The bottom line: To sell a junk car in Indiana, sign the title over to the buyer. No notary is needed. Write in the mileage if the car is a 2011 or newer.
Without the title, a car at least 15 model years old can still be sold for scrap, on Form 55018.
For a newer car, order a duplicate on Form 205 for $15, online or at a BMV branch. It takes up to 21 days, or a Speed Title costs $25 more.
If a lender holds the title electronically, it must send you a paper title before you sell.
Take the plates off and keep them. Indiana has no release of liability to file, so keep a bill of sale and a copy of the signed title as proof of sale.
In Indiana, buyers typically offer $455 for a junk car 10 years or older in our data.
What would buyers pay for your junk car in Indiana?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 Indiana?
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 whether the car starts.
If a buyer wants the VIN, look through the windshield at the driver’s side of the dashboard, or read it off your registration 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
Two documents: the title in your name and a photo ID with the same name on it.
A lost title, a lender on the title, or a title in someone else’s name doesn’t stop the sale, but each one needs a form before pickup day.
Every form you might need
These forms cover a missing title, a title with no room for the mileage, and a car that isn’t yet yours.
Replacement title
Application: Form 205
Use this when the title is lost or damaged. Fee and processing time.
Scrapping without a title
Use: Form 55018 (Certificate of Authority – Disposal of a Vehicle)
Indiana’s no-title route. The condition on the car.
Inherited vehicle
For a car left to you by someone who died. Getting the title into your name.
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.
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
Take everything out of the glove box, the trunk, the door pockets and the space under the seats. Whatever is still in the car when it’s loaded goes with it.
The tow truck needs a clear path to the car. If it’s behind another vehicle, in a garage or behind a gate, say so when you book.
Take the plates off before the car goes on the truck.
What to do with them: transfer your plates to another vehicle you own, or destroy them. The Indiana BMV does not require you to return them.
Hand over every key you have, and say on the quote form if you have none.
Step 5: Sign the title and take payment
The driver looks the car over and you sign the back of the title.
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. Where the title asks for the buyer’s name and address, let the driver guide you at pickup, since a mistake there can void the title.
Step 6: Plates, insurance and records
- Plates: transfer your plates to another vehicle you own, or destroy them. The Indiana BMV does not require you to return them.
- Cost to move them to another car: $9.50.
Keep the insurance running until the car has left. If the tow is rescheduled, the car is still your responsibility until it goes.
Photograph the signed title before the driver takes it, and keep the photo with the payment record. They show the day the car stopped being yours.
Indiana Junk Car Checklist
Before the Sale
At Pickup
After the Sale
What Is Your Junk Car Worth in Indiana?
Across Indiana, buyers typically offer $455 for a junk car (cars 10 years and older, 211 offers, ranked 39 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 Indiana, 45% are sedans, coupes and hatchbacks, typically offered $458. Buyers typically offer $410 for a car 15 years or older in Indiana, and 35% of the offers here are under $400, from our own quote data.
An Indiana car is offered less than the national figure in most age bands, and about the same on the oldest cars the chart shows. The difference is smallest on the newest and the oldest cars in the chart, and largest on cars 13 to 17 years old.
Typical offer on old cars in Indiana 192 Indiana offers · 11,147 nationally · Age of car when the offer was made (years)Show the numbers
Age (years) Indiana Offers All cars nationally Offers 10-12 $1,180 53 $1,235 2,808 13-14 $580 31 $720 1,746 15-17 $423 52 $555 2,735 18-19 — 21 $465 1,527 20-24 $410 35 $410 2,331 
Nothing moves the offer more than the catalytic converter. 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.
Whether the engine starts is the next thing. 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. Our guide to selling a non-running car lists what to put on the form.
Companies That Buy Junk Cars in Indiana
Peddle
Peddle buys junk, salvage, and non-running cars
- Buys junk cars anywhere in Indiana
- Offer in minutes from the online form
- 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 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
- Free pickup in 36 Indiana cities, Anderson to West Lafayette
- No dealer, title-transfer or removal fees in Indiana
- Cashier's check at pickup, cashable the same day
- Guaranteed offer without seeing the car first
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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
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 Dyer, Fort Wayne and Indianapolis
- 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 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 Indiana covers the paperwork.
Can You Sell a Junk Car Without a Title in Indiana?
Indiana has a no-title route, and it’s open to one kind of car only.
- Conditions to sell without a title: the vehicle is at least 15 model years old and is sold for scrap or parts.
- The law: Indiana Code 9-32-9-29.
- The form: Form 55018 (Certificate of Authority – Disposal of a Vehicle)
Option 1: Use the scrap route. Check the condition first. If your car doesn’t meet it, you need the duplicate.
Option 2: Apply for the duplicate first. With the duplicate in hand you can take any of the three online quotes.
Option 3: Sell the parts. Selling a car for parts moves no vehicle, so no title is signed. Expect weeks of work.
Getting a Replacement Title in Indiana
What a replacement title takes in Indiana:
- Application: Form 205
- Where to submit: myBMV portal, any BMV branch, or by mail to Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles, 100 N. Senate Ave., Room N411, Indianapolis, IN 46204
- Fee: $15
- Processing time: up to 21 calendar days to process and mail
- Rush option: $25 extra for a Speed Title, on top of the standard duplicate title fee
Apply first, then get quotes while the application is processed. If a buyer is waiting, use the rush option.
