Selling a junk car in Glen Ellyn

The 24-hour and 12-hour rule

The rule reaches "any partially dismantled nonoperating, wrecked, junked, derelict, unregistered or discarded vehicle." Owners, tenants and anyone else who controls the property are covered. The limits are "longer than 24 hours" on your own lot and "longer than 12 hours" elsewhere in the village. Cars inside an enclosed building are exempt, and the section names other exceptions as well.

Notice the word "unregistered." In Glen Ellyn, a car with lapsed registration can be caught by this rule even if it drives fine.

Streets and the downtown lots

Section 7-8-2 bars leaving "any partially dismantled, nonoperating, wrecked, junked or discarded vehicle on any street or highway." It also bars leaving a car anywhere long enough that it "would reasonably cause it to appear that such vehicle was abandoned."

Commuter lots are no place to park a dead car either. Section 9-3-5 also closes the Duane and Lorraine facility to all parking for a stretch in the middle of every night.

Notice, then seven days

When a car appears to break these rules, Section 7-8-4 says police affix a notice of violation to it. Seven days after that date, they are authorized to remove it. It then stays impounded "until lawfully claimed or disposed of" under the state's abandoned-vehicle law. A notice on the windshield is the time to act. Notice to remove a car covers your choices.

A different rule applies when police seize a car after an arrest, for example for driving on a suspended or revoked license. Section 9-6-2 adds a $300 administrative and public safety fee. It is "separate and distinct from" any fine and from what the private tow company charges for towing and storage. For getting a car out, see towed or impounded.

Selling it from Glen Ellyn: title and plates

The Secretary of State in Springfield issues Illinois titles. DuPage County does not. Here is what a seller does:

1. Sign the Assignment of Title, print your name, add today's date, and write in the odometer reading. There is no notary on the state's list of seller steps.
2. Unbolt the plates and keep them. Illinois treats driving on another person's plates as illegal.
3. Write down who the Glen Ellyn buyer is and where they live, and put the date and amount on a simple bill of sale.
4. Mail the Notice of Sale (the stub along the title's bottom edge, or VSD 703) right away to the Record Inquiry Division in Springfield. The form shows where to send it.

You can get a lost title replaced on form VSD 190 for $50. Scrap-bound cars usually leave on a junking certificate, and Illinois lets any person take one of those. Salvage certificates are narrower, open only to licensed rebuilders, recyclers and scrap processors.

DuPage County falls inside the state's emissions testing area.

Getting an offer

Got a car to sell in Glen Ellyn? Phone (877) 421-6008 or use the form. Collection can be from a side street off Main, a garage by the Civic Center, or a driveway in Wheaton, 2.4 miles off as the crow flies. State-level rules are on the Illinois page.