Selling a dead or junk car in Belvidere

When Belvidere calls a car inoperable

Section 110-421 sets a seven-day test. A car counts as inoperable when, "for a period of at least seven days," its engine, wheels, steering or other essential parts are gone or broken badly enough that the car cannot move on its own motor. Lacking a current license also qualifies.

Three kinds of car are left out:

• a licensed car that is down for ordinary service or repair, "but not longer than 48 hours"
• a car stored in a licensed commercial garage or storage yard
• a car kept inside "a fully enclosed garage or storage building"

The zoning code is blunter still. Section 150.204 says "Storage of abandoned, unlicensed, or inoperable vehicles is prohibited," and it treats a lot holding two or more unlicensed or inoperative vehicles as a salvage operation.

The seven-day notice

Before a tow, Section 110-427 has the police send a municipal notice to the owner or occupier of the property. It can go by plain mail, certified or registered mail, or by hand. "After seven days from the issuance of said municipal notice," a car still there goes to a storage area. To get it back, the property owner or the car's owner pays "reasonable charges for towing and storage."

The city's code enforcement officer can enforce this part of the code, though Section 1-14 keeps the rest of the traffic chapter with the police.

Streets and snow days

No car may sit on a Belvidere street for "longer than 24 consecutive hours" (Section 110-191). In a snow emergency, Section 110-195 bans parking on any public road or public lot until that stretch is fully plowed. Cars left there can be towed "without notice to or consent of the owner," and the chief of police sets the tow charge, capped at $65 per tow. City lots close in a snow emergency too, except lot #5 by Main Street, Pleasant Street and Whitney Boulevard, which must be empty within four hours after the emergency ends.

Title and plates from Boone County

Boone County does not issue titles. Illinois handles them through its Secretary of State, either by mail to the Vehicle Records Processing Division in Springfield or across the counter at one of its facilities. The seller's side of a Belvidere sale:

1. When the car changes hands, complete the Assignment of Title section on your certificate. The state FAQ asks for the signed and the printed name of each seller and each buyer, along with the odometer figure. There is no notary step among the state's seller instructions.
2. Unscrew the plates and keep them. Illinois plates stay with the seller, and a buyer may not drive on yours.
3. Send in the Notice of Sale. It is the stub along the lower edge of the title; a title without one can use form VSD 703. The form says "immediately" and gives the address: "Secretary of State, Vehicle Services Department, Record Inquiry Division, 501 S. Second St., Room 629, Springfield, IL 62756."
4. Put the sale on paper: a short receipt with the day of sale, the amount, and who bought it, with their address.

Belvidere title gone missing? A new one comes through Form VSD 190 for $50. More at junk car with no title. Boone County is not an emissions county, so a smog test never enters a Belvidere sale.

Nearby

Straight-line distances from Belvidere: Loves Park 7.6 miles, Rockford 9.0, Machesney Park 9.9. Statewide rules are on the Illinois page.

Getting an offer

Reach us online or at (877) 421-6008. Expect questions on the model, the miles, whether the engine cranks, and the title holder. In Belvidere we can load it from the yard beside that second unlicensed car, a rented garage, or a shop lot off State Street.