In Indiana, selling a junk car legally comes down to one thing: getting the right paperwork to the buyer so the vehicle can be transferred or disposed of. Indiana usually requires the title, but the BMV offers several legitimate paths when the title is lost, the vehicle is too old to bother titling, or the seller is not the original owner. This guide walks through every option in plain English.
Last updated: May 2026
If you have a junk car in Indiana and you are not sure whether you can legally sell it, this is the page to read first. We buy junk cars across Central Indiana every day, and roughly a third of the calls we get involve some sort of paperwork wrinkle: a missing title, an old vehicle the seller never titled, an abandoned car a tenant left behind, or a name that does not match the registration. Every one of these has a legal answer in Indiana.
By the end you will know exactly what the BMV requires, what it costs, how to get a duplicate title, what to do when there is no title at all, how salvage titles work, and how Cash Car Heroes handles each of these on a real-world basis.
What Indiana Law Actually Requires to Sell a Junk Car
Indiana is a title state. To legally transfer ownership of a motor vehicle from one person to another, the seller normally has to sign over the certificate of title to the buyer, and the buyer applies for a new title in their name at the BMV.
For a junk car, the requirements are the same in principle but the BMV gives you extra options because the vehicle is often not going back on the road. The seller still needs to prove they have the right to sell, and the buyer still needs documentation to either retitle the vehicle, dismantle it for parts, or send it to scrap. The paperwork path depends on three things: do you have the title, how old is the vehicle, and what is the buyer planning to do with it.
The good news: a missing title is not the dead end most sellers fear. Indiana law has built-in paths for almost every situation, and a real junk car buyer will know how to use them.
Not sure what paperwork your situation needs? Cash Car Heroes handles title issues for Indianapolis-area sellers every day -- call (317) 538-4824 and we will walk through your specific situation before pickup. Get your free quote →
Indiana BMV Title Fees at a Glance
If you are dealing with titles, here are the numbers the BMV charges in 2026. These are the fees you will run into most often when selling or transferring a junk car (Indiana BMV, 2026).
| Action | Fee |
|---|---|
| Standard certificate of title | $15.00 |
| Duplicate title | $15.00 |
| Speed (expedited) title | $25.00 |
| Salvage title | $4.00 |
| Late title penalty (filed more than 30 days after purchase) | $30.00 |
A duplicate title takes about the same time as a regular title to process through the BMV’s central office in Indianapolis. The $25 speed option exists if you genuinely need it expedited.
Two practical notes. First, the late title penalty kicks in 30 days after the date of purchase, so if you are sitting on a vehicle you bought and never titled, the clock is already running. Second, salvage titles are cheap because the state assumes a salvage-titled vehicle is leaving the road or being rebuilt under separate rules.
Selling a Junk Car With a Title in Indiana: The Normal Path
When you have a clean title in your name, selling a junk car in Indiana is straightforward. The four steps:
- Confirm the title is signed in your name. If it is jointly titled (for example, with a spouse), every titled owner has to sign as a seller.
- Complete the seller’s section on the back of the title. Indiana titles have an assignment section that captures the buyer’s name, sale price, odometer reading, and signatures. Both buyer and seller sign here.
- Remove the plates. In Indiana, the plate stays with the owner, not the vehicle. Pull your plate before the buyer drives away or the tow truck loads up. You can transfer it to a different vehicle you own or surrender it.
- Notify the BMV (optional but recommended). Indiana does not strictly require a seller to file a notification, but keeping a copy of the signed assignment and the bill of sale protects you if anything comes up later about that VIN.
For a junk car going to a buyer like Cash Car Heroes, that is the whole transaction. We handle the buyer-side paperwork from there, including the path the vehicle takes next (dismantling, parts, or scrap). You do not need to file anything yourself.
For more detail on the full sales process from quote to pickup, see our step-by-step guide to selling a junk car in Indianapolis.
How to Get a Duplicate Title in Indiana
A duplicate title is the cleanest fix for a lost or missing title when you are the titled owner. Indiana makes it relatively painless (Indiana BMV duplicate title page).
Who can request it: Any titled owner listed on the original title. If the title was joint, both owners have to be involved.
