The bottom line: To sell a junk car in Georgia, print and sign your name under seller on the title in blue or black ink. Each joint owner must sign, and no notary is needed.
A car from 1985 or older needs no title. Without one, a licensed scrap or parts dealer can buy a car 12 or more model years old and worth $850 or less on Form MV-1SP. A lost title can be replaced with Form MV-1 for $8.
A bill of sale is recommended, and Form T-7 is free from the Department of Revenue. In metro Atlanta, a car sold for scrap or parts and towed away needs no emissions test, so write that purpose on the bill of sale.
Cancel the registration online or with Form MV-18J before you cancel the insurance. Keep your plates.
In Georgia, the typical offer in our data for a junk car 10 years or older is $525.
What would buyers pay for your junk car in Georgia?Fill in one form, including whether you have the title, and see which buyers make an offer.
-
Offer amount 30% 5/5
-
Quote speed 20% 5/5
-
Pickup speed 20% 4/5
-
Vehicle acceptance 15% 5/5
-
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
-
Offer amount 30% 5/5
-
Quote speed 20% 5/5
-
Pickup speed 20% 5/5
-
Vehicle acceptance 15% 4/5
-
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
-
Offer amount 30% 4.5/5
-
Quote speed 20% 5/5
-
Pickup speed 20% 4/5
-
Vehicle acceptance 15% 4/5
-
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.
Compare Instant Offers
Start With Your Situation
Jump straight to your situation.
How Do You Sell a Junk Car in Georgia?
Step 1: Get quotes from several buyers
A quote form asks for the year, make, model and mileage, and the ZIP code where the car sits. It also asks what’s wrong with the car.
Have the VIN ready. It’s on the driver’s side of the dashboard, where you can read it through the windshield, and it’s on your title and insurance card.
In our offer data, nothing moves the offer more than a missing catalytic converter. So be exact about damage and missing parts, the converter above all.
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. So get at least three quotes.
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.
If the title is missing, damaged or in someone else’s name, get the quotes now and start on the paperwork the same day.
Every form you might need
The last form is for after the sale. The others are only for a missing title or a car that isn’t in your name yet.
Inherited vehicle
Use: Form T-20 (Affidavit of Inheritance) or Letters of Testamentary/Administration if probated
Used when the owner has died and the car passes to you. The estate route.
Family transfer
Use: MV-16, Affidavit to Certify Immediate Family Relationship
When a relative signs the car over to you first. The gift rule.
Canceling your registration
Use: Form MV-18J (Registration Cancellation)
For after the sale. When and how.
Step 3: Accept an offer and book the pickup
Accept the offer you want. Peddle’s tow company then contacts you within one business day to schedule the pickup, and CashForCars has one of its towing partners call you to set a time.
When you book, say exactly where the car is parked: on the street, behind a gate, on grass or in a parking deck.
Be there to meet the driver and sign the title. If someone else will do that for you, tell the buyer when you book.
Step 4: Get the car ready for the tow truck
Move other vehicles and anything else in the way before the truck comes.
Remove your belongings from the glove box, trunk, door pockets, and under the seats. Check for the garage remote and the insurance card.
Take the plates off before the car goes on the truck.
What to do with them: keep them, transfer them to your next vehicle, or surrender them to the DOR for cancellation
Step 5: Sign the title and take payment
The driver looks the car over and you sign the back of the title. Don’t sign it before the driver is there.
Peddle, Wheelzy and CashForCars all pay at pickup, so count the cash or read the check before the driver leaves.
Keep any paper the driver leaves with you, and your offer confirmation.
Title transfer: county Tag Office.
Step 6: Cancel the registration and deal with the plate
Plates: keep them, transfer them to your next vehicle, or surrender them to the DOR for cancellation.
Cost to move them to another car: the plate is moved to your next vehicle at your County Tag Office; no separate transfer fee is published.
Handing the plate back releases you from liability: no, the registration is cancelled as a separate step.
How to tell the state: Cancel your registration online via DRIVES e-Services, or by mailing or delivering Form MV-18J to the County Tag Office in the county where you live.
If you skip it: insurance-lapse fines under Georgia law if the insurance is cancelled while the registration is still open.
Keep a copy of what you send, or the online confirmation.
