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The bottom line: To sell a junk car in California, you need the title. If it’s lost, apply for a replacement on Form REG 227 for $28, and the buyer can complete the transfer on that form.
The title needs no notary. A bill of sale is recommended, and Form REG 135 is the state’s version.
A sale to a licensed dismantler needs no smog certificate, but most cars sold to a private buyer need a passing smog check first.
Leave standard plates on the car, then file Form REG 138 (NRL) online within 5 days. Until you do, you stay liable for tickets, tolls and accidents.
In California, the typical offer in our data for a junk car 10 years or older is $605.
What would buyers pay for your junk car?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
- Free towing
- Fast payment
- Buys non running cars
- Pays by 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
- Buys cars without keys
- Buys cars missing parts, engine still in
- Pays cash or check at pickup
- 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
- Free towing from nearly 200 locations
- Buys any vehicle with a motor, running or not
- Backed by Copart auction yards
- Pays a check right at pickup
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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Start With Your Situation
Jump straight to your situation.
How Do You Sell a Junk Car in California?
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 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 $346 apart. So get at least three quotes.
Step 2: Check your paperwork
Have the title and a photo ID ready for the driver.
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
Most junk sales need one form. The other two come up when the title is missing or the car was never put in your name.
Inherited vehicle
Form REG 5 (Affidavit for Transfer Without Probate)
For a car whose owner has died. See what else you need.
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.
You 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
Clear a path to the car for the truck. Mention hard to reach spots when you book, not when the driver arrives.
Empty the car properly. Check the glovebox, the door pockets, under the seats, the spare tire well, and the visors.
Wheelzy buys cars without keys regularly, so lost keys don’t have to stop the sale. Mention them on the quote form, and our guide to selling a car with lost keys explains what else to say.
Step 5: Sign the title and take payment
The driver looks the car over and you sign the back of the title.
Peddle, Wheelzy, CarBrain 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. The release of liability asks who bought the car, so give the company’s name and address from your offer confirmation, not the driver’s.
Step 6: File the release and deal with the plates
Where the plates go: with the vehicle.
What to do with them: leave the standard plates on the vehicle, or remove personalized/specialty plates and transfer them to another vehicle you own.
How to tell the DMV: File the Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability (REG 138) online through the California DMV portal within 5 days.
What happens if it isn’t filed: you remain liable for tickets, tolls, and accidents until you file.
Cancel the insurance last, after the car has gone and the notice is filed. Canceling on the morning of the pickup leaves the car uninsured if the truck is late.
California Junk Car Checklist
Before the Sale
At Pickup
After the Sale
What Is Your Junk Car Worth in California?
In California, a typical junk car is offered $605 (cars 10 years and older, 1,816 offers, ranked 8 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 California, 46% are sedans, coupes and hatchbacks, typically offered $565. The make quoted most often is Toyota, typically offered $825, and a car 15 years or older is typically offered $445, from our own quote data.
A California car under 15 years old is offered well over the national figure. From 15 the gap narrows, and at 20 to 24 the two are level. Past 25, California is a little under the national figure. The chart is our own offer data for California, against every offer nationally.
Typical offer on old cars in California 1,816 California offers · 12,312 nationally · Age of car when the offer was made (years)Show the numbers
Age (years) California Offers All cars nationally Offers 10-12 $1,580 367 $1,235 2,808 13-14 $1,070 220 $720 1,746 15-17 $678 354 $555 2,735 18-19 $540 218 $465 1,527 20-24 $415 433 $410 2,331 25+ $325 224 $350 1,165 
Pickups are offered the most and minivans the least. California is over the national figure on every body type except minivans.
Typical offer on old cars in California by body type 1,461 California offers, cars 10 years and olderShow the numbers
Body type California Offers All cars nationally Offers Pickup truck $985 101 $855 1,035 SUV / crossover $720 443 $665 3,437 Car (sedan, coupe, hatch) $565 835 $505 5,115 Minivan / van $445 82 $495 583
San Jose has the highest offers of the five cities and Sacramento and San Francisco the lowest. Everywhere else in California, taken together, is offered more than Los Angeles.
Typical offer on old cars in California by city 1,816 California offers, cars 10 years and olderShow the numbers
City Typical offer Offers Los Angeles $588 104 San Diego $695 65 San Jose $710 49 Sacramento $490 42 San Francisco $553 38 Rest of California $613 1,518
The Accord, Camry, Civic and Corolla are the four models quoted most often in California. A Corolla is offered far more than an Accord, and a Prius more than anything else on the list.
