Can You Junk a Car With No Keys?

This is general mechanics, and every car is different. Without a key, you may run into these:

• Locked doors. Nobody can open the car to reach the steering wheel or shifter.
• A locked steering wheel. The front wheels may stay pointed one way.
• A shifter stuck in park. Drive wheels may not roll, so the car can’t simply be pushed or winched.
• Parking brake. Some cars use a lever and some are electric. You may not be able to release it.
• No way to tell if it runs. The buyer may have to treat it as if it doesn’t.

Each of those can change how long loading takes and what is needed. We use flatbed tow trucks, and the vehicle doesn’t need to run. Tell us what you know, and we will tell you how we would handle it, or if we can’t.

Your paperwork is the same. A hulk hauler acquires a car on the documents listed in WAC 308-65-080, and a key is not one of them. We need one of three: the Title, an Affidavit in Lieu of Title or a Junk Vehicle Affidavit. If you have a key but no paperwork, you still have a paperwork problem. If you have the paperwork but no key, tell us. See our paperwork guide.

A sale also needs the right person. If the car is not yours to sell, a missing key may be a sign you should stop and sort that out first. See junking a car that is not in your name.

Give these details on the first call. A few words on each is enough:

• Key status: “No keys at all”, “a key but it won’t turn”, “a fob with a dead battery”, or “locked inside the car”.
• Doors: Can you open any door or the trunk?
• Gear: Do you know whether it’s in park, in neutral, or in gear?
• Parking brake: Was it on the last time you knew?
• Steering: Are the front wheels straight?
• Where it sits: A driveway is one thing. A tight garage is another. See tight spots.

Then ask two questions: “Can you take it with no key?” and “Does the missing key change the offer?” Condition is one of the five things our offers depend on, so we will say if it matters. For more about what to share, see what to tell a buyer.

A short search is worth it, because a working key can make loading simpler. Try:

• The glove box, the console and the door pockets, if the car is open.
• Kitchen drawers and old coat pockets.
• Anyone else who has driven the car.
• The shop that last worked on it.

Don’t spend much past that. Before you pay anyone to make a key, ask the buyer whether it would help. On a car that is going to be scrapped, the key may add nothing to the offer. If you find one, give it to the driver at pickup.

• Don’t break a window or pry a door to get in. Broken glass is a hazard, and it changes the condition you described. Let us know instead.
• Don’t try to start it with a screwdriver. It risks injury and damage.
• Don’t try to roll it. On any slope, a car that suddenly comes loose can hurt someone.
• Don’t crawl under the car to release anything.
• Don’t sign over a car you can’t show is yours. A false statement on a title transfer is a class B felony under RCW 46.12.750.

Send up to 3 photos on the pickup form, or call (206) 941-0612 and tell us what you have. Include a photo that shows how the car sits. We call back within 4 hours and are open 7 days, 8 AM to 11 PM. For pickup day, see how to get your car ready and non-running car removal.