Selling a dead or junk car in Springfield

What the city means by inoperable

Springfield's building code uses a seven-day test. A car is inoperable when, "for a period of at least seven days," wheels or other parts are off, or the engine, wheels or parts are so damaged the car will not move by its own motor. The nuisance rule reaches past cars: it covers trailers, all-terrain vehicles, golf carts and boats as well.

Four kinds of car are left out of the definition in Section 170.10.03:

• a car down for a short stretch of ordinary service or repairs
• any car inside an enclosed building
• "an operable historic vehicle over 25 years of age"
• cars parked at a wrecking or junking business

So a running classic in the driveway is fine. A dead daily driver beside it is not. The 30-day presumption can be rebutted, but it is the owner who has to show the car runs. If the nuisance is not fixed in time, the code lets the Springfield Police Department remove the car.

Keep several dead cars on one lot for good and the zoning code has a name for it. Section 155.001 says a property used as "a permanent storage place" for inoperable or junk cars is "dead storage" and "shall be deemed an automobile grave yard or junk yard."

A dead car on the street

Section 79.29 caps street storage for most vehicles, on public streets and city-owned land alike: "seven consecutive days or more" is too long. The police mail a parking notice, and the car cannot be towed until seven days after that mailing.

An inoperable car gets one more step. A sticker goes "on the left side of the rear window," and it says the car must be gone from the street within seven days of the sticker or it may be towed. If you find that sticker, the clock is already running.

Snow emergency routes

Springfield names its snow routes in Section 79.30 and marks them with signs every 500 feet or less reading "SNOW EMERGENCY." Once the director of public works, the traffic engineer or the police chief declares an emergency, no car may park, stand or be left on those streets. A car left there "shall be considered a hazard and may be impounded and issued a citation."

Owners pay the towing, storage and administrative fees whether or not they heard about the emergency. The one way out the code gives: the spot was not properly marked as a snow route. Parking returns street by street once final plowing on that street is announced as done.

If the car was already towed

Section 76.42 lets the registered owner reclaim a towed car by paying the towing and storage fees plus an impoundment fee. Storage keeps adding up while a dead car sits in a lot, so the towed or impounded guide covers selling one straight out of impound.

The paperwork runs through this city

The Secretary of State runs Illinois titles, and the addresses you mail them to are right here in the capital. In Springfield, applicants may mail it to the Vehicle Records Processing Division or drop it off at a Secretary of State facility. There is no county title office anywhere in Illinois.

What a Springfield seller does at the hand-off:

1. The back of the title. The Assignment of Title printed on a Springfield certificate gets filled in by the seller. The state FAQ says federal and state law call for each seller's and buyer's name, signed and printed, and an odometer certification. A notary appears nowhere in the state's seller checklist.
2. The plates. Those are your property, and Illinois has them come off before the buyer pulls away. A buyer using another person's plates breaks the law.
3. The Notice of Sale. In Springfield, the seller tears off the bottom strip of the title (or uses form VSD 703 if it's gone) and mails it "immediately" to "Secretary of State, Vehicle Services Department, Record Inquiry Division, 501 S. Second St., Room 629, Springfield, IL 62756." Once it's filed you're no longer responsible for the car. It becomes the buyer's when they retitle.
4. A receipt. A basic bill of sale notes the day you sold, what was paid, and who bought it, with their address.

From there the buyer has a 20-day window to retitle in their own name, with a $165 title fee on their side. A missing title gets replaced by the owner on form VSD 190, Duplicate Title box ticked, for $50. Illinois will not issue one if an original came out in the last 15 days, or a duplicate in the last 30.

A car that will never drive again

Illinois has its own route for a junk vehicle. The owner applies for a junking certificate, after which Illinois never titles that car again. Under 625 ILCS 5/3-117.1 the title is surrendered within 15 days, but an owner with no lienholder does not have to surrender it. A Springfield car's junking certificate "may be assigned to anyone." A salvage certificate is different. In Springfield, the buyer has to be a licensed rebuilder, scrap processor, automotive parts recycler or out-of-state salvage buyer.

Two more things a long-parked Springfield car may raise. Sangamon County is not on the state list of emissions test areas, so a Springfield car carries no smog test into its sale. And if the registration lapsed while the car sat, state law charges one $20 delinquent fee, only when the renewal is more than a month late, with no stacked fees for past years.

Nearby

Decatur is 38 miles away as the crow flies, Pekin 53.7 and Bloomington 59.2. Statewide details live on the Illinois page.

Getting an offer

Selling a car in Springfield? Selling a Springfield car? Call (877) 421-6008 or send the form. We reach snow-route homes, city-sticker cars and mechanic lots near the Capitol.