Ten minutes of prep makes the pickup quick and keeps the offer where it was quoted. Here’s the list.
Take out
- Everything personal. Glove box, center console, door pockets, under the seats, the trunk and the spare-tire well. Look for old registration cards, receipts with your address, sunglasses and spare keys.
- Garage-door openers and toll transponders. An I-PASS or E-ZPass transponder left in a scrapped car is still tied to your account.
- Anything with your data. Paper records with your address, and any phone or tablet mounts with a device still in them.
- Items you’d rather sell yourself, if they come off easily: a roof rack, a trailer hitch you can reuse, aftermarket floor mats. Tell us if anything bigger comes off.
Take off
- The license plates. They’re yours in Illinois, not the car’s. The after-the-sale checklist covers what to do with them.
Leave on
- The parts. Engine, transmission, wheels, battery and especially the catalytic converter. A complete car is worth more scrap than a stripped one, and the offer was based on what you described.
- The fluids. Draining is part of processing. Siphoning fuel at home is a fire risk, and there’s no reason to do it.
Have ready
- The title, unsigned until the driver is there.
- A driver’s license or state ID, plus a second form of ID.
- The keys, if you have them. No keys is fine; just say so.
The Illinois scrap paperwork guide explains why those two IDs and the title matter, and what to do if one is missing.
Clear the way
- Make room behind or in front of the car. Move the other car out of the driveway, or out of the spot next to it in a lot.
- For apartments, condos and shops, let the manager or office know a tow truck is coming, and check whether a gate code or a key is needed.
- For a street pickup, keep in mind the village’s parking rules. Many towns around Crestwood ban street parking overnight, and some limit parking during and after snow. Our inoperable car rules guide lists them by town.
- Tell us what’s unusual: flat tires, a locked steering wheel, a car parked nose-in against a wall, a steep driveway.
On the day
Be there, or have someone there who can sign and accept payment. The driver checks the car against what you described, you sign the title, and you’re paid in cash, by Zelle or by Cash App. The whole thing is described on the scrap car removal page.