What you need:
- An unexpired photo ID (driver’s license, state ID, military ID, passport, etc.)
- A completed Application for Certificate of Title (State Form 205)
- A lien release if the title still shows an unsatisfied lien
- Payment for the fee
How to file: You have several options. The fastest is usually online at myBMV.com if your account matches the title. You can also visit any BMV branch in person, use a BMV Connect kiosk, file through a Partial Service Provider, or mail the application to the BMV Central Office at 100 N. Senate Ave., Room N411, Indianapolis, IN 46204.
Cost: $15 standard, $25 if you choose the expedited “speed title” option.
Timing: Processing happens at the BMV’s central title office. Mailed applications take longer than in-branch filings, and most sellers report receiving the duplicate within a few weeks. If you need it sooner, the speed title is the path.
For a junk car sale specifically, requesting a duplicate is the most predictable route if you have the time. If you do not, there are other options.
Can You Sell a Junk Car Without a Title in Indiana?
Often, yes — but the path depends on which situation describes your vehicle. Indiana actually has several legal routes for selling without the original title, and the right one depends on the vehicle’s age, value, and your relationship to it (Indiana BMV special titling circumstances).
Option 1: Affidavit of Ownership (Vehicles $5,000 or Less)
If you cannot get a certificate of title from the seller and the vehicle is valued at $5,000 or less according to NADA clean or average retail value, Indiana allows you to apply for a title using the Affidavit of Ownership Vehicle Title Application Packet. This is the BMV’s catch-all for buyers who ended up with a vehicle and no title — think of a car you bought from a private seller who promised to mail the title and never did, or a vehicle you inherited informally.
This option creates a real title in your name, which then lets you sell the vehicle normally. It takes time, but for a vehicle under $5,000 NADA (which covers the vast majority of junk cars), it is the standard fix when the original title is unavailable.
Option 2: Certificate of Authority (Vehicles 15+ Model Years Old)
For older junk cars, Indiana offers a much faster path: the Certificate of Authority — Disposal of a Motor Vehicle (State Form 55018). This is specifically built for sending older vehicles to scrap without going through the full title process.
The rules under IC 9-22-5-18:
- The vehicle must be at least 15 model years old
- The buyer must be purchasing it solely to dismantle, wreck, or recover scrap metal or parts
- The seller must present an approved Certificate of Authority to the salvage recycler at the time of sale
The application packet is processed by the BMV Central Office Title Processing Department. This is the right path for the classic “old car sitting in the backyard for 20 years” situation where the title is long gone and the vehicle has no real future on the road.
For Indianapolis-area sellers, this is one of the most common routes we see for vehicles model year 2011 and older.
Option 3: Mechanic’s Lien (Abandoned Vehicles)
If you are dealing with an abandoned vehicle — a customer who never came back for a repair, a tenant who left a car in the driveway, an estate situation with no clear owner — Indiana has the mechanic’s lien process. The BMV publishes two separate packets depending on the NADA value:
- Vehicles valued under $3,500: simpler packet, shorter publication requirements
- Vehicles valued over $3,500: more documentation, longer notice periods, public auction requirement
The general process requires publishing a notice of public auction in a local newspaper, waiting at least 15 days after the advertisement before sale, and providing proof of notice to the prior owner and any lienholder. Storage costs are capped by statute ($2,000 for vehicles under 30 feet, $2,500 for vehicles 30 feet or longer).
This path is more involved than the others but it is the only legal way to take ownership of a vehicle someone else left in your possession.
Option 4: Court Order
For situations none of the above paths cover — a complicated estate, a contested ownership claim, a vehicle with paperwork problems beyond what the BMV’s standard forms handle — Indiana allows a court order to establish ownership. You go to court, obtain the order, and present it to the BMV when applying for a title. This is the last-resort path and usually involves consulting an attorney.
The Honest Reality for Most Junk Car Sellers
For the average Indianapolis driveway junk car, you do not need a court order or a long affidavit process. The two routes that handle the vast majority of no-title junk car sales are the duplicate title (when you are the owner) and the Certificate of Authority (when the vehicle is 15+ years old and headed for scrap). Cash Car Heroes works through these regularly — on a case-by-case basis we can often help identify the right path and what you need to gather before pickup.
