches or fencing that would block a flatbed.
Take everything out of the car before the truck comes: glove box, trunk, door pockets, under the seats and the spare tire well.
Plates stay with you. Take them off before the truck arrives.
Find the keys if you have them, and say on the quote form if they are lost.
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.
Recording the transfer at the county license plate issuing official is the buyer’s job.
Keep any paper the driver leaves with you, and check your inbox, because some buyers email the bill of sale and the confirmation instead.
6. Close it out the same week
Cost to move them to another car: $1.25 to the state, plus any local issuance fee the county charges.
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 uninsured until it is loaded.
Alabama Junk Car Checklist
Before the Sale
At Pickup
After the Sale
What Is a Junk Car Offered in Alabama?
Here in Alabama buyers typically offer $413 for a junk car (cars 10 years and older, 130 offers, ranked 42 of 44 states). Across the country, half of all offers on old cars fall between $375 and $1,075.
In Alabama, 41% of the junk cars quoted are sedans, coupes and hatchbacks, and the typical offer on one is $325. The make quoted most often in Alabama is Chevrolet, with a typical offer of $365. Buyers typically offer $315 for a car 15 years or older, and all three figures come 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.
Next 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 -46%.
Body damage counts for less. It moves the offer by about -13%.
Our guide to selling a non-running car covers what to tell the buyer about one that won’t start.
Companies That Buy Junk Cars in Alabama
Wheelzy
Wheelzy buys cars in any condition, running or not
- Free removal in 21 Alabama cities, Birmingham to Dothan
- Most of its Alabama buys are cars that don't start
- No title-transfer or removal fees in Alabama
- Cashier's check on the spot, cashable 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
If your title is missing, answer the title questions on the Wheelzy form exactly. It can buy some cars without one, depending on where they are, but once you accept its offer it asks for the title at pickup.
Peddle
Peddle buys junk, salvage, and non-running cars
- Buys junk cars anywhere in Alabama
- Offer in minutes, no sign-up
- Takes cars that have sat unused 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 takes a car with a blown engine, a failed transmission or collision damage. For a car like that, get its quote first.
CashForCars
CashForCars is owned by Copart and buys cars in any condition
- Yards in Birmingham, Mobile, Montgomery and two other towns
- 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 buys for Copart, and the cars it takes in are sold on at Copart’s auctions.
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. 39% of the time the best 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 Alabama covers the paperwork.
Can You Sell a Junk Car Without a Title in Alabama?
Alabama gives you three realistic paths when the title is gone. Which one fits depends on the car’s age and value.
Option 1: Use the state’s scrap path. The car qualifies if it is either at least 12 model years old and worth $1,000 or less, when sold to a licensed dismantler, or more than 35 model years old. The statute is Alabama Code Section 32-8-87 (dismantler) and Section 32-8-31 (35+ year vehicles).
An online buyer may or may not be able to use that route. Put the missing title on the quote form and see what each one says.
Paperwork for that route: Form MVT 5-18, which the recycler files through the ADOR SCRAP portal.
Option 2: Get a duplicate title first. With a title in hand you can take any of the three quotes.
Option 3: Sell for parts. Selling parts does not transfer the car, so no title changes hands. It takes weeks rather than days.
Getting a Replacement Alabama Title
A replacement title is the fix for a title that is lost or damaged. Apply for it and get quotes at the same time, since one does not hold up the other.
- Application: Form MVT 12-1
- Where to submit: Public Title Portal or designated agent
- Fee: $15
- Processing time: 10 to 15 business days to issue, plus 3 to 5 business days in the mail
A car with a title can go to any buyer.
If the car qualifies for the scrap path and you’d rather not wait, a licensed yard can take it as it is.
If a lender still holds your title
A lien has to come off before the car can change hands.
Your lender releases it one of these ways: Form MVT 5-63, direct title signing in the lien release area, or release letter on lender letterhead. Liens automatically release after 12 years, or 4 years for vehicles 12+ model years old.
If the balance is more than the offer, you pay the difference.
If your title is electronic
Electronic titles in Alabama: ELT (Electronic Lien & Title) for lienholders only; sellers need paper title.
If the loan was paid off and no paper title ever arrived, order the replacement now and get quotes while you wait.
If your car is titled in another state
A car sitting in Alabama but titled elsewhere can still be sold here. The buyer needs a valid title in your name, from whichever state issued it.
Sign it over the way that state’s title instructs, since signing rules and notarization requirements differ.
If that title is lost, you apply to the state that issued it, not to Alabama. Each state publishes its own form, fee, and timeline.
Selling a Junk Car That Isn’t in Your Name
Buyers pay whoever is named on the title. If that is not you, get the title into your name before you ask for quotes.
The owner died and you aren’t on the title. Alabama’s form for that is Form MVT 5-6 (Next of Kin Affidavit). With the title in your name, you sell it like any other junk car.
Someone gave you the car. Gift transfers: No separate gift transfer form. Alabama has no gift or family exemption for vehicles, and the county licensing official collects casual sales tax at registration.
