Indiana bill of sale for a junk car
When you sell a titled junk car in Indiana, the signed title moves ownership and a bill of sale is your receipt for the deal. It's worth writing one anyway. It can't stand in for a missing title, though: Indiana needs the title or a BMV certificate of authority for a junk car sale. Here's what to put on it.
By Cash for Junk Cars NWI. Updated .
Do you need a bill of sale to junk a car in Indiana?
For a car with an Indiana title, the signed title is what transfers ownership; a bill of sale is a written receipt that records the date, price, vehicle and both parties. Keep one anyway. Without a title, a bill of sale alone is not enough in Indiana: the sale needs the title or a BMV certificate of authority.
What a bill of sale does, and what it doesn’t
Indiana moves ownership of a titled car one way: the seller assigns the title to the buyer. Indiana Code 9-17-3-3.4 spells it out. The seller endorses the certificate of title “with warranty of title,” states any liens, delivers the title at the time of sale, and fills in the buyer’s name and address and the sale price.
Nothing in that list is a bill of sale. So for a normal sale of a titled car, the bill of sale is a receipt. A good one, and one we’d always keep, but a receipt.
Where it shows up in Indiana law is at the other end, when a title is applied for. The Code lists “a sworn bill of sale or dealer’s invoice fully describing the vehicle” among the documents that go with some first-time title applications (IC 9-17-2-4(c)). That’s the buyer’s paperwork, not yours as the seller of a junk car.
Why write one anyway
Because a year from now nobody remembers anything. A one-page bill of sale settles:
- When the car left you. Useful if a parking ticket or a toll bill turns up for a car you no longer own.
- What you were paid. Your own record, in writing.
- Which car it was. The VIN ties the paper to the vehicle, not just “the old Malibu.”
- That it was sold as-is. A junk car is sold in the state it’s in. Say so.
What to put on it
This is a practical checklist, not an official Indiana form:
| Field | What to write |
|---|---|
| Date of sale | The day the car is picked up |
| Seller | Full name and address of every owner on the title |
| Buyer | The buyer’s name, as it will appear on the title |
| Vehicle | Year, make, model, color |
| VIN | All 17 characters, copied from the title or the dashboard plate |
| Odometer | The reading on the day, or “not working” if the gauge is dead |
| Price | The amount paid |
| Condition | “Sold as-is, with no warranty of condition” |
| Signatures | Seller and buyer, with the date |
Copy the VIN from the title if you have it, and check it against the car. A single wrong character makes the paper point at a different vehicle.
When there’s no title
The title matters more than any bill of sale here. In Indiana a junk car changes hands on one of two papers. One is the title; if yours is lost, the BMV issues a duplicate for $15. The other is a BMV certificate of authority, which costs $4 and is applied for with proof the car belongs to you, your current registration for example. If the car is less than 15 model years old, Indiana law requires one of the two. Let us know which papers you do have, whether that’s a bill of sale, a registration or an insurance card, and on the call we’ll work out which route suits your car. A bill of sale doesn’t replace either paper, but if you bought the car with one and never titled it, dig it out and tell us.
An owner whose title is “faulty, lost, or destroyed” may apply for authority to sell the vehicle to an automotive salvage recycler for scrap metal (IC 9-22-5-2). A recycler may buy a vehicle without a title only when it is at least 15 model years old and the seller presents a certificate of authority (IC 9-32-9-29(a)), and buying one less than 15 model years old without a title or a certificate of authority is a Level 6 felony for the recycler (IC 9-32-9-29(d)). Our how to junk a car in Indiana guide puts that route in context.
The title still comes first
If you do have the title, sign it over properly. Every owner signs and prints their name in the seller section, and you fill in the odometer statement, date, price and the buyer’s details, following the Indiana BMV’s seller instructions. The line-by-line version is in signing over an Indiana title. The bill of sale rides along with it.
Selling a junk car in north Lake County
Cash for Junk Cars NWI is a Northwest Indiana junk car buyer covering North, Calumet, Ross and Hobart townships. If you’re selling to us, have the title ready, or tell us on the form that you don’t have one. The tow is free and you’re paid at pickup. See how a Northwest Indiana junk car buyer like us handles the rest.
Sources: Indiana Code 9-17-3-3.4, 9-17-2-4, 9-22-5-2 and 9-32-9-29 (current as of January 1, 2026); Indiana BMV, "I'm selling a vehicle. What do I need to fill out the title?". Read September 30, 2026. General information, not legal advice.
Quick answers
- Can a bill of sale be handwritten in Indiana?
- We haven't found an Indiana Code section that answers this directly, so we won't guess. For a sale that also has a signed title, the title does the legal work. If the bill of sale matters for a BMV application, check with the Indiana BMV first.
- Does an Indiana bill of sale need to be notarized?
- Same answer: we couldn't confirm a rule for private junk car sales, so ask the Indiana BMV if your case depends on it. Signing in front of a notary never hurts.
- Can a bill of sale replace a lost title?
- No. Ownership passes by assigning the title (IC 9-17-3-3.4), and a junk car sale without the title needs a BMV certificate of authority instead (IC 9-22-5-2, IC 9-32-9-29). Still tell us you have a bill of sale; we'll say on the call which route suits your car.
Selling the car, not just reading about it?
Two short steps on the form. Free towing in north Lake County, and you're paid at pickup.