For more on the no-title situation specifically, our sell car without a title service page explains how the conversation usually goes.
Missing your title? Don't assume the sale is dead. Indiana has a legal path for nearly every no-title situation, and Cash Car Heroes handles these every week across Indianapolis. Call (317) 538-4824 or get your free quote → and we will work through it with you.
Salvage Titles in Indiana: What They Are and When They Apply
A salvage title is a special title the BMV issues for vehicles that have been wrecked or damaged. The point of a salvage title is to flag the vehicle’s history so anyone who buys it later knows it was previously written off.
Under Indiana’s special titling rules, a salvage title is required for vehicles from the last seven model years that are wrecked or damaged. So in 2026, a damaged vehicle from model year 2019 or newer needs a salvage title to be transferred or rebuilt. Older damaged vehicles can also be salvage-titled by request, but it is not mandatory.
For a junk car going to scrap, the salvage title rules usually do not block the sale — you are not putting the car back on the road, you are sending it to be dismantled. But the title status matters for what the buyer does next:
- Clean title: The buyer can sell working parts or resell the vehicle to someone who wants to rebuild it.
- Salvage title: The vehicle is flagged in the BMV system. It can still be sold for parts or scrap, but rebuilt-and-resold is a separate, regulated process.
If your insurance company recently totaled your vehicle and you kept it, the title may have been converted to salvage. That does not stop you from selling it as a junk car — Cash Car Heroes buys wrecked and totaled vehicles on salvage titles regularly. Just mention the title status when you call so the offer reflects it.
What Happens After You Sell: BMV and Insurance Steps
The transaction itself is only part of the story. After the vehicle is gone, a few quick actions on your end close everything out cleanly.
Hold onto your copy of the signed title and bill of sale. This is your proof that the vehicle is no longer yours. Keep it somewhere safe for at least a year. If anything comes up tied to that VIN — a parking ticket, a tow notice, a traffic-camera mailer — you have the documentation to clear it.
Remove your plates and decide what to do with them. In Indiana the plate belongs to the owner, not the vehicle. You can transfer it to another vehicle you own using the BMV’s plate transfer process, or you can surrender it. Either way, do not leave it on a car you just sold.
Cancel your insurance only after the vehicle is actually picked up. A surprising number of sellers cancel coverage the day they accept an offer, then have to scramble if pickup gets delayed. Wait until the car is on the flatbed and driving away. Then call your insurer and either remove that vehicle from the policy or cancel coverage on it entirely. Many drivers get a small prorated refund.
You generally do not have to notify the BMV. Indiana does not require a private seller to file a sale notification with the BMV the way some states do. The buyer’s title application creates the record of transfer on the state side. That said, keeping your own documentation is the smart move.
For a deeper look at how a real Cash Car Heroes pickup runs end to end, our how it works page walks through the four steps.
Common Title Situations We See in Indianapolis
A few real-world cases that come up over and over on calls to Cash Car Heroes. None of these are unusual — and none of them have to kill the sale.
”The title is in my dad’s name and he passed away.”
Estate situations need a paper trail. Depending on whether the estate went through probate, you may need the will, letters of administration, or a small-estate affidavit (Indiana allows a simplified small-estate process under a value threshold). Once the estate paperwork establishes you as the owner, you can request a duplicate title in your name and sell normally. For older vehicles, the Certificate of Authority path may also apply if the car is 15+ years old.
”I never titled the car after I bought it from a friend.”
If the bill of sale is recent, the Affidavit of Ownership path is the standard route, assuming NADA value is $5,000 or less. If it has been many years and the car is now 15+ model years old, the Certificate of Authority is a much shorter path to a legal sale.
”The car is in my ex’s name and they refuse to sign.”
This is a hard one. If both names were on the title, every titled owner has to sign for the transfer. If you have no documented claim to the vehicle, you generally cannot legally sell it without the titled owner’s involvement or a court order. The honest answer here is that we cannot buy it without proper authorization, and forcing the issue without paperwork creates real legal exposure for both sides.
”The car has a lien from a loan I paid off years ago.”
