What to Remove From a Car Before You Junk It

Papers in a car need a decision, because some of them go with the sale.

• Title and registration: pull them out, then hand them over at the sale. RCW 46.12.655 lists providing the title and registration certificate to the person acquiring ownership among the steps that relieve you of liability. Take a photo of each before you hand them over.
• Insurance card: keep it. You’ll need the details when you call your insurer after the car leaves.
• Repair and purchase receipts: keep any you may need for a claim or your own records. Shred anything you don’t want.
• Anything with your address, account numbers or signature: take it with you.

If you can’t find the title in the car or at home, see selling without a title. You can also go over the paperwork in our Washington guide.

• Garage opener. Take the clip-on remote. If it’s built into the car, clear it. See erasing personal data.
• Toll pass. Take it off the windshield and remove the car from your toll account. Your plates may be linked to the account too.
• Parking and HOA permits. They can be misused, and your building may want them back.
• Home address in the navigation. A “home” setting plus a garage opener tells a stranger where to go.
• Spare key. Give it to the driver, so that it’s not cluttering your drawer, and you don’t lose track of it.

DOL says sellers are “legally obligated” to remove the plates, and that doing so protects you from towing, parking, speed camera and toll bills. Have a screwdriver ready. If the screws are rusted, ask the driver before you force anything.

Once the plates are off, DOL’s old plates page gives you your choices. You can keep them as mementos if tabs are removed or invalidated and they aren’t displayed. You can also turn them in at an office, mail them to DOL, or recycle them after removing the tabs and bending them. Special plates such as personalized, collector and disabled parking plates must be returned.

If you renewed early, and your new tabs are unused, DOL’s refunds page says you can send them back with a bill of sale or report of sale, for a refund that takes 1 to 3 months.

Take out anything that could burn, spill or hurt someone when the car is moved or crushed:

• Gas cans and propane bottles.
• Spray cans, paint, solvents and open oil jugs.
• Loose batteries. A vehicle battery may not be knowingly disposed of except to a battery seller, an authorized entity or a secondary smelter under RCW 70A.205.505. See battery disposal.
• Used oil and antifreeze containers. See oil and antifreeze disposal.
• Firearms and ammunition, of course. Check the trunk and under the seats if the car came from a relative.
• Medicine and sharps.

Your things are yours, but the car’s parts are a different question. Offers depend on condition and on demand for parts, and an incomplete vehicle may carry a pickup fee or may be declined. So don’t remove these without asking first:

• Battery, wheels and tires.
• Stereo, catalytic converter, seats and other installed parts.
• Anything that needs tools or requires working under the car.

Ask if you want to keep something, such as a good set of tires or a custom stereo. See what can lower an offer and selling whole or parting it out. Don’t drain fluids. Trash you can’t identify shouldn’t stay inside either, so bag it and take it out.

Right before the truck loads the car, walk around it and open each door once more. After that, assume you won’t see anything again. Save the driver’s number and the buyer’s name, in case you remember something an hour later. Then finish up with the rest of the pickup checklist, and read our after-the-sale guide. To book, call (206) 941-0612 or read how it works.