Selling a junk car in Carbondale

The yard rule and the 10-day notice

The private-property ban in Section 17-3-3 is short: no person may leave an inoperable motor vehicle "upon any private property within the City limits." Section 17-3-5 then sets the deadline. The owner or bailee must dispose of it "within ten (10) days of having received notice" from the Building and Neighborhood Services Manager, the Chief of Police, or someone they designate.

Notice is mailed to the last owner shown in Secretary of State records, at that address. Its wording cautions that the car "will be towed at the direction of the City and at the owner's expense" once the 10 days run out, and it names the destination lot along with a rough towing and storage fee. When a car has no plate, or the letter cannot be delivered, a sign at least 7 by 9 inches goes on the windshield. Two neighboring sections use the same 10-day clock: 17-3-6 for abandoned vehicles and 17-3-7 for unlicensed ones.

Street parking, snow routes and getting a car back

Even a running car can be towed once it has been "parked on a street in excess of seventy two (72) hours," under Section 18-12-10. During a snow emergency, parking on any marked snow route is banned, and the owner is liable for the fines plus the cost of moving and storing the car.

To get a towed car released, you pay the removal and storage charges or post a bond, and "all outstanding parking tickets, for which the time period to contest has expired, have been paid in full."

Signing it over in Illinois

In Illinois the certificate of title carries the whole sale. On its Assignment of Title, you sign and date, the names of each seller and each buyer get printed and signed, and the odometer figure is certified. Nothing in the state's published seller steps calls for a notary. For a Carbondale sale, write down who bought the car and where they live, then make a bill of sale showing what they paid and when.

Your plates come off first, since they stay yours and the buyer cannot drive on them. Then mail the Springfield address on the form either the Notice of Sale stub torn from the title's bottom or a filled-in VSD 703. The form says to do it "immediately". That frees you from responsibility for the car but leaves ownership to the title. Illinois titles come from the state, handled in Springfield by mail or at Secretary of State facilities in person.

A car with nothing left but scrap value can go through a junking certificate. The application is due within 15 days, and a title free of any lienholder does not have to be surrendered with it. Jackson and Williamson counties sit outside the state's emissions-test areas.

Southern Illinois neighbors

Carbondale is far from our other Illinois pages. Measured in straight lines, Belleville lies 68.9 miles off, O'Fallon 71.4 and Collinsville 78.5. The Illinois page has the statewide rules.

Getting an offer

Carbondale sellers can call (877) 421-6008 or start with the online form. Already holding a 10-day notice? Mention it, and read notice to remove a car.