Sell a car that doesn't run

A car that doesn’t run is still worth something, and you don’t have to fix it to sell it. Dead battery, seized engine, slipped transmission, flooded electrics, or an old sedan nobody remembers starting: we buy all of them and tow them away free.

What to tell us before we come

The offer and the pickup both go smoother if you know a few things:

Question	Why it matters
Does it roll in neutral?	A car that rolls loads fast. Locked wheels or a parking brake that won’t release take more time.
Are all four wheels and tires on it?	Missing or flat tires change how the car is loaded, not whether we buy it.
Is the engine and transmission still in it?	A complete car weighs more and is worth more.
Do you have the keys?	Not required, but say so if they’re missing.
Where exactly is it parked?	Driveway, garage, street, alley or lot each need different access.
What papers do you have?	Illinois rules decide which papers work. See selling without a title.

Why a dead car shouldn’t wait

It is tempting to deal with it in spring. The south suburbs don’t always give you that long. Some examples from the codes we read:

• Lansing gives a nonoperating vehicle 10 days on private property.
• Sauk Village calls a car inoperable after 7 days without running, and a carport doesn’t count as hiding it.
• Glenwood bans any inoperable vehicle on private land not enclosed by a garage or carport, with a warning sticker and then a 72-hour clock.
• Chicago Heights allows only 48 hours.

Every town is in our inoperable vehicle rules article. Winter adds snow-route and odd-even parking rules that a dead battery makes impossible to follow; see snow rules for a dead car.

Repair versus junk

If the repair costs more than the car would be worth running, selling usually wins. One Cook County example is repeated emissions failures: you can’t renew the plates until it passes or gets a waiver, and the waiver requires a minimum repair spend first. Our failed emissions test article walks through that decision.

On pickup day

Have the title signed over or the agreed papers ready, two forms of ID, and the plates removed. The driver loads the car, you are paid by cash, Zelle or Cash App, and that is the end of it. Towing is free; see how free towing works.

Pickup towns

We work from Calumet City across the nearby suburbs and the Chicago neighborhoods next door, including Lansing, Thornton and Glenwood. If the car is also crash-damaged, see wrecked and totaled cars; if it’s past the point of being a car at all, see scrap cars.