Your Teen’s First Car Died: What to Do Next

1. Make sure they’re safe

   If they’re on a road, they should get away from traffic and call for help. If anyone is hurt or it’s in a dangerous spot, call 911.

2. Don’t try to limp it home

   If it is overheating, shaking, smoking or making grinding sounds, it should not be driven. Have it towed.

3. Move it off the highway soon

   It is unlawful to leave a vehicle unattended within the limits of a highway unless you are arranging prompt removal. If you must leave it, tell law enforcement. A nonhazard roadside vehicle can stay beyond 24 hours if the owner or operator can’t move it, notifies them and asks for help.

4. Write down what happened

   What did they notice first? Warning lights? Noises? Have they been adding oil or coolant? A mechanic can use this, so ask without blame.

A first guess from a friend is not a diagnosis. Have a shop check it and give you a written quote that separates parts, labor and any other problems it finds. Here’s how to read it.

Then compare that number with what the car would be worth once repaired. This guide shows how to find that. The specifics matter, so see blown engine, overheating or bad transmission if one of those is what the shop finds.

Be careful of one thing: a car doesn’t need to be stranded to be unsafe. If you are thinking of keeping it for “short trips,” read is an unsafe old car worth keeping first.

In Washington, transferring a vehicle to someone under 18 is unlawful and a misdemeanor. So if your teen is under 18, the car should be in an adult’s name, and that adult will handle the sale.

• Check the title. DOL says all owners shown on it must sign.
• If you bought it for your teen, and the seller’s name is still on the title, you have an extra problem. Read never transferred the title.
• If your teen has turned 18 and the title is in their name, they are the seller. They should be the one to sign and get paid. You can be there with them.
• If there is a loan, see selling with a lien.

If the car goes to anyone, the plates come off and a Report of Sale gets filed within five business days. It is a good thing for your teen to learn, and they could do it with you.

This is the moment to be more careful. You can check a few things before you pay, so you are less likely to end up here again.

• Have a mechanic inspect it before you pay.
• Get a vehicle history report through the official NMVTIS consumer site, which shows title, insurance loss and salvage information.
• Know that “there is no three-day right of cancellation” when you buy at a dealer’s main place of business.
• Watch for unlicensed sellers. Anyone who sells five or more vehicles in a 12-month period must have a dealer’s license, and the Attorney General calls those who don’t “curbstoners”.
• Make sure the title is signed by all owners, and apply for transfer within 15 days. A late penalty starts on the 16th day, under RCW 46.17.140.
• Budget for use tax, usually paid to DOL at title transfer on a private purchase.

We pick up from driveways, apartment and condo lots, business lots and the street. Towing is free, it doesn’t need to run, and we pay cash at pickup. Have the adult on the title ready to be there. Call (206) 941-0612, or read non-running car removal and cash for cars for how it works.