The car was abandoned on your property. A car you never owned is not yours to sign over, so the route is Alabama’s abandoned vehicle process, and that takes time.
Local Junkyards vs Online Junk Car Buyers in Alabama
Selling to a local scrap yard
Local yards buy by scrap weight, and prices move with the metal market. Call two or three yards and compare, because the number you get on the phone is not written down.
Some yards want you to deliver the car. If yours doesn’t move, ask whether towing is included before you agree to a number.
If the title is missing, say so when you call, because not every yard can take a car without one.
Selling to an online buyer
Online buyers quote online and pay at pickup. Three of their quotes can be compared the same afternoon.
They take the car as it is, and their offers count the parts that can be resold, not only the scrap weight.
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 good engine can be offered more by a local mechanic or a hobbyist than by any scrap buyer. The same goes for a car someone wants as a parts donor.
Be ready for it to take weeks instead of days, and for the buyer to need a trailer. Meet in a public place and don’t accept payment you can’t verify on the spot.
Storing a Junk Car in Alabama While You Decide
Cities and counties set the storage rules for junk cars in Alabama, so what applies to you depends on where you live.
Most local codes cover the same things. A car that does not run, parked in public view, on a lawn or on the street, is what they deal with first.
Penalties usually start with a written notice and a window to fix the problem. Fines and towing at the owner’s expense come later if nothing changes.
Search your city name plus “inoperable vehicle ordinance” to find the rule that applies to you. A car in an enclosed garage or behind a solid fence is rarely the problem.
Alabama Motor Vehicle Resources
Every legal fact on this page comes from the state. To check one yourself, start here.
- Motor vehicle agency: Alabama Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle Division
- Selling a vehicle: Alabama Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle Division
Compare instant offers before you accept one
Compare instant offers before you accept one
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a bill of sale required to sell a junk car in Alabama?
Bill of sale: recommended.
State form: Generic (no state form).
Notarization: not required.
The exception: required for a vehicle Alabama does not title, and the buyer keeps a legible copy in the vehicle for the first 20 days. Keep one either way, because it is your proof of the day the car left your hands, and our bill of sale generator makes one in a minute.
Does the title have to be notarized in Alabama?
Title notarization: not required.
Does my junk car need an emissions test or safety inspection in Alabama?
Emissions test to sell: no testing required.
Safety inspection to sell: not required.
Junk buyers do not ask for test results, and the car leaves on a flatbed.
Am I still responsible for the car after it’s towed away in Alabama?
Handing plates back releases you from liability: no; surrendering a plate is voluntary in Alabama and does not report the sale.
Can I sell a junk car with expired registration in Alabama?
Yes. Junk car buyers care about ownership, not current tags, so expired registration does not block the sale.
What if the offer changes when the driver arrives in Alabama?
The driver checks the car against your description before paying, and the offer drops if something you left out turns up.
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.
What if I lost the keys to my junk car in Alabama?
Say so on the quote form. A flatbed winches the car on without the keys.
Article Update History
Alabama junk car offers now come from Sell Car Advisor quote data.
Originally posted and shared with our readers.
Sources
"$15" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Bill of Sale Notarization Required?
"not required" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Conditions to Sell Without Title
"either at least 12 model years old and worth $1,000 or less, when sold to a licensed dismantler, or more than 35 model years old" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"yes (vehicles more than 35 model years old are exempt)" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"not required" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"recommended" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"Alabama Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle Division" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"with you" 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
Duplicate Title Application Form
"Form MVT 12-1" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"Form MVT 5-63, direct title signing in the lien release area, or release letter on lender letterhead. Liens automatically release after 12 years, or 4 years for vehicles 12+ model years old." Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Electronic Title Handling Note
"ELT (Electronic Lien & Title) for lienholders only; sellers need paper title" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"Alabama Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle Division" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Inherited Vehicle Title Transfer Form
"Form MVT 5-6 (Next of Kin Affidavit)" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Separate Odometer Disclosure Form
"Form MVT 5-5" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"Generic (no state form)" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"No separate gift transfer form. Alabama has no gift or family exemption for vehicles, and the county licensing official collects casual sales tax at registration" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Replacement Title Processing Time
"10 to 15 business days to issue, plus 3 to 5 business days in the mail" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
How to File Release of Liability
"No filing is required. MyDMV has no seller's notice; it is where a registrant answers an insurance verification notice on a car already sold. Keep the bill of sale as proof." Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"county license plate issuing official" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"$1.25 to the state, plus any local issuance fee the county charges" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Bill of Sale Form Availability
"required for a vehicle Alabama does not title, and the buyer keeps a legible copy in the vehicle for the first 20 days" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Emissions Testing Required to Sell?
"no testing required" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Does Plate Surrender Release Liability?
"no; surrendering a plate is voluntary in Alabama and does not report the sale" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Junk Car Value Statistics, Sell Car Advisor
"On this page: 10 figures from 17,628 instant cash offers, and 5 figures from same-day quotes by several buyers" Accessed Oct. 19, 2026
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