Cancel the insurance last, after the car has gone and the registration is canceled. If the pickup is late, the car is still yours, and it still needs insurance.
Georgia Junk Car Checklist
Before the Sale
At Pickup
After the Sale
What Is Your Junk Car Worth in Georgia?
In Georgia, buyers typically offer $525 for a junk car (cars 10 years and older, 441 offers, ranked 18 of 44 states). Across the country, half of all offers on old cars fall between $375 and $1,075.
Of the junk cars quoted in Georgia, 44% are sedans, coupes and hatchbacks, typically offered $418. Buyers typically offer $440 for a car 15 years or older in Georgia. Of all the offers here, 33% are under $400, from our own quote data.
A Georgia car 10 to 12 years old is offered about the same as the national figure, one 13 to 14 years old less, and one 15 to 24 years old a little more. From 25 years on, a Georgia car is offered less. The chart sets our Georgia offers against every offer nationally at each age.
Typical offer on old cars in Georgia 441 Georgia offers · 12,312 nationally · Age of car when the offer was made (years)Show the numbers
Age (years) Georgia Offers All cars nationally Offers 10-12 $1,228 86 $1,235 2,808 13-14 $635 69 $720 1,746 15-17 $580 105 $555 2,735 18-19 $500 53 $465 1,527 20-24 $415 93 $410 2,331 25+ $305 35 $350 1,165 
Pickups and SUVs in Georgia are offered almost the same, and both are offered much more than cars (sedans, coupes and hatchbacks). A Georgia SUV is offered more than the national figure, and a Georgia pickup or car is offered less.
Typical offer on old cars in Georgia by body type 365 Georgia offers, cars 10 years and olderShow the numbers
Body type Georgia Offers All cars nationally Offers Pickup truck $755 40 $855 1,035 SUV / crossover $715 131 $665 3,437 Car (sedan, coupe, hatch) $418 194 $505 5,115
Whether it starts. Buyers offer about 46% less for a car that won’t start than for a comparable car that drives, once age and mileage are matched.
Whether the catalytic converter is still on the car. With the converter gone, buyers offer about 57% less than for a comparable car with it, once age and mileage are matched. If it’s missing, say so on the form.
If your car doesn’t start, our guide to selling a non-running car covers what to tell the buyer.
Companies That Buy Junk Cars in Georgia
Peddle
Peddle buys junk, salvage, and non-running cars
- Online offer in minutes
- Collects the car from your address after you accept
- Buys cars in any condition, including ones that have sat unused for years
- Three steps: describe the car, view the offer, get paid
-
Offer amount 30% 5/5
-
Quote speed 20% 5/5
-
Pickup speed 20% 4/5
-
Vehicle acceptance 15% 5/5
-
Process ease 15% 5/5
Peddle makes offers on cars in all conditions, including damaged cars and cars with missing parts.
Wheelzy
Wheelzy buys cars in any condition, running or not
- Branches listed in 61 Georgia cities, Albany to Woodstock
- Free pickup from anywhere in Georgia
- No dealer, title-transfer or removal fees in Georgia
- Cashier's check on the spot, cashable the same day
-
Offer amount 30% 5/5
-
Quote speed 20% 5/5
-
Pickup speed 20% 5/5
-
Vehicle acceptance 15% 4/5
-
Process ease 15% 4/5
Wheelzy buys cars with any amount of damage, including totaled cars that can’t be driven.
CashForCars
CashForCars is owned by Copart and buys cars in any condition
- Yards in Atlanta, Savannah, Macon and five other towns
- The offer comes back in 60 seconds, by form or by phone
- Tows the car away free once you accept
- Buys trucks, SUVs, motorcycles, RVs and boats, not just cars
-
Offer amount 30% 4.5/5
-
Quote speed 20% 5/5
-
Pickup speed 20% 4/5
-
Vehicle acceptance 15% 4/5
-
Process ease 15% 2/5
CashForCars is owned by Copart, and it buys everything from used cars to damaged and total-loss ones.
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 Georgia covers the paperwork.
Do You Need a Smog Check to Junk a Car in Georgia?
Georgia’s rule for a car sold for scrap: a car sold for salvage or for parts, towed away and not driven on the road, needs no passing emissions certificate; the seller notes the purpose of the sale on the bill of sale (Rule 391-3-20-.18).
Ask the driver for a bill of sale if none is offered.