Typical offer on the old cars most often quoted in California 357 California offers, cars 10 years and olderShow the numbers
Model Typical offer Offers Honda Accord $465 85 Toyota Camry $630 71 Toyota Corolla $895 45 Honda Civic $728 44 Toyota Prius $1,825 31 Honda Odyssey $463 28 Ford F150 $625 27 Nissan Altima $438 26
Nothing moves the offer more than the catalytic converter. With the converter gone, a car is offered about 76% less than a comparable car with it, once age and mileage are matched. If it’s missing, say so on the form.
A running engine is the other big one. A car that won’t start is offered about 48% less than a comparable car that drives, once age and mileage are matched.
Companies That Buy Junk Cars in California
Peddle
Peddle buys junk, salvage, and non-running cars
- Buys anywhere in California, no sign-up
- Offer in minutes
- Takes wrecked and non-running cars
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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 towing anywhere in California
- No title-transfer or removal fees
- Cashier's check on the spot, cashable same day
- Publishes a California title-signing guide
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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.
CarBrain
CarBrain specializes in wrecked and broken-down vehicles
- Buys throughout California, pickup in as little as 24 hours
- Offer guaranteed for 7 days
- Free towing and title transfer
- Lost title? Get the DMV duplicate and upload a photo
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Offer amount 30% 3/5
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Quote speed 20% 4/5
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Pickup speed 20% 4/5
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Vehicle acceptance 15% 3/5
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Process ease 15% 5/5
CarBrain buys wrecked, broken-down and collision-damaged cars, including cars with a blown engine or a failed transmission.
CashForCars
CashForCars is owned by Copart and buys cars in any condition
- Yards in Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento and eighteen other towns
- Sixty seconds on the form or the phone gets you a number
- You're paid at pickup
- 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.
Compare Instant Offers
Compare Instant Offers
Do You Need a Smog Check to Junk a Car in California?
California’s rule for a junk sale is that no smog certificate is needed when the vehicle is sold to a licensed dismantler to be wrecked or dismantled.
The ordinary rule for a car sold to another driver: yes, statewide for most vehicles more than four model years old.
What the test costs: $30 to $70.
Before you accept any offer, check the state’s own program for a car that fails the test: BAR's Consumer Assistance Program offers repair assistance of up to $1,450 for 1996-or-newer cars ($1,100 for 1976 to 1995) and a vehicle retirement payment of $1,350 to $2,000 for a car that can be driven to a BAR-contracted dismantler under its own power. Neither is available while the vehicle is undergoing a transfer of ownership.
Can You Sell a Junk Car Without a Title in California?
No. California’s rule is that you must apply for a replacement title before, or as part of, the sale: Form REG 227 (Application for Replacement or Transfer of Title) carries a transfer section the buyer can complete, so the replacement and the transfer can be submitted together.
Say on the quote form that the title is lost.
Getting a Replacement Title in California
What a replacement title takes in California:
- Application: Form REG 227
- Fee: $28
- Processing time: 15 to 30 days
- Rush option: $15 (Rush Title Processing)
Put the application in on the day you ask for quotes, and the two waits run together.
Weigh the fee and the wait against the offer, and take the rush option when a buyer is waiting.
If a lender still holds the title
The lien comes off first: most lenders hold the title through the ELT (Electronic Lien and Title) system, so they need to release it before you can complete the sale.
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 covers the rest.
If your title is electronic
Only a lender can hold a California electronic title, so once the loan is paid off, request the paper title from the DMV before you sell. The driver leaves with the paper title, so book the pickup once you have it.
If the car is titled in another state
You can sell it from California, but California’s replacement route only applies to California titles. A missing out-of-state title has to be replaced by the state that issued it.
With that title in hand, give the issuing state on the quote form and sign where that title marks the seller.
Selling a Junk Car That Isn’t in Your Name
When the owner has died, the heirs use Form REG 5 (Affidavit for Transfer Without Probate). Once the title is in your name, the junk sale is the same as any other.
California’s rule on a gifted car: Write GIFT in the purchase price field on the title. The recipient files the statement of facts. The vehicle cannot carry an outstanding loan.
A car a stranger left on your land isn’t yours to sell. It goes through the abandoned vehicle process instead.
Local Dismantlers vs Online Buyers in California
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.
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 California
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 has more on keeping it until pickup.
California Motor Vehicle Resources
- Motor vehicle agency: California DMV
- Selling a vehicle: DMV guide to selling a vehicle
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take to sell a junk car in California?
