Selling a dead or inoperable car in Moline

Two clocks on the public way

The ten-hour rule sits alongside a looser one. Section 20-7502 allows a vehicle on the right-of-way during a breakdown, "provided, however, the disabled vehicle shall be moved within forty-eight (48) hours." Read together, a car that is plainly dead can be towed after ten hours even though a breakdown in general gets 48. A car police find abandoned on public property can go "immediately upon a determination of abandonment."

After a tow, the registered owner is charged with "all towing, storage, advertising, disposal and related costs." Within 96 hours, the officer who started the tow must file a complaint against the registered owner. The only exception is when a stolen vehicle report was filed before the tow.

On your own property

Moving the car to the driveway helps only if nobody can see it. Section 21-1100 lists as a nuisance "to allow, cause or permit an abandoned or inoperable vehicle" defined elsewhere in the code "to be present and open to the view of the public." The code provides for a notice offering a pre-tow hearing. If the car isn't removed within seven days of the first notice, a notice also goes to the registered owner when that owner does not live at or own the property.

Storage yards are not a way around it either. Section 35-3410 says contractor and equipment yards "do not include the storage of inoperative vehicles."

Snow routes

Once 2 or more inches of snow have fallen, the Mayor may declare a Snow Emergency under Section 20-5201. After that, parking or leaving a vehicle on a Snow Route is unlawful. Section 20-5202 says the public learns of it through the local media. A car that won't start is stuck on the route.

What happens to an older towed car

Under Section 20-7410, an abandoned car "of more than seven (7) years of age" stays in city custody for at least ten days while the owner is sought. If no disposition word comes back, "the chief of police will authorize the disposal of the vehicle as junk only."

Title and plates for a Moline sale

Rock Island County doesn't issue titles. You apply with the Illinois Secretary of State. Mail it to Springfield or bring it to one of its facilities.

At the sale, the title's Assignment of Title area gets your signature and the date. Illinois has no separate seller form and lists no notary in its seller steps. In Moline, record who the buyer is and their address, show the price and date on a bill of sale, and hang on to your plates. The buyer isn't allowed to use them. After the Moline sale, get form VSD 703, the Seller's Report of Sale, in the mail to the Secretary of State soon.

No title? Illinois issues a $50 duplicate through form VSD 190, and only the Illinois owner can apply. Rock Island County is outside the emissions area, so no test is due.

Quad Cities neighbors

Rock Island lies 4.8 straight-line miles from Moline, and East Moline 6.0. Galesburg is 37.3. See Illinois for the statewide rules.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or use the online form for your Moline car. We load from side streets, driveways and repair shops.