An Old Car on Family Land: How to Clear It Legally

• The VIN. Look on the dash, the door frame and any plate or tag on the body. Older cars can have it in different places. Photograph it, and do not try to pry anything off. If you cannot find it, read old cars with a missing VIN plate.
• Plates and tabs. An old plate is a useful clue, even if expired.
• Paper. Check the glove box, the family file cabinet, safe deposit boxes and old farm records for titles, registrations or bills of sale.
• People. Ask older relatives and neighbors. Write down who says what, and when.
• Land records. Who owns the land now? That decides who can act as the landowner. If it is held by several relatives or an estate, sort that out first.

You still cannot just sell it. The State Patrol guide says “You cannot sell or assume ownership” of a vehicle left on land. The exception for a landowner is a car that qualifies and goes through the junk vehicle process in RCW 46.55.230.

1. Check the criteria

   RCW 46.55.010 requires at least three of four: three years old or older, extensively damaged, apparently inoperable, and worth only its scrap value. That is the towing chapter’s test; the hulk hauler chapter, RCW 46.79.010, requires all of its listed items, including no valid plate. A car that has sat for decades may well fit, but the official decides.

2. Get it inspected

   An authorized official inspects and certifies. Ask your city or the county sheriff’s non-emergency line who handles this for your land. In rural areas, it may take a few calls.

3. Follow what the records show

   If the state has an owner on record, you mail notice to the last registered and legal owners, and wait more than 15 days. If it finds no record, you may proceed immediately. A very old car may well turn up nothing, but do not assume so.

4. Dispose of it or sign the affidavit of sale

   Our guide to the Junk Vehicle Affidavit explains the form.

This is the part no form can solve. If a cousin says the car is rightfully theirs, or the land is still in an estate, stop before anyone signs. An affidavit is a statement of fact, and false statements or forged signatures on title paperwork are a class B felony under RCW 46.12.750. Get the agreement in writing, or talk to an attorney. A court order can also transfer title, under WAC 308-56A-320, though a security interest is removed only if the order says so.

Old is not always junk. Some cars that look finished are worth a lot to the right person, especially if they are rare or complete. Before you sign anything, get someone who knows the make to look at it, such as a club for that make or a restoration shop. Once a car is crushed, that is the end of it. A good sale needs clean paperwork too, and that is another reason to sort out the ownership first.

The fair market value test also matters here. The junk vehicle criteria include a value equal only to scrap, so a car with real collector value may not meet that one. The statute also has the inspector verify that the car’s approximate value is only that of its parts.

A car that has sat for years can be sunk in, seized or surrounded. Clear brush if you can do it safely, and make a path a flatbed can reach. Look out for wasps, rodents and broken glass. Our tight spots guide has more, and this guide helps if you think it might be revived.

If a car is missing most of its parts, tell us up front. An incomplete vehicle, or a shell, may carry a pickup fee or may be declined. Leaks and spills are a separate matter: Ecology takes reports at 1-800-OILS-911.

When your paperwork is in order, call us at (206) 941-0612 and send photos through the pickup form. We need a Title, an Affidavit in Lieu of Title, or a Junk Vehicle Affidavit. See scrap car removal and our license.