The comparison tool returns offers within minutes, and Peddle’s pickups typically happen within 24 to 48 hours of scheduling.
Add the replacement wait if the title is missing.
Is a bill of sale required to junk a car in California?
A bill of sale is recommended in California. On a junk sale it’s your record of who took the car.
State form: Form REG 135.
Our bill of sale generator builds one in a couple of minutes.
Does leaving the plates on release me from liability in California?
In California, the release of liability is what takes your name off the car.
Handing plates back releases you from liability: no.
Does anything have to be notarized to junk a car in California?
Title notarization is not required in California, and bill of sale notarization is not required.
Two names on the title: every owner signs when the names are joined by AND or a slash, and any one owner can sign alone when they are joined by OR.
Get every signature the title needs before pickup day.
Can I junk a car with expired registration in California?
Yes. Registration is what lets the car on the road, and this one leaves on a truck. You don’t need to renew it first.
The title is the document that matters.
What happens to my junk car after I sell it in California?
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 California?
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.
Is it worth repairing my car instead of junking it in California?
Get a repair estimate and see how much more the car would be offered once it runs. A repair that costs more than that difference loses money.
A car with a sound engine or a part in demand can also be sold for parts.
Article Update History
California offer figures, down to city and model, now come from Sell Car Advisor quote data.
The duplicate title fee, sale forms and junk car smog exemption checked against the California DMV.
Originally posted and shared with our readers.
Sources
"Titles" Accessed Mar 16, 2026.
Release of Liability Filing Deadline
"5 days" Accessed Sep. 15, 2026
Replacement Title Processing Time
"15 to 30 days" Accessed Sep. 15, 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. 15, 2026
Release of Liability Form Name
"Form REG 138 (NRL)" Accessed Sep. 15, 2026
Duplicate Title Application Form
"Form REG 227" Accessed Sep. 15, 2026
Inherited Vehicle Title Transfer Form
"Form REG 5 (Affidavit for Transfer Without Probate)" Accessed Sep. 15, 2026
"California DMV" Accessed Sep. 15, 2026
"$28" Accessed Sep. 15, 2026
How to Complete a Gift Transfer
"Write GIFT in the purchase price field on the title. The recipient files the statement of facts. The vehicle cannot carry an outstanding loan" Accessed Sep. 15, 2026
Conditions to Sell Without Title
"you must apply for a replacement title before, or as part of, the sale: Form REG 227 (Application for Replacement or Transfer of Title) carries a transfer section the buyer can complete, so the replacement and the transfer can be submitted together" Accessed Sep. 15, 2026
Emissions Exempt if Dismantled
"no smog certificate is needed when the vehicle is sold to a licensed dismantler to be wrecked or dismantled" Accessed Sep. 15, 2026
Emissions Fail: Help Available
"BAR's Consumer Assistance Program offers repair assistance of up to $1,450 for 1996-or-newer cars ($1,100 for 1976 to 1995) and a vehicle retirement payment of $1,350 to $2,000 for a car that can be driven to a BAR-contracted dismantler under its own power. Neither is available while the vehicle is undergoing a transfer of ownership" Accessed Sep. 15, 2026
"Form REG 135" Accessed Sep. 15, 2026
"most lenders hold the title through the ELT (Electronic Lien and Title) system, so they need to release it before you can complete the sale" Accessed Sep. 15, 2026
"with the vehicle" Accessed Sep. 15, 2026
Emissions Testing Required to Sell?
"yes, statewide for most vehicles more than four model years old" Accessed Sep. 15, 2026
"$30 to $70" Accessed Sep. 15, 2026
Expedited Title Replacement Fee
"$15 (Rush Title Processing)" Accessed Sep. 15, 2026
Typical offer on old cars in California, Junk Car Value Statistics
"1,816 California offers · 12,312 nationally" Accessed Oct. 2, 2026
Typical offer on old cars in California by body type, Junk Car Value Statistics
"1,461 California offers, cars 10 years and older" Accessed Oct. 2, 2026
Typical offer on old cars in California by city, Junk Car Value Statistics
"1,816 California offers, cars 10 years and older" Accessed Oct. 2, 2026
Typical offer on the old cars most often quoted in California, Junk Car Value Statistics
"357 California offers, cars 10 years and older" Accessed Oct. 2, 2026
Junk Car Value Statistics, Sell Car Advisor
"On this page: 10 figures from 17,628 instant cash offers, and 3 figures from same-day quotes by several buyers" Accessed Oct. 2, 2026
