Selling a junk or dead car in Chicago

What makes a car hazardous and dilapidated

Section 9-4-010 gives two ways in. The first is a car "with a substantial number of essential parts" damaged, removed or altered until it can't drive on its own. The other is a car that "by its general state of deterioration, poses a threat to the public health, safety and welfare." Either one is enough.

Chicago's removal rule skips three kinds of cars: one "kept within a building when not in use," an inoperable historic vehicle over 25 years of age, and a car at a wrecking or junking business. Everything else in plain sight is fair game.

The costs fall on the last registered owner. "Each day a vehicle remains abandoned shall constitute a separate and distinct offense," and that owner is also liable for the towing and storage charges, the postage for notices, and the cost of collection. Owners of a towed car are entitled to notice of their right to a hearing on the tow and the charges.

Chicago's 18-day disposal rule

State law treats cities of more than 500,000 people differently. In Chicago, a vehicle that goes unclaimed 18 days after notice, with an extra first-class mailed notice, is disposed of under the municipal purchasing act to a licensed parts recycler, rebuilder or scrap processor. Unclaimed hazardous dilapidated cars follow the state disposal sections the city code points to. If your car is already at a pound, our towed or impounded guide covers getting it released.

In Chicago, a junk vehicle is a truck

The city code uses "junk vehicle" for something else entirely. It means a truck or other motor vehicle "used to collect, dispose of, or transport junk." The people who drive them are junk peddlers under Section 4-6-150, and they must hold a city license, list every vehicle they use, carry insurance, and paint their name, phone number and license number on the sides and rear in letters at least two inches tall. Section 8-4-240 also bars collecting junk by vehicle in public alleys overnight, everywhere outside the downtown area bounded by the Chicago River, Roosevelt Road and Lake Michigan. A dead sedan is not a junk vehicle in this sense, even though everyone calls it one.

Emissions in Cook and DuPage

Parts of Chicago sit in Cook County and parts in DuPage, and the Illinois emissions program covers both. Gasoline passenger cars built for model year 1996 or later come due once they reach four. Cars from even model years are tested in even calendar years and odd-year cars in odd ones, and the plate expiration picks the month. Starting January 1, 2026, a car that failed needs at least $1,176 in emissions repairs before a waiver application. Labor for diagnosis is not counted. For a car that will not pass and is not worth the repairs, see failed emissions.

The Illinois title and plates

Cook County doesn't issue titles. The Illinois Secretary of State does. Its Vehicle Records Processing Division in Springfield handles applications sent by post, and the agency's own facilities take them face to face. We have not checked a specific Chicago facility, so look one up on ilsos.gov.

What the seller does:

1. Unscrew the plates. You keep them. It's not legal for the buyer to drive on your plates.
2. Chicago sellers complete the "Assignment of Title" part of their certificate. Sign and date it, have every seller and buyer print and sign a name, and certify the odometer. No notary step appears in the Secretary of State's seller list.
3. A Chicago bill of sale should show the date of sale and price paid, plus who the buyer is and their home address.
4. The form says "immediately". Chicago sellers mail VSD 703 (or, instead, the title's own Notice of Sale stub) to "Secretary of State, Vehicle Services Department, Record Inquiry Division" in Springfield. It releases your responsibility, though the title alone moves ownership.

Retitling is on the buyer, within 20 days, with the $165 title fee and the tax form that applies.

A missing title or a scrap car

Form VSD 190 replaces a lost, stolen or mutilated title for $50. The state won't do it within 15 days of an original or 30 days of a prior duplicate. If an out-of-state buyer got an Illinois car with no title, only the Illinois owner can ask for the duplicate, not the buyer.

For a car that will never return to the road, the junking certificate is the route. The holder applies within 15 days, giving up the title unless no lienholder exists, and the car is not titled again. A junking certificate can go to anybody. Illinois law applies in Chicago. Four kinds of buyer can take a Chicago car with a salvage certificate. They are licensed scrap processors, licensed rebuilders, automotive parts recyclers and salvage buyers from out of state.

Nearby suburbs

Cicero is 3.9 miles away, measured in a straight line. Berwyn is 5.5, Oak Park 6.4, Burbank 7.7, Maywood 8.7 and Elmwood Park 9.0. The Illinois page has the statewide rules.

Getting an offer

Use (877) 421-6008 or the form to share the model, its year, the odometer number, if the engine turns over, and which title you have. We collect from garages, alley parking pads and curbs across the city. Our junk car removal page explains how pickup works.