The ordinary rule for a car sold to another driver:
- Testing to sell: yes, in the 13 metro Atlanta counties
- Exempt anyway: vehicles 25 model years and older, the three newest model years, diesels, motorcycles, RVs and motor homes, and dedicated alternative-fuel vehicles; drivers 65 and older may qualify for a senior exemption
If the car failed its test and still drives, Georgia gives you these options before you take a scrap offer: one free retest at the same station within 30 days; a possible non-renewable 30-day registration extension from the county tag office; a repair waiver once emissions repairs meet the yearly minimum ($1,176 for 2026 registrations). Our guide to selling a car that failed emissions compares the repair cost with the offer.
Can You Sell a Junk Car Without a Title in Georgia?
Yes, for some cars. There are three ways to do it.
Option 1: the scrap cancellation. Georgia sets it out in OCGA § 40-3-36, and it uses Form MV-1SP in place of a title transfer.
Who qualifies: vehicle must be 12 model years old or older and worth $850 or less, sold to a licensed scrap or parts dealer.
Say on the quote form that there is no title, and let the buyer tell you whether it can buy the car that way.
Option 2: a replacement title. Every buyer can then quote the car.
Option 3: sell it for parts. Selling parts doesn’t transfer the car, so no title is needed. It’s slow, and our guide to selling a car for parts explains how.
Getting a Replacement Title in Georgia
What a replacement title takes in Georgia:
- Application: Form MV-1
- Fee: $8
- Processing time: 7 to 10 business days
- Rush option: yes, in-person at the Atlanta MVD office only
Put the application in on the day you ask for quotes, and the two waits run together.
If a lender still holds the title
Peddle and CashForCars don’t buy a car with a loan still on it, so the lien comes off first. How the lien comes off in Georgia: the lender releases the lien electronically, or signs the release section on a paper title, or gives you Form T-4 when the title isn't available; the released title is then mailed to you.
Ask the lender for a payoff figure before you accept a quote, and get the release in writing. Our guide to selling a financed car explains the payoff.
If your title is electronic
Electronic titles in Georgia: ELT is for lienholders only; while a lien is on file no paper title is printed, and the seller signs the paper title once it is released.
If your loan is paid off and you have no paper title, ask the lender whether it has released the lien.
If the car is titled in another state
A car in Georgia with a title from another state can be sold the same way. You sign that state’s title following its instructions. Tell the buyer which state issued the title when you get the quote.
A lost out-of-state title is replaced by the state that issued it, not by Georgia. Our guide to selling a car out of state covers the rest.
Selling a Junk Car That Isn’t in Your Name
The title has to be in your name before the pickup. You can get quotes while the paperwork is being processed.
The owner died. Georgia’s document for this is Form T-20 (Affidavit of Inheritance) or Letters of Testamentary/Administration if probated. Once the title is in your name, the junk sale is the same as any other.
A relative signed it over to you. Georgia’s gift rule: The vehicle must already hold a Georgia title on which the tax was paid. The result is a reduced rate, so expect a bill rather than nothing.
Someone left the car on your property. It isn’t yours to sell, so it goes through the abandoned vehicle process instead.
Local Dismantlers vs Online Buyers in Georgia
Selling to a Georgia yard yourself
Ask a local yard to put its price in writing.
Ask whether the yard collects the car or expects you to deliver it. If you can deliver it yourself, ask whether that changes the price.
Ask what license the yard holds before you hand anything over, because the no-title route depends on it.
Selling to an online buyer
The comparison tool shows each buyer’s offer in writing before any truck is booked, so you can compare them side by side.
Our guide to how online buyers work out an offer goes through what moves the number.
Storing a Junk Car in Georgia
Before you store the car, check your city’s and county’s rules on a junked car kept in public view.
Park it on a hard surface and keep it closed up.
Our guide to storing a junk car explains what to do while you wait for a title.
Georgia Motor Vehicle Resources
- Motor Vehicle Division: Georgia Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle Division (MVD)
- Selling a vehicle: Georgia.gov, Sell a Motor Vehicle
- Title and registration online: DRIVES e-Services (MyMVD)
- Emissions testing stations: any Georgia's Clean Air Force certified station (locator on cleanairforce.com)
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 Georgia?
