Selling a dead car in New Lenox

What the 30-day rule leaves out

The article does not reach every dead car. Section 90-316 says it "shall not apply to a vehicle in an enclosed building," to one at a business where keeping it is part of lawful operations, or to one in a storage place kept by the village. A car behind a closed garage door is outside it. A car on the driveway, in the side yard or under a tarp is not.

Zero days on the street

Public streets get no grace period at all. Section 90-315 says "No person shall leave any partially dismantled, nonoperating, wrecked or junked vehicle on any street or highway within the village." The only exception is a place the village has set aside for dumping and disposing of garbage. Separately, under Section 90-154 police can tow any illegally parked car that creates a traffic hazard or blocks a fire hydrant, and the owner pays the cost of removal and storage to get it back.

The ten-day notice, and police on your land

Under Section 90-317, the chief of police can remove a car that seems to violate the article, or seems "lost, stolen or unclaimed." The chief first has to give written notice of the plan to impound, and it lasts ten days from its date. The code names ways to deliver it, such as attaching it to the car or mailing it to the owner's last known address.

The same section also opens private land to the chief. He "may enter upon private property at all reasonable hours for the purpose of inspecting such vehicle, posting notice thereon, and removing and impounding such vehicle," and it is unlawful to stop him or get in the way. The car then stays impounded "until lawfully claimed or disposed of in accordance with 625 ILCS 5/4-203 et seq."

Section 90-318 adds the bill. The owner is charged "a sufficient fee to cover the expenses of impounding and enforcement," and that fee "must be paid prior to the release of the vehicle so impounded."

Will County and the state's rules

Will County sits inside Illinois's emissions-test area. Titles, though, skip the county entirely. The Illinois Secretary of State issues them. In New Lenox you can apply by mail to Springfield or walk into a Secretary of State office.

For a regular sale:

• On a New Lenox sale, sign the title's Assignment of Title part and add the date. The state's instructions for sellers don't call for a notary.
• Both parties print and sign, and the odometer line gets filled in.
• Hand the buyer a dated receipt with the price, and note their name and address.
• The plates stay with you; a buyer may not drive on them.
• Send the Secretary of State your New Lenox Notice of Sale or a VSD 703 "immediately." After that the car is off your hands. Ownership passes when the buyer applies for a title.

A car bound for the crusher follows a different track. Instead of a new title, Illinois issues a junking certificate. The title goes in with the application inside 15 days, except that it can stay with the owner when no lien is recorded. Any New Lenox owner may get a junking certificate. A salvage certificate works another way. It can only go to licensed rebuilders, recyclers or scrap processors, or to salvage buyers from out of state. Our after you sell page lists the last steps.

Getting an offer

Selling a car in New Lenox? Call (877) 421-6008 or fill in the offer form. New Lenox pickups happen at driveways, body shop lots, or spots near Route 30. Frankfort is about 5.1 miles away, Lockport 6.4, Homer Glen 6.6 and Joliet 9.2. For statewide rules, see Illinois.