The lender should have sent a lien release when the loan was paid. If you cannot find it, contact the lender (or whoever bought the loan if the original lender no longer exists) and request a copy. You file the lien release with the BMV along with your duplicate title application to clear the title.
”I have a salvage title from when my insurance totaled it.”
No problem. Salvage-titled vehicles are bought and sold all the time as junk cars. Mention it when you call so the offer is accurate. Cash Car Heroes buys salvage-titled vehicles regularly through our wrecked car service.
Why Indiana’s Junk Car Rules Exist
It is worth a quick mention. Indiana’s titling and salvage rules are not bureaucracy for its own sake — they exist for two reasons:
- To prevent stolen-vehicle laundering. A clean paper trail from owner to scrap yard makes it much harder for stolen cars to disappear into the parts market. State-licensed salvage recyclers are required to keep records of every vehicle they buy and the seller it came from.
- To protect future buyers. Salvage and rebuilt-title disclosures let someone shopping for a used car know whether the vehicle was previously written off.
Working with a fully licensed Indiana junk car buyer — like Cash Car Heroes — means the paperwork is handled correctly on the buyer side, and you have a clear receipt that the vehicle is out of your name and into a system the state can track. That paper trail protects you.
Cash Car Heroes is locally family-owned, fully licensed, and open 7 days a week. Free quote in 10-15 minutes, cash on the spot, free towing -- and we handle the paperwork on our side so you can stop worrying about it. Call (317) 538-4824 or get your free quote now →
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you sell a junk car in Indiana without a title?
Often, yes. Indiana offers several legal paths: the Affidavit of Ownership process for vehicles valued at $5,000 or less (NADA), the Certificate of Authority for vehicles at least 15 model years old going to scrap (Form 55018, IC 9-22-5-18), a mechanic’s lien process for abandoned vehicles, and a court order for unusual situations. The right path depends on the vehicle’s age, value, and your relationship to it. Cash Car Heroes works through these case by case.
How much does a duplicate title cost in Indiana?
A standard duplicate title is $15.00 at the Indiana BMV. If you need it faster, the expedited “speed title” option is $25.00. You apply online at myBMV.com, at any BMV branch, at a BMV Connect kiosk, or by mail to the Central Office in Indianapolis.
What is an Indiana Certificate of Authority for junk cars?
A Certificate of Authority — State Form 55018 — lets an owner dispose of a motor vehicle for scrap or dismantling without going through the full title process. The vehicle must be at least 15 model years old and the buyer must be purchasing it solely for scrap metal recovery or parts. The rule comes from Indiana Code 9-22-5-18 and the application is processed by the BMV Central Office Title Processing Department.
Do I need a salvage title to sell a wrecked car in Indiana?
A salvage title is required in Indiana for wrecked or damaged vehicles from the last seven model years. Older damaged vehicles can be sold without a salvage title. Either way, a junk car buyer like Cash Car Heroes will buy the vehicle — mention the title status when you call so the offer reflects it.
What is the fee for transferring a car title in Indiana?
The standard title fee in Indiana is $15.00. If you wait more than 30 days after the purchase date to file for the title, the BMV adds a $30.00 late penalty. Speed-title (expedited) processing is $25.00 instead of $15.00.
Do I have to notify the BMV when I sell a junk car?
Indiana does not require a private seller to file a separate sale notification with the BMV. The buyer’s title application or disposal documentation creates the state-side record. That said, you should keep your own copy of the signed title assignment and a bill of sale in case anything comes up tied to that VIN later.
What should I do with my license plate after selling a junk car?
In Indiana the plate belongs to you, not the vehicle. Remove it before the car is picked up. You can transfer it to another vehicle you own through the BMV’s plate transfer process, or surrender it. Do not leave the plate on a vehicle you just sold.
How does Cash Car Heroes handle title problems?
Case by case. For a typical Indianapolis-area junk car with a missing or unclear title, we walk through your situation on the phone, identify which Indiana BMV path applies (duplicate title, Certificate of Authority, salvage title, etc.), and let you know what documentation we need at pickup. We are locally family-owned, fully licensed, and we handle title situations every week. Call (317) 538-4824 or contact us to get started.
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