Cash for Junk Cars in Vermont | Free Towing Statewide
1-800-We-Junk-Cars buys junk, damaged, and non-running vehicles throughout Vermont. We serve Burlington, South Burlington, Rutland, Montpelier, and every town from the Champlain Valley to the Northeast Kingdom. Free towing, same-day or next-day pickup, cash on the spot. Flood damage, blown engine, rusted out? We’ll make you a fair offer and haul it away at no cost.
How Selling Your Junk Car Works in Vermont
Get Your Quote
Call us or fill out the online form with your vehicle’s year, make, model, and condition. Vermont winters mean we see plenty of rust damage and salt corrosion. That’s fine. We’ll give you an honest cash offer within minutes based on current market values and your car’s specifics.
Schedule Free Pickup
Accept the offer and we’ll arrange pickup at your Vermont location. Downtown Burlington, rural Addison County, up in the Northeast Kingdom—doesn’t matter. We offer same-day or next-day pickup in most areas. Our tow trucks handle snowy driveways and muddy back roads without extra charges.
Get Paid Cash
Our driver arrives, checks that the vehicle matches your description, and handles the paperwork. You sign over the title, hand over the keys, and get cash right there. The whole thing takes under thirty minutes. No waiting for checks to clear.
What Is Your Vermont Junk Car Worth?
Vermont junk cars typically sell for $150 to $800, with complete vehicles in salvageable condition reaching $1,500 or more. Your car’s value depends on weight, age, make and model, current condition, and whether it runs. Vermont sits in the rust belt, so vehicles with extensive frame rust or rotted floor pans bring less than southern cars with intact bodies. That said, demand for used parts stays strong in New England, especially for common models like Toyota Camrys, Honda Civics, and domestic trucks. Working catalytic converters, transmissions, and engines add real value to any offer.
Scrap steel prices set the baseline value for any junk vehicle. When steel prices rise, so do junk car offers across Vermont. A typical sedan contains roughly 2,400 pounds of recyclable steel, while full-size trucks and SUVs yield more. The live scrap price tracker below shows current market rates. Keep in mind that our offers include free towing. Some yards quote higher prices but deduct $75-150 for pickup, leaving you with less actual cash.
Vermont Junk Car Laws and Title Requirements
Last reviewed 2026-10-05 against Vermont state sources. Fees and forms change; the official links below are authoritative.
| Who issues titles | Vermont DMV only; no county title offices. Filed at any of ten DMV offices, by mail to Montpelier, or online. source |
|---|---|
| Duplicate title form and fee | Form VT-004, Replacement Title Application, rev. 08/2024. $42.00 under 23 V.S.A. 2002(a)(5). source |
| Can you sell without a title? | Yes if model year 2009 or older, registered in Vermont in your name, and no ownership change since January 1, 2024. source |
| Notary required? | No. VT-004 and the title assignment are perjury declarations. Only VT-025, Affidavit of Non-Titled Vehicle, needs a notary. source |
| Odometer disclosure required | Yes for self-propelled vehicles of model year 2011 or newer at 16,000 lbs. or less. Statement is on VT-005. source |
| Who keeps the license plates | The seller. DMV: "If you are selling your car, do NOT leave your plates on the car." Returning them is optional. source |
| Deadline to report the sale | Vermont has no release-of-liability form. Title paperwork over 10 days late to the Commissioner costs a penalty equal to the fee. source |
| Abandoned / inoperable vehicle statute | 23 V.S.A. 2151-2158. 48 hours without consent while plate and VIN are intact; immediately if not, or on a police tow request. source |
| Salvage or junk title trigger | 23 V.S.A. 2091: apply within 15 days of salvage, scrapping or total loss. Vehicles over 15 years old exempt. source |
| Catalytic converter sale limits | 9 V.S.A. 3022(a)(1): one used detached converter per day from anyone who is not a vehicle recycler or repair shop. source |
Who Titles a Vehicle in Vermont
Vermont has no county title office, and town clerks handle registration renewals only. Every certificate of title comes from the DMV at 120 State Street in Montpelier, but mailing it there is not the only route. Form VT-004 can be brought to any of the ten DMV offices, South Burlington included, mailed in, or ordered at mydmv.vermont.gov when the last issued title carried no lien. If you hold a title, 23 V.S.A. § 2023(a) sets the seller’s steps: execute the assignment and warranty of title at delivery, enter the odometer reading in the space provided on the certificate, and get both to the buyer or the Commissioner. The buyer files VD-119, the Registration Tax & Title Application, and § 2002(a)(1) prices a title at $42.00, with a penalty equal to the fee if the paperwork lands more than 10 days late.
