Selling a dead or junk car in Normal

What Normal can do about a dead car

Our search came up empty on Normal's own vehicle ordinances. State law fills the gap on this page, and Normal could well have rules that go further.

Under 65 ILCS 5/11-40-3, each municipality decides for itself whether to pass an ordinance that makes inoperable cars a nuisance when the general public can see them, on public or private property. Such an ordinance can carry fines, and police may remove the car 7 days after the town gives notice. If Normal has one, the date on its notice is your deadline.

Before the buyer pulls away

Illinois puts the seller's work on the title itself, with no separate seller transfer form.

• The title is the transfer. Complete the Assignment of Title area with your signature and the date, and see that every seller and buyer has printed and signed. Fill in the odometer certification. Notarizing is not among the seller steps the Secretary of State publishes.
• Plates stay yours. The buyer has no right to drive on them.
• Record who bought it. A Normal seller keeps the buyer's name and home address, and the bill of sale shows the sale date and what was paid. Our bill of sale guide walks through it.
• Send the Notice of Sale. Use the stub on the bottom of the title, or VSD 703 if there isn't one. Normal sellers mail it to the Springfield address printed on the form, for the Record Inquiry Division. The form says "immediately". Your responsibility for the car ends with it; ownership does not move with it.

From there, the buyer has 20 days and a $165 title fee to get the car into their name. Illinois issues titles at the state level, by mail through Springfield or at Secretary of State counters, and we have not checked a particular counter near Normal.

No title, or a car headed for scrap

A lost title is replaced with VSD 190 for $50. A Normal owner with a scrap-only car applies for a junking certificate within 15 days. With no lienholder on the title, the title can be kept out of the application. A junking certificate may be assigned to any person.

No emissions test applies in McLean County, so none stands between you and a sale.

Bloomington and beyond

Bloomington sits 3.3 miles away. Straight-line distances run 30.7 miles to East Peoria, 33.3 to Pekin and 36.5 to Peoria. Illinois has the statewide picture.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or use the form. Share the model and year, what the odometer says, if it runs even a little, and which title papers you have. For a car that won't even crank, see non-running car.