Selling a dead or junk car in Schererville

The tag and the $100 line

Section 6-158 runs on a 72-hour clock. An officer tags a car or parts believed to be abandoned. "If the tagged vehicle or parts are not removed within that seventy-two (72) hour period," the officer writes a report on its condition and missing parts.

Then comes a value test. In Schererville, a car the officer judges worth "less than one hundred dollars" falls under the rule that the officer "shall immediately dispose of the vehicle to an automobile scrapyard." At $100 or more, the officer looks for the owner first, and "After seventy-two (72) hours" it goes to a storage area by tow. A copy of the report and photos goes to the state bureau.

What counts as abandoned in town

Section 6-154 points to Indiana's definition and spells out two common cases. One is a car with "the engine, transmission, or differential" removed, or "otherwise partially dismantled or inoperable and left on public property." The other is a car towed at police request for another reason that is "not claimed or redeemed by the owner or his agent within fifteen days of its removal."

Street cars and the 30-day sale

Section 8-67 lets the Police Department remove any car "illegally parked or reasonably appearing to be abandoned" from a town street. It goes to a garage the Chief of Police picks. "If the car is not claimed within thirty (30) days, the vehicle shall be sold or disposed of pursuant to state law."

To claim it, Section 8-68 has the owner pay the towing and storage fees in Section 8-130 and present "a release from the Schererville Police Department." Within 72 hours of the tow, Section 6-159 has the department send the bureau a report and ask for the owner's latest address. See towed or impounded if your car is already there.

Title work at the BMV

Schererville owners get titles from the state, since Lake County doesn't issue them. Crown Point holds the closest branch we checked for Schererville: 1244 North Main Street (888-692-6841), about 6 miles southeast of town, measured straight.

The BMV has all owners "sign and print their names in the seller section," with the seller filling in the mileage, date, price and purchaser lines. No notary appears in those steps. A Schererville buyer then has 45 days to title the car.

Take the plates off your Schererville car. Indiana plates stay with a Schererville seller, who may move them to another car of theirs. Like the rest of Lake County, Schererville falls inside IDEM's emissions testing area.

Nearby

St. John is about 3.3 miles from Schererville as the crow flies, Highland 4.3 and Munster 5.3. Statewide rules are on the Indiana page, and junk car removal covers the haul itself.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or send the form: the car, its mileage, whether it starts, and whether a Schererville officer has already tagged it. We can load it up in a driveway, at an office lot, or on the street where it got tagged.