The 2009 Model-Year Cutoff Replaced the Old Age Rule
Vermont used to title only vehicles 15 years old or newer at registration. Act 41 of 2023 ended that rolling rule; Act 165 of 2024 wrote the exemption now in force. Under 23 V.S.A. § 2012(10) it covers a vehicle more than 15 years old on January 1, 2024 that was registered in Vermont and has not changed owners since. The DMV puts it plainly: a 2009 or older vehicle registered in your name does not have to be titled, and the registration certificate is the ownership document. Pair it with form VT-005. The date is fixed, so no new model year joins the exempt pool each January. Where NMVTIS shows no title and no registration record, the route is form VT-025, the Affidavit of Non-Titled Vehicle, signed before a notary and filed with form VT-010 and a bill of sale showing the full chain of ownership.
Replacing a Lost Vermont Title
Form VT-004, revision 08/2024, carries a $42.00 charge set by 23 V.S.A. § 2002(a)(5). No notary block is printed on it. The signature block is a perjury declaration under 23 V.S.A. § 202 and § 4110, and instruction 3 requires every owner named on the title to sign. 23 V.S.A. § 2022 puts the right to apply with the first lienholder ahead of the owner, so an open loan means the lender files and receives the replacement. A paid-off loan never cleared from the record takes form VT-008, Lien Release, or the same details on lender letterhead.
Salvage, Totaled and Crushed Vehicles
23 V.S.A. § 2091 sets a 15-day window to apply for a salvage certificate of title after anyone acquires a vehicle as salvage, scraps or dismantles it, or an insurer declares it a total loss. The application is form VT-017. Two exclusions matter: vehicles more than 15 years old, and vehicles that never needed a title. Subsection (d) makes whoever crushes the car send the Commissioner the title endorsed "crushed" with the original VIN plate, which stays on until the crushing. Section 2093(b) makes a seller disclose salvaged, rebuilt or totaled status both out loud and in writing.
Abandoned and Junk Vehicles on Vermont Property
State law sits at 23 V.S.A. §§ 2151–2158. A vehicle is abandoned after 48 hours on property without the consent of whoever controls it, so long as the plate and public VIN are intact — or at once, for any period, if the plate is gone, the public VIN has been removed, destroyed or altered, or an officer has asked a towing business to take it. The landowner files the certification, form VN-012, and § 2153(a) allows 90 days from discovery or relocation. 24 V.S.A. § 2241 separately treats a vehicle left unregistered or uninspected for 90 days as a junk motor vehicle, and four of them as an automobile graveyard. Town rules run faster: Burlington allows five days, and Rutland allows exactly one currently uninspected vehicle per property.
