“Sell my junk car” usually means a car that won't start, has no keys or has sat for years, and each of those can still be sold. What you need is proof you own it (usually the title), a buyer who can legally take junk cars, and a truck that can move it. The rules for a missing title change at the state line, so check yours before you sign anything.
A car that doesn't run sells with the same paperwork as one that does. The only difference is that it leaves on a truck instead of under its own power. Our team picks up or tows the car whatever is wrong with it, a blown head gasket included.
When you ask for an offer, tell the buyer the things that decide which truck and which equipment to send:
If the car has sat for years, the registration has probably lapsed. In most states the missed years are never billed, but some states do charge them back; check expired registration rules by state. And if it stopped starting only recently, it's worth ruling out a dead battery, starter or alternator before you price it as junk.
Keys are not ownership papers. The title is. You can sell a junk car with no keys at all.
What the missing key changes is loading. Without a key, the car is often stuck in Park with the steering locked, so it can't be shifted into neutral and rolled. The usual workaround is to lift the drive wheels off the ground, put the car on wheel dollies, or winch it onto a flatbed, so it never has to leave Park. Mention the missing key when you ask for the offer so the driver brings the right gear.
A buyer normally needs the title, signed over to them. If yours is lost, the usual fix is a replacement from your state before you sell. Selling a car without the title walks through what actually works, and our duplicate title cost table lists the fee in each state.
Some states open a narrower door for older cars that are going to scrap only. Two examples:
A few states don't title cars past a certain age at all, so an old car may never have had a title to lose. See cars too old for a title, by state.
A lender named on the title is a separate problem, and a junk sale doesn't make it go away. North Carolina's no-title route makes you certify there is no lien, and New York's form makes the buyer certify there are no undisclosed liens. If a lender is still on your title, even for a loan you paid off long ago, start with selling a car that still has a loan on it.
A car someone left on your property is not yours to sell just because it's sitting there. A buyer will want a title in your name or official paperwork that stands in for one.
States run a separate process for abandoned cars. Texas is a clear example. A person who has an abandoned car on property they own can apply to the Texas DMV for a Certificate of Authority to dispose of it to a demolisher, on form VTR-71-2 with a $2 fee. If you aren't the owner on record, the department mails the owners and lienholders it can find. They get 20 days to claim the car. If nobody does, the certificate is issued on the 21st day after the notice is mailed, or posted on the TxDMV site when no record can be found (TxDMV).
Other states use different forms and waiting periods. Ask your state's motor vehicle agency what it requires before you call any buyer.
There is no official price list for junk cars. An offer is built from four things: the car's weight in metal, whether the catalytic converter is still on it, how far it has to be hauled, and how hard it is to load. We take each one apart in what a junk car is worth.
The metal part moves with a market you can check. The U.S. Geological Survey reports that, in the first 11 months of 2025, the average composite price for No. 1 heavy melting steel scrap ran from a high of $366.26 per metric ton in March to a low of $303.46 in November (USGS, 2026). That is roughly what mills pay for prepared scrap, not what a yard pays you for a whole car, since the yard still has to tow, drain, strip and shred it. It does explain why the same car can draw a different offer a few months apart. The scrap steel price history shows the longer run.
Cars are the main source of old steel scrap, USGS says. More than 13 million tons of steel a year is recycled from automobiles, the equivalent of about 17 million cars, through more than 280 car shredders in North America.
Two practical habits help. Get more than one offer, because hauling and loading costs differ from buyer to buyer. And ask whether the number you're quoted is what you'll be paid at pickup, or a starting point that can change once someone looks at the car.
Before you sign anything that says junk or scrap, make sure that is what you mean. In several states it is permanent:
That's fine for a rusted-out car at the end of its life. It's a poor trade if you want to sell a broken car that is still worth fixing, such as a newer car with a failed transmission. For that car you want a buyer who will title it and repair or resell it, not one who will crush it. Fix it or junk it shows how to tell which kind of car you have.
Stripping the car yourself first is usually a mistake, and common mechanic advice is to leave it complete. A stripped car weighs less and is harder to load, so the offer drops. The part people most want to pull is the catalytic converter, and many states now make it hard to sell one on its own. The National Conference of State Legislatures reported that 12 states passed catalytic converter bills in 2021 and at least 20 states enacted 25 more in 2022, and that most of them added requirements for selling and buying converters that aren't attached to a car (NCSL). California, for example, bars anyone from buying a used converter from a private person unless that person has a title or registration in their name for the car it came off, with a VIN that matches the one marked on the converter (Vehicle Code 10852.5). If yours has already been cut off, see selling a car with no catalytic converter.
The federal list is broad. As the Justice Department describes the Anti-Car Theft Act, junk and salvage yards include scrap-vehicle shredders, scrap-metal processors, pull-apart yards, salvage pools and auctions, and other businesses that handle wrecked or total-loss cars. Private buyers who fix cars buy them too, and charities accept them as donations.
Businesses in that federal group have to report each junk or salvage car they take in to the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS) every month; yards that handle fewer than five junk or salvage cars a year are exempt. The report carries the VIN, the date, who the car came from, and whether it was crushed or offered for sale. That report protects you. The Justice Department explains that thieves use the VINs of destroyed cars to disguise stolen ones, and mandatory reporting makes that much easier to catch. Ask a buyer how they report to NMVTIS. Some report through their state instead, which also counts, but a legitimate buyer should know the answer.
New York adds a check of its own. Its MV-35 form says a tow truck driver can't claim ownership of a car delivered for scrap on that form; the driver is only the delivery agent. Any tow driver in the business of buying inoperable cars for scrap has to be registered as an itinerant vehicle collector or a dismantler.
If you'd rather donate the car, know how the deduction works. The IRS says that if the charity sells the car, your deduction is generally limited to what it sold for. If it sells for $500 or less, you can deduct the lower of its fair market value or $500. And the deduction only helps if you itemize (IRS Publication 4303).
Junk-car law is state law, and the details change at the border. A few examples:
For the rules where you live, pick your state on our sell my car by state pages.
Three loose ends are yours, not the buyer's:
Yes. A car that doesn't run sells with the same paperwork as one that does; it just leaves on a tow truck or flatbed. Tell the buyer whether it rolls, where it's parked and whether the wheels are still on, so the right equipment comes.
No. The title proves ownership, not the keys. A car with no key is usually loaded by lifting the drive wheels or winching it onto a flatbed, so it never has to be shifted out of Park.
Sometimes. A few states allow it for older cars going to scrap only. North Carolina allows it for cars 12 model years or older, and New York for cars worth $1,250 or less and at least eight model years old, sold to a registered dismantler, itinerant vehicle collector or certified scrap processor. Otherwise the usual route is a replacement title from your state first.
From the car's weight in metal, whether the catalytic converter is still attached, how far it has to be hauled and how hard it is to load. The metal part follows the scrap market, which USGS reports ran between $303.46 and $366.26 per metric ton for heavy melting steel scrap during the first 11 months of 2025.
It depends on your taxes. The IRS says that if the charity sells the car, your deduction is generally limited to what it sold for, or up to $500 if it sold for $500 or less, and you only benefit if you itemize. Selling puts the money in your hand instead.
Often not. Massachusetts marks the record JUNK and never titles or registers the car again, Wisconsin issues no title for a junked vehicle, and New York's MV-35 says the car may never be titled again. If the car is worth fixing, sell it whole rather than as junk.