Selling a dead or junk car in Hobart

Who pays when a car is abandoned

Indiana puts the bill on the owner. An abandoned vehicle's owner "is responsible for the abandonment" and pays for removal, storage and disposal. Storage charges are capped at $2,000.

There is one limit that helps owners. If a towing company or storage lot sells the abandoned car, the previous owner is not responsible for its storage fees. Still, a car you sell yourself avoids the tow, the yard and the question of who owes what.

A car stuck at a repair shop

Some dead cars never leave the repair shop. Indiana law gives a Hobart shop holding a mechanic's lien a way out. The Hobart shop can put the car up at public sale or auction if the owner or lienholder "does not appear within 20 days after notice is mailed." Got a shop notice? Respond to it. The car can come to us from the shop lot, and our missing parts guide covers a car already half taken apart.

No title: the Certificate of Authority

An owner whose title is "faulty, lost or destroyed" can ask the BMV for authority to sell, give away or scrap the car without getting a new title. The form is State Form 55018, with a $4.00 fee. Bring something showing the car is yours, like current registration or an insurance settlement. If there is a lien, add a release. A State Form 39530 inspection is needed only if the car has no VIN. An automotive salvage recycler may file it for the owner. More in junk car with no title.

Selling with the title in hand

The state BMV issues Indiana titles, not the county. Crown Point has a branch at 1244 North Main Street (888-692-6841). From central Hobart it's about 7 miles southwest, measured directly.

The BMV asks all owners to "sign and print their names in the seller section," and the seller to complete the odometer, date, price and purchaser lines. A Hobart buyer then handles the new title, registration and plate, with 45 days to apply.

Plates and emissions

Keep your plates. Take them off when the car goes, since the state has no return rule for sold plates, and you may put them on another car you own. For emissions, Hobart counts as Lake County, which IDEM tests along with Porter.

Nearby towns

Merrillville is about 3.6 miles from Hobart as the crow flies, Gary 6.5 and Portage 7.2. Statewide rules are on the Indiana page.

Getting an offer

Through the form or at (877) 421-6008, tell us what the car is, how many miles, whether it runs, which parts are gone, and whether you hold the title or need the Certificate of Authority. Pickup works behind a Center Street storefront, from a garage, or at a repair lot.