What to Do After You Junk Your Car in Washington

When you hand over a junk car, the title changes hands on paper. The state’s records do not update on their own. Until they do, your name is still attached to the plate and the VIN, and three kinds of bills can follow that record.

Even though a junk car is headed for parts and recycling, the rule is the same. State law covers a vehicle that is sold, traded, turned over to a wrecking yard or otherwise disposed of. So a car that goes for scrap still needs a Report of Sale.

Here is the order we suggest, from the morning of the pickup to the week after.

1. Before the truck arrives

   Clear out the glove box, trunk and door pockets. Pull out the registration and any insurance card. If there is a Good To Go pass on the windshield, take it off.

2. At the pickup

   Take the license plates off, front and back. Sign the title or hand over your other ownership document. Write down the sale date, the amount you were paid, the VIN and the buyer’s name and address. You need all of them for the Report of Sale.

3. Same day, or within 5 business days

   File the Report of Sale. Online is fastest: DOL says even after-hours online filings are processed immediately after you pay. The legal deadline in RCW 46.12.650 is 5 business days, and a paper filing has to be received by then.

4. The following week

   Call your insurer about the policy on that car. If the car was on a Good To Go account, remove it from the account. Decide what to do with the plates: transfer them, turn them in or recycle them.

The Report of Sale is a short notice to the Department of Licensing (DOL) that the vehicle is no longer yours. It is not the same as transferring the title. The buyer has their own separate job: state law gives the buyer 15 days from delivery to apply for a new title. Your job is only the report.

What you need

DOL asks for these details. Have them in front of you before you start:

• The license plate number, with all letters and numbers.
• The vehicle identification number (VIN). It is on the title, the registration and the driver’s side of the dashboard.
• The date of the sale.
• The sale price. For a junk car, that is the cash you were paid. DOL says to enter zero for a gift or an inheritance.
• The new owner’s name and address.

Option 1: file online

DOL lets you report the sale online without logging in, or through a License eXpress account if you have one. There is a fee, which you pay as part of the filing. Keep the confirmation page or email. It is your proof of the date the car stopped being yours.

Option 2: file at a vehicle licensing office or by mail

Fill out the Vehicle Report of Sale form and take it to a vehicle licensing office, or mail it. DOL says to include a check for the $18 fee made out to “Department of Licensing.” There are offices all over King, Pierce and Snohomish counties. DOL notes that paper filings can take 7 to 10 business days to process after they arrive, so keep a copy for your records.

If you make a mistake

Double-check the plate number and VIN before you submit. DOL says that if a report has an error, you have to go to a vehicle licensing office to explain it. The report is deleted and you file a new one.

What counts as “properly filed”

Under RCW 46.12.650, a report counts as properly filed when it has the sale date, both parties’ full names and addresses, the VIN and plate number, and the fee. It also needs a DOL date or stamp showing it arrived by the fifth business day. That properly filed report is what shields you from abandoned-vehicle costs under RCW 46.55.105.

DOL is direct about this: as the seller, you are legally obligated to remove the license plates. The buyer cannot use them. Once they are off the car, you have four choices.

• Transfer them

  You can move the plates to another vehicle you own, but only the same type of vehicle: car plates to a car, truck plates to a truck.

• Turn them in

  Hand them in at a vehicle licensing office, or mail them to DOL in Olympia. If you mail them, DOL reminds you to add the correct postage.

• Keep them

  You can keep plates as a memento if you remove or invalidate the tabs and never display them on a vehicle.

• Recycle them

  Check that your recycler takes plates. First remove or invalidate the month and year tabs and bend the plates so they cannot be mistaken for valid plates. Special plates, such as personalized, disabled parking and Gold Star plates, cannot be recycled and must be returned.

DOL’s rules for old license plates are short and worth a read if you have specialty plates.

Insurance

Keep the policy in place until the car has been picked up. Once it is gone, call your insurer and tell them the date of sale. Ask whether the policy should be cancelled or the car removed from a multi-car policy, and whether any unused premium comes back to you. Keep a copy of your Report of Sale handy in case they ask for proof.

Tabs and registration

Many people expect a refund for the months left on their tabs. DOL’s refunds page does not describe a general refund of unused registration time when you sell a car. It covers narrower cases, for example:

• You renewed early, then sold the car before the new period started. Send the unused tabs, with the backing still on, plus proof of sale such as a Vehicle Report of Sale.
• You renewed early, then the car was destroyed or totaled. DOL accepts proof such as an insurance report, a wrecker or scrap yard bill of sale, or the original title marked “Destroyed” with the date.

Tabs that are already stuck to a plate or to a document do not qualify. DOL says processing can take 1 to 3 months.

We have been buying junk cars around Seattle and Tacoma for over 20 years. We tow for free and pay cash on the spot, so most of the after-sale work comes down to your part of the paperwork. Here is how to make it easy:

• Have your title or other ownership document ready before the pickup. Our paperwork guide lists what we accept, and our no-title page covers what to do if it is lost.
• Have a screwdriver ready for the plates. They stay with you.
• Before the driver leaves, confirm the buyer name and address to put on your Report of Sale, along with the amount you were paid.
• File the Report of Sale that day, online, while the details are fresh.

Selling a parent’s car or a car that still has a loan on it adds a step before the pickup. See our guides to selling an inherited car in Washington and selling a car with a lien. For the pickup itself, here is how our process works, and here is how we work out your offer.

Print this or save it on your phone. When every box is checked, the car is fully off your record.

• Personal items, registration and insurance card removed from the car.
• License plates taken off, front and back.
• Sale date, price, VIN, plate number and buyer’s name and address written down.
• Report of Sale filed with DOL within 5 business days, and the confirmation saved.
• Insurer told the date of sale.
• Car removed from your Good To Go account, if it was on one.
• Plates transferred, turned in, kept with invalidated tabs, or recycled the way DOL describes.