The comparison tool returns offers within minutes, and Peddle’s pickups typically happen within 24 to 48 hours of scheduling.
A replacement title adds its processing time to that.
Is a bill of sale required to junk a car in Georgia?
A bill of sale is recommended in Georgia.
State form: Form T-7.
The form is available for free download from the Georgia Department of Revenue website. Keep one as your record of who bought the car. Our bill of sale generator creates one for you.
Does anything have to be notarized to junk a car in Georgia?
Title notarization is not required in Georgia, and bill of sale notarization is not required.
Can I sell a junk car with expired registration in Georgia?
Yes. You don’t need to renew the registration first.
What happens to a junk car after pickup in Georgia?
That depends on the buyer. Wheelzy repairs the cars it can, and recycles or parts out the ones that are beyond repair.
What if the junk car offer changes when the driver arrives in Georgia?
You don’t have to accept it. A price cut at or after pickup was the most common complaint sellers made about Peddle to the BBB in the year we read.
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 Georgia?
Wheelzy buys cars without keys regularly, so lost keys don’t have to stop the sale. Mention them on the quote form.
Should I repair the car or junk it in Georgia?
Get a repair estimate, then compare it with how much more buyers would offer once the car runs. A repair that costs more than that difference loses money.
Our junk car value statistics show how age, body type and condition change the offer.
Article Update History
Georgia offers by age and body type now come from Sell Car Advisor quote data.
Originally posted and shared with our readers.
Sources
"$8" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"Form MV-1SP" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Duplicate Title Application Form
"Form MV-1" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Inherited Vehicle Title Transfer Form
"Form T-20 (Affidavit of Inheritance) or Letters of Testamentary/Administration if probated" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Release of Liability Form Name
"Form MV-18J (Registration Cancellation)" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"county Tag Office" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
What to Do With License Plates
"keep them, transfer them to your next vehicle, or surrender them to the DOR for cancellation" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"the plate is moved to your next vehicle at your County Tag Office; no separate transfer fee is published" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Sell Without Title: Legal Authority
"OCGA § 40-3-36" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Replacement Title Processing Time
"7 to 10 business days" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"MV-16, Affidavit to Certify Immediate Family Relationship" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"Georgia Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle Division (MVD)" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"DRIVES e-Services (MyMVD)" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Where to Get Emissions Testing
"any Georgia's Clean Air Force certified station (locator on cleanairforce.com)" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Emissions Testing Required to Sell?
"yes, in the 13 metro Atlanta counties" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"vehicles 25 model years and older, the three newest model years, diesels, motorcycles, RVs and motor homes, and dedicated alternative-fuel vehicles; drivers 65 and older may qualify for a senior exemption" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Emissions Exempt if Dismantled
"a car sold for salvage or for parts, towed away and not driven on the road, needs no passing emissions certificate; the seller notes the purpose of the sale on the bill of sale (Rule 391-3-20-.18)" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Emissions Fail: Help Available
"one free retest at the same station within 30 days; a possible non-renewable 30-day registration extension from the county tag office; a repair waiver once emissions repairs meet the yearly minimum ($1,176 for 2026 registrations)" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
How to File Release of Liability
"Cancel your registration online via DRIVES e-Services, or by mailing or delivering Form MV-18J to the County Tag Office in the county where you live." Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Conditions to Sell Without Title
"vehicle must be 12 model years old or older and worth $850 or less, sold to a licensed scrap or parts dealer" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"the lender releases the lien electronically, or signs the release section on a paper title, or gives you Form T-4 when the title isn't available; the released title is then mailed to you" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Electronic Title Handling Note
"ELT is for lienholders only; while a lien is on file no paper title is printed, and the seller signs the paper title once it is released" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"Form T-7" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Typical offer on old cars in Georgia, Junk Car Value Statistics
"441 Georgia offers · 12,312 nationally" Accessed Oct. 16, 2026
Typical offer on old cars in Georgia by body type, Junk Car Value Statistics
"365 Georgia offers, cars 10 years and older" Accessed Oct. 16, 2026
Junk Car Value Statistics, Sell Car Advisor
"On this page: 9 figures from 17,628 instant cash offers, and 3 figures from same-day quotes by several buyers" Accessed Oct. 19, 2026
Found this useful? Show Sell Car Advisor first when you search on Google.
Add us as a preferred source on Google