How to Sell a Junk Car in Florida: Title Rules, Forms, and Payout

To sell a junk car in Florida, complete the Transfer of Title by Seller section on the front of your title, hand it to a licensed salvage dealer or registered metals recycler, remove your plate, and file the Notice of Sale (HSMV 82050) within 30 days. If the title is gone and the car is at least 10 model years old and worth under $1,000, the derelict certificate (HSMV 82137) replaces it.

Do you need a title to sell a junk car in Florida?

The title is the default, but Florida law gives junk cars a legal alternative. Under Section 319.30, Florida Statutes, a licensed salvage motor vehicle dealer or registered secondary metals recycler should receive a valid title, salvage title, or certificate of destruction in the seller's name. When none of those is available, the seller and the buyer complete a derelict motor vehicle certificate application at the time of sale instead.

When you do have the title, fill in the Transfer of Title by Seller section on the front with the buyer's name and address, the odometer reading, the selling price, and the date sold. FLHSMV warns sellers not to sell a vehicle with an existing lien in a private sale; the lien has to be satisfied first.

When does the Florida derelict certificate apply?

The derelict route is narrow on purpose. Form HSMV 82137, the Application for an Original/Duplicate Derelict Motor Vehicle Certificate and Request to Cancel Title, works only when all of these are true:

• The title, salvage title, or certificate of destruction is not available.
• The car is worth less than $1,000.
• It is at least ten model years old, counting the model year as year one.
• The buyer is a licensed salvage motor vehicle dealer or registered secondary metals recycler.

You complete Section 1: the VIN, year, make, purchase price, your name and address, and your driver license or ID number, with a legible copy attached. You certify under penalty of perjury that you own the car, that there are no undisclosed liens, and that you authorize the state to cancel your title record. The form says it plainly: the vehicle may never be titled again and must be dismantled or scrapped.

The buyer then has to deliver the application to a tax collector office within 24 hours of receiving the car, excluding weekends and holidays, and hold the vehicle for three business days after the certificate issues, or ten calendar days if a lien less than three years old is on record. If the person selling is not the owner of record, the buyer must take a smudge-free right thumbprint and pay by check or money order made out to the seller. Expect a reputable Florida yard to walk you through all of this; one that skips the form is not buying the car legally.

Florida junk car forms, fees, and deadlines

These are the Florida documents a junk car sale typically involves. Fees vary by county, so confirm with your tax collector.

Form or step	Who handles it	Fee	Deadline
Florida title, Transfer of Title by Seller section	You (seller)	None to sign	At the sale
HSMV 82050, Notice of Sale and/or Bill of Sale	You	Ask your tax collector	Within 30 days of sale
HSMV 82101, duplicate title application	You, if the title is lost	Per FLHSMV fee schedule; fast title costs extra where offered	Before the sale
HSMV 82137, derelict motor vehicle certificate	You complete Section 1; buyer submits	FLHSMV schedule (rev. 04/26) lists $5.50	Buyer files within 24 hours
Derelict hold before crushing	Buyer	None	3 business days, or 10 days with a lien under 3 years old
Plate surrender (if cancelling insurance)	You	None listed	Before insurance is cancelled

How do you file a notice of sale in Florida?

Complete form HSMV 82050 or the notice of sale section on the title and file it at a tax collector office or license plate agency. FLHSMV states that Florida law has required sellers to file the HSMV 82050 since July 2009, and its procedures manual sets the seller's notice window at 30 days from the sale. Filing removes your registration from the vehicle and limits your civil liability for it after the sale. Note that FLHSMV's plate procedure says the form cannot be filed at a driver-license-only office.

Keep copies of the filed notice, the title or derelict paperwork, and the bill of sale. HSMV 82050 doubles as a bill of sale when both parties complete it, so one form can do both jobs.

What do you do with your Florida license plate?

Take it off. FLHSMV says plates stay with the seller, not the vehicle. You have two clean options:

1. Move the plate to a new or replacement vehicle.
2. Surrender it at a service center. FLHSMV requires surrender if you cancel the insurance tied to the plate or move out of state.

Doing neither is the expensive mistake. FLHSMV's plate procedure notes that a seller who neither surrenders the plate nor files the HSMV 82050 stays responsible for unauthorized use of that plate and can face a financial responsibility suspension.

Lost your Florida title?

If the car does not qualify as derelict, replace the title before you sell. Submit form HSMV 82101 to your county tax collector office with proof of identity and the duplicate title fee from the FLHSMV fee schedule; some counties will print a fast title the same day for an extra fee. Three details from FLHSMV's procedure matter:

• If a lien is still open on the record, only the lienholder can apply for the duplicate.
• If the address on the application differs from FLHSMV's records, you must prove the new address with one of the listed documents, such as a utility receipt or your driver license.
• If your title is held electronically, a duplicate cannot be processed, so ask the tax collector how to get the electronic title printed instead.

For other no-paperwork situations, see our guide to selling a junk car without a title.

What Florida salvage yards and recyclers will ask you for

Bring a driver license or state ID. Under Section 319.30, a salvage dealer records the date and your name, address, and license or ID number, and a recycler records the same identity details. Both must also report the purchase to the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System and keep the records for three years.

Leave the catalytic converter attached. Florida's 2023 law (Chapter 2023-114, Laws of Florida) made it illegal for anyone other than a registered secondary metals recycler to knowingly buy a detached catalytic converter, and requires the recycler to hold each converter it buys for 10 business days before processing it. A whole car avoids those rules entirely. Our catalytic converter value guide covers what that part adds to a yard's offer.

How much will a Florida junkyard pay?

Junkyards in Florida base offers on weight, the current scrap price, and whether the car is complete with resellable parts. A derelict-certificate sale tends to draw lower offers than a titled sale because the car can only be scrapped. For realistic national ranges and how yards price a car, read what your junk car is worth in 2026, then compare at least three quotes that state whether towing is included.

How to find a Florida yard that buys junk cars

Browse our Florida junkyards and salvage yards page or search the full salvage yard directory by city. A "junkyards that buy cars near me" search is a fine place to start too, but ask each yard whether it is a licensed salvage motor vehicle dealer or registered secondary metals recycler, whether it handles the HSMV 82137 for derelict cars, and how it pays. To have buyers come to you, request a quote for your car.

On pickup day, remove the plate, hand over the signed title or derelict form with a copy of your ID, and file the HSMV 82050 at your tax collector that week.

This is general information, not legal advice. Rules change; confirm with the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles or your county tax collector before you sell.

Sources

• FLHSMV: Selling a Vehicle (accessed October 2026)
• FLHSMV: HSMV 82137 Application for an Original/Duplicate Derelict Motor Vehicle Certificate (accessed October 2026)
• FLHSMV: HSMV 82101 Application for Duplicate or Lost in Transit/Reassignment (accessed October 2026)
• FLHSMV: Procedure TL-05, Duplicate and Lost in Transit Certificates of Title (accessed October 2026)
• FLHSMV: Procedure TL-11, Notice of Sale (accessed October 2026)
• FLHSMV: Procedure RS-43, Surrender of a License Plate by Owner (accessed October 2026)
• FLHSMV: Schedule of Title and Lien Fees (accessed October 2026)
• Florida Legislature: Section 319.30, Florida Statutes (accessed October 2026)
• Florida Department of State: Laws of Florida, Chapter 2023-114 (accessed October 2026)