Junk car in Atlanta: sell it, scrap it or park it the Georgia way

When an old car turns into a junk car in Georgia

People call a car junk when it will not start, costs more to fix than they want to spend, or has sat until the tires went soft. Each can still be sold as a car. Georgia's scrap rules start when the owner sells or disposes of the car as scrap metal or parts only.

That point is final. The Department of Revenue says a vehicle that has been demolished, scrapped or used for parts cannot be repaired or legally driven. When DOR's Salvage Unit cancels a scrapped car's title, it places indicators on the VIN that the vehicle cannot be titled.

So ask one question before you pick a route: could anyone want to drive or repair this car? If the answer might be yes, sell it as a car. See selling a car in any condition if you are unsure which side of the line yours is on.

Source: Georgia DOR: scrapped, dismantled or demolished vehicle; Georgia HB 207 (2021), signed text.

Three ways out for a junk car in Atlanta

The partner buyer. The buyer behind the offer button on this site publishes that vehicles that do not run or are missing parts can still get an offer, and that in many states cars with salvage, rebuilt or missing titles may still be eligible. Its help center says many of its buyers take cars without a title. The buyer arranges and pays for the pickup at a time that suits you. At pickup the driver checks the car against your description and completes the buyer's title-transfer paperwork, and you get a check once the car is inspected. The online offer is the amount paid, provided the car matches what you described. See how the offer works.

A scrap or used-parts dealer. Georgia law names three kinds of business that buy cars as scrap or parts: secondary metals recyclers, used motor vehicle parts dealers and scrap metal processors. DOR requires them to report title cancellations to it. Ask each one how the car gets to its yard and which documents it needs.

Keeping it off the road. DOR lets an owner voluntarily cancel a registration when the vehicle is not being driven or is no longer operable. You still own the car. It is illegal to drive the car, or let anyone else drive it, while the registration is cancelled. Reinstating it later takes payment of all ad valorem taxes and registration fines, proof of Georgia liability insurance and, where your county requires one, a passed emissions inspection.

Source: The buyer: selling and free pickup; The buyer: the offer and the check; The buyer's help center: no title; Georgia HB 207 (2021), signed text; Georgia DOR: cancellation and reinstatement of registration; Georgia DOR: scrapped, dismantled or demolished vehicle.

Selling to a scrap or used-parts dealer: what Georgia requires

The Georgia EPD's compliance guide for recyclers, citing O.C.G.A. 40-3-36, says that when buying a vehicle as scrap, "a Secondary Metals Recycler must obtain from the Seller at the time of the Purchase Transaction" one of two documents: the title, or a title cancellation certificate you sign, where the law allows one.

With a title in hand, complete the assignment on the back of the original title, and write the dealer's business name in the purchaser space. DOR warns never to give or accept a title signed over with the purchaser's name left blank, and Georgia Code 40-3-91(c) makes that a misdemeanor for both sides. Fill in a bill of sale on Form T-7 and keep copies of the title and the bill of sale.

The dealer's side has its own clock. Under Policy Bulletin MVD-2021-04, which followed House Bill 207 in 2021, these dealers report every vehicle bought within 48 hours of the close of business, and they cancel titles electronically through Auto Data Direct, Inc. as DOR now requires. Instead of mailing titles and plates to DOR, they must destroy them securely.

Source: Georgia EPD: secondary metals compliance guide (PDF); Georgia DOR: notice to salvage dealers (MVD-2021-04); Georgia DOR: responsibilities of sellers and buyers; Georgia DOR: I sold my car, what do I do now; Georgia HB 207 (2021), signed text.

No title, and the car is 12 model years or older

Georgia's one narrow route for scrapping a car without a title is Form MV-1SP, Cancellation of Certificate of Title for Scrap/Derelict Vehicles, a sworn statement you sign and the dealer files. As of the version DOR posts (revised July 2012), you certify every one of these:

• No security interest or lien is on the vehicle.
• You never obtained a title for it, or you lost the title.
• It is 12 model years or older.
• A motor vehicle is worth less than $850.00 (a trailer, less than $1,700.00).
• It will be dismantled or scrapped and never titled again.

The last box is the one to read twice: "This vehicle will be dismantled or scrapped and never be titled again". The form asks for your driver's license number and state, and the dealer signs its own section, with its NMVTIS number, certifying it paid $850.00 or less and checked for liens. Knowingly falsifying the form is a felony carrying one to three years, a fine of $1,000.00 to $5,000.00, or both. The form also says the dealer must give you a copy, so ask for it.

Since 2021 the dealer sends the statement to DOR electronically and keeps the original for at least two years. A newer car, a car worth more, or a car with a loan on it needs a title first: see title problems.

Source: Georgia DOR: Form MV-1SP (PDF); Georgia DOR: notice to salvage dealers (MVD-2021-04).

Your plate and registration after a junk sale

On DOR's page for sellers, the license plates are among the things the seller keeps. Take the plate off before the car leaves. Then cancel the registration, online in DRIVES e-Services with your plate number or VIN and your driver's license number, or in person with Form MV-18J at the tag office in the county where you live. In Atlanta that is usually the Fulton County or DeKalb County Tax Commissioner, both on DOR's county tag office list.

Cancel the registration first and the insurance second. DOR warns that reversing that order can bring fines and penalties. More on that in after you sell.

When a dealer buys the car, DOR's notice requires the dealer to cancel the title through Auto Data Direct. DOR's scrap page also lists a route for owners, which it calls less common: the registered owner of a scrapped, dismantled or demolished vehicle sends the original Georgia title in their name, with a signed statement on letterhead giving the year, make, VIN and title number, to DOR/Motor Vehicle Division, Attn: Salvage Unit, P.O. Box 740384, Atlanta, GA 30374-0384. If the plate is left on the car, add the plate and a signed Form T-158. The Salvage Unit cancels the title and flags the VIN.

Source: Georgia DOR: I sold my car, what do I do now; Georgia DOR: cancellation and reinstatement of registration; Georgia DOR: county tag offices; Georgia DOR: scrapped, dismantled or demolished vehicle; Georgia DOR: Form T-158 (PDF); Georgia DOR: notice to salvage dealers (MVD-2021-04).

A junk car left on an Atlanta street or lot

Georgia's Abandoned Motor Vehicle Act, O.C.G.A. 40-11-11 and following, says "only towing and storage firms are authorized to remove vehicles from public and private property", at the request of a law enforcement officer or the property owner.

After a tow, the towing and storage firm must notify the owners, lienholders and security interest holders that the car was towed and impounded. Towing firms, repair shops and salvage dealers can then obtain a lien on an abandoned or unclaimed car by following a detailed notice process. If your car has already been towed, read towed or impounded in Atlanta.

For rules that apply only inside city limits, and for reporting a car that looks abandoned on your street, start with the City of Atlanta's page on reporting a code violation and the Atlanta Police Department's Code Enforcement Section. Read them before you leave a car that does not run parked on a city street.

Source: Georgia DOR: abandoned vehicles; City of Atlanta: report a code violation; Atlanta Police: Code Enforcement Section.

Pick the next page for your car

If the car could still sell as a car, read how the partner buyer's offer works. If the title is missing or a lender is on it, start with fixing a Georgia title problem. To talk it through, call (943) 230-8677.