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. The lender releases it one of these ways: lienholder signs the lien release section on the title or provides a lien release letter on company letterhead. For electronic titles, the lien release is submitted electronically through the E-lien system. If the lender is no longer in business, a court order is required.
Ask the lender for the payoff amount before you accept an offer, because you pay any part of the loan the offer doesn’t cover. Our guide to selling a financed car explains how to handle the shortfall.
If your title is electronic
Indiana’s rule on electronic titles: Indiana has issued electronic titles since July 1, 2025. If a lender holds your title electronically, they must release it to you in paper form before you can sell.
Ask for it as soon as the loan is paid off, not on pickup day.
If the car is titled in another state
You can sell a car that sits in Indiana on another state’s title. Sign it the way that state’s title says, because the signing rules differ from state to state.
A lost out-of-state title is replaced by the state that issued it, not by the Indiana BMV. Tell the buyer which state the title is from when you ask for the quote.
Selling a Junk Car That Isn’t in Your Name
The title has to be in your name before the pickup.
The owner died. Indiana’s form is Form 18733 (Affidavit for Transfer of Certificate of Title for a Vehicle/Watercraft Without Administration). With the title in your name, the junk sale runs like any other.
Someone gave you the car. Indiana’s gift rule: Exemption 11 covers adding or removing a family member from a title. Exemption 7 covers an outright gift and is claimed separately.
Someone left the car on your land. A car someone else left on your property isn’t yours to sell. It goes through Indiana’s abandoned vehicle process instead.
Local Dismantlers vs Online Buyers in Indiana
Selling to a local yard
Ask a local yard to put its price in writing.
Ask who tows the car to the yard and whether that comes off the price.
If you plan to use Indiana’s no-title route, ask the yard whether it accepts that form before you agree on a price.
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 Indiana
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 on how to store a junk car explains what to do while you wait for a title.
Indiana Motor Vehicle Resources
Every Indiana rule on this page comes from the state’s own pages, and you can check each one here.
- Motor vehicle agency: Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV)
- Buying and selling a vehicle: Indiana BMV – Buying & Selling a Vehicle
- Where title transfers are recorded: BMV branch
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 Indiana?
The comparison tool returns offers within minutes, and Peddle’s pickups typically happen within 24 to 48 hours of scheduling.
Without the title, add the duplicate wait. With a lender on the title, add the wait for the release.
Is a bill of sale required to junk a car in Indiana?
A bill of sale is recommended in Indiana.
State form: Form 44237.
Fill one in anyway with our bill of sale generator; it takes a minute.
Do I have to tell Indiana I sold the car?
Does anything have to be notarized to junk a car in Indiana?
Title notarization is not required in Indiana, and bill of sale notarization is not required.
Sign exactly as your name is printed on the front of the title.
Does a junk car need an emissions test in Indiana?
Junk buyers don’t ask for test results.
Emissions test to sell: not required (buyer needs a passing test to register in Lake and Porter counties).
Can I sell a junk car with expired registration in Indiana?
Yes. The title proves you own the car, and the registration only matters for driving it on the road.
You don’t have to renew it before the sale.
What if the junk car offer changes when the driver arrives in Indiana?
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 Indiana?
Lost keys don’t have to stop the sale. Wheelzy buys cars without keys regularly.
Should I repair the car or junk it in Indiana?
Add the repair bill to today’s junk quote, and compare that total with what buyers would offer for the car once it runs. If the total is higher, junking it is the better deal.
What happens to my junk car after I sell it in Indiana?
That depends on the buyer. Wheelzy repairs the cars it can, and recycles or parts out the ones that are beyond repair.
Article Update History
Indiana offers by age now come from Sell Car Advisor quote data.
Originally posted and shared with our readers.
Sources
What to Do With License Plates
"transfer your plates to another vehicle you own, or destroy them. The Indiana BMV does not require you to return them." 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 205" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"Form 55018 (Certificate of Authority - Disposal of a Vehicle)" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Separate Odometer Disclosure Form
"Form 43230 (used when the odometer statement is not completed on the title; trailers and vehicles over 16,000 lbs are exempt)" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Inherited Vehicle Title Transfer Form
"Form 18733 (Affidavit for Transfer of Certificate of Title for a Vehicle/Watercraft Without Administration)" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"Form 44237" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"$15" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"lienholder signs the lien release section on the title or provides a lien release letter on company letterhead. For electronic titles, the lien release is submitted electronically through the E-lien system. If the lender is no longer in business, a court order is required." Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Electronic Title Handling Note
"Indiana has issued electronic titles since July 1, 2025. If a lender holds your title electronically, they must release it to you in paper form before you can sell." Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV)" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Emissions Testing Required to Sell?
"not required (buyer needs a passing test to register in Lake and Porter counties)" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"$9.50" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Conditions to Sell Without Title
"the vehicle is at least 15 model years old and is sold for scrap or parts" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Replacement Title Processing Time
"up to 21 calendar days to process and mail" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
How to Complete a Gift Transfer
"Exemption 11 covers adding or removing a family member from a title. Exemption 7 covers an outright gift and is claimed separately" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Typical offer on old cars in Indiana, Junk Car Value Statistics
"192 Indiana offers · 11,147 nationally" 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
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