Expired Tabs on a Junk Car in Washington

This is likely your next question, and it is where our sources run out. We read DOL’s tab pages and the registration statute, and they do not say what you owe for past years if you sell a car with long-expired tabs. So we will not guess at it, or at any amount.

Here is what we can say:

• Renewal has its own conditions. You cannot renew until unpaid tickets or tolling fees are paid, DOL says.
• A sale protects you for what comes after it. Under RCW 46.12.655, after a proper sale, the buyer assumes liability for later parking, HOT-lane and automated camera violations. That wording covers later ones, so do not count on a sale to clear old ones.

Your questions for a vehicle licensing office:

• Do I owe anything for the time the tabs were expired, if I am selling or scrapping the car?
• Are there unpaid tickets or tolls tied to this plate?
• Is there anything I should do before I sell it?

A tow and storage bills can follow here, so deal with this part first.

• RCW 46.55.113 makes more than 45 days of expired registration on a public street a ground for impound.
• Seattle’s limit is “72 consecutive hours” on the same block. See Seattle’s 72-hour rule.
• Bellevue’s flyer warns about over 24 hours on the same street.
• Tacoma’s page lists expired or no plates among the signs that a street vehicle may be abandoned.

If you already have a tag on it, see a car tagged on the street. If your car has been impounded, see impounded and not worth getting back. RCW 46.55.105 makes the last registered owner prima facie liable for removal, storage and disposal costs, so do not walk away from it.

Do not drive it on the road to a buyer or yard. The car may also be unsafe. Your choices:

• Have it towed

  A tow truck does not need your tabs to be current. For a hauler, WAC 308-65-060 lets the pair of hulk plates be split between the tow vehicle and the towed vehicle, in lieu of a trip permit, when a towed vehicle has no valid plates.

• Get a trip permit

  DOL’s trip permit is $36, valid 3 consecutive days, up to 3 in 30 days per vehicle, and it is issued in person. It is not for destroyed vehicles. It is only useful if the car is safe to drive.

• Move it onto private property

  If you have somewhere legal to keep it, a tow there may buy you time. Check local rules on where inoperable vehicles may be stored.

• Renew anyway

  If you plan to keep driving the car, renewing is the honest option. This guide is for a car you are done with.

• Take the plates off. DOL says sellers are legally obligated to remove them. Its page lists no exception for expired tabs.
• Decide what to do with the plates. DOL says you may keep them if tabs are removed or invalidated and they are not displayed, or dispose of them at an office, by mail, or by recycling after removing tabs and bending them. Special plates must be returned.
• If you renewed early and never put on the new tabs, ask for a refund with your bill of sale or report of sale.
• Keep your insurance until the car has left, if it is covered, and tell your insurer the date afterward.
• File your Report of Sale.

Tell us the tabs are expired when you call. The paperwork we need is one of these: a Title, an Affidavit in Lieu of Title, or a Junk Vehicle Affidavit. See the paperwork guide. The car does not need to run, and we use flatbed tow trucks, so a dead car is fine. Towing is free, and we pay cash at pickup.