Official Vermont sources
- Vermont DMV — Vehicle Title
- Vermont DMV — Lost or Replacement Title
- VT-004 Replacement Title Application (PDF)
- VT-005 Bill of Sale and Odometer Disclosure Statement (PDF)
- 23 V.S.A. § 2091. Salvage certificates of title; forwarding of plates and titles of crushed vehicles
- Vermont DEC — Permitted Salvage Yards Vermont
Cities We Buy Junk Cars in Vermont
Vermont has 14 counties and we send trucks into all of them. The Champlain Valley carries the heaviest volume, with Burlington, South Burlington and Essex Junction feeding off I-89 and US 7. Follow US 7 south through Addison County and it becomes the spine for Rutland and on down to Bennington. Interstate 91 and the Connecticut River Valley cover the eastern edge, from Brattleboro up through White River Junction to St. Johnsbury, while I-89 ties Montpelier and Barre back toward the lake. We also work the Northeast Kingdom and the hill towns off the numbered routes, where the car is usually behind a barn rather than in a driveway.
One Vermont fact shapes the tow more than any other. The Department of Environmental Conservation’s registry of permitted salvage yards lists 47 facilities, and they sit in only 12 of the 14 counties. Grand Isle County and Essex County have none, so a vehicle in Alburgh or Island Pond crosses a county line before anything can legally happen to it. Only 21 of those 47 hold a permit to crush or shred vehicles, and those 21 sit in just nine counties, with none in Lamoille, Windham or Windsor. A car in Brattleboro or Morrisville therefore starts its last trip by leaving the county it died in.
🏙️ South Burlington
🏙️ Rutland
Don’t see your city? We serve all of Vermont. Call 1-800-935-8652 to confirm pickup at your location.
Frequently Asked Questions — Selling a Junk Car in Vermont
Is my 2009 exempt from Vermont's title requirement?
Yes, if two extra conditions hold. 23 V.S.A. 2012(10) exempts a vehicle that was more than 15 years old on January 1, 2024 only where it was registered in Vermont and has not changed owners since that date. The DMV's plain version is that a 2009 or older vehicle registered in your name needs no title, so you hand over the registration certificate plus a signed VT-005 bill of sale. A 2009 you bought out of state last year does not qualify.
Do I have to notify the Vermont DMV that I sold my car?
Not as a legal requirement, and there is no paper form. Vermont publishes no notice-of-transfer or release-of-liability form on its forms index. You can optionally log into mydmv.vermont.gov and use the Mark Vehicle Sold action. Under 23 V.S.A. 2023(d) an owner who has delivered the vehicle and complied with sections 2023 and 2026 is not liable as owner for its later operation. The deadline that does exist runs the other way: 23 V.S.A. 2002(b) penalizes a required document that arrives more than 10 days late.
What happens to my Vermont plates when the tow truck takes the car?
You keep them, and the DMV is blunt about it: if you are selling your car, do not leave your plates on the car. Vermont does not require you to mail plates back, though you may. To cancel the registration or ask for a refund, send form VD-170, the Registration and Plate Cancelation Request, to the DMV in Montpelier with either the plates or the registration certificate.
Does a junk car need a salvage title before it can be scrapped in Vermont?
Usually not, because of an age carve-out. 23 V.S.A. 2091 requires a salvage certificate of title within 15 days when a person acquires a vehicle as salvage, scraps it, dismantles it, or an insurer declares it a total loss. The same subsection excepts vehicles more than 15 years old and vehicles that never required a title. Newer wrecks and insurance total losses still go through it, on form VT-017, at $42.00.
Can I cut the catalytic converter off and sell it separately?
You can sell one, not a stack. Under 9 V.S.A. 3022(a), a Vermont scrap metal processor may not buy more than one used and detached catalytic converter per day from anyone who is not a motor vehicle recycler or repair shop. Carrying two or more at once is barred unless each is permanently marked with the VIN of the vehicle it came from and you hold proof of lawful ownership.
Will you come out to the Islands or deep into the Northeast Kingdom?
Yes, and the mileage is ours. Vermont's Agency of Natural Resources registry of permitted salvage yards shows no permitted facility at all in Grand Isle County or Essex County, so a car in Alburgh or Island Pond has to leave the county before it can be processed. We build that haul into the quote rather than deducting it at pickup. Tell us the town and whether a flatbed can reach the car, and we will tell you the day.