Selling a car for scrap in Illinois takes less paper than selling one to a private buyer, but the rules are stricter about which paper. The reason is that Illinois puts the duty on the scrap buyer, and a buyer that follows the law will ask for exactly these things.
Bring these three things
Have these at the pickup:
- The title, signed by you at the pickup in the seller’s section.
- A driver’s license or state ID card.
- A second form of ID.
That’s it for most sales. The rest of this guide is for when one of those is missing.
What the statute says
625 ILCS 5/5-401.3(a)(2) covers a scrap processor buying a vehicle from someone who doesn’t hold a Vehicle Code dealer license, which is almost every private seller. The processor must “verify and record that person’s identity by recording the identification of such person from at least 2 sources of identification, one of which shall be a driver’s license or State Identification Card.” The seller must also provide documentary proof of ownership: a Certificate of Title, a Salvage Certificate, a Junking Certificate, a Secretary of State Junking Manifest, a Certificate of Purchase, or other similar documentary proof. Without one of those, the processor “shall not acquire” the vehicle.
Common situations
| Your situation | What usually happens | What to do before the pickup |
|---|---|---|
| Title in your name, in hand | Standard sale | Have two IDs ready; sign the title at pickup |
| Title lost or damaged | A duplicate title fixes it | File VSD 190 with the Secretary of State and pay the $50 fee |
| Title still shows a lender | The lien has to be cleared | Get a lien release letter from the lender |
| Registration card only | May or may not work for your car | Tell us on the call; we confirm before booking |
| Title in someone else’s name | That owner, or someone with legal authority, has to sign | Sort out who can sign first; we can go over it on the call |
| Car from another state | Out-of-state documents can count | Tell us the state and what papers you have |
Signing the title
Illinois law says the owner transferring a vehicle “shall execute to the transferee an assignment and warranty of title” on the certificate of title at delivery (625 ILCS 5/3-112(a)). In practice, sign the seller section when the driver is there, print your name the way it appears on the title, and fill in the odometer reading if the title asks for it.
A tip that saves people trouble: don’t pre-sign a title and leave it in the glove box “for whoever picks it up.” A signed, open title is an invitation for problems.
What people ask about that doesn’t apply
- The insurer’s affidavit. The Secretary of State’s form VSD 929, an affidavit in lieu of title for a salvage or junk vehicle, is limited to insurers under the Illinois Insurance Code who have paid a total-loss claim.
- “Old cars don’t need a title.” We haven’t found any Illinois rule that lets a scrap buyer take an older car without ownership documents, and the statute above says the opposite. Some other states have age rules; Illinois’s scrap statute doesn’t.
- The junking certificate. The owner of a junk vehicle can apply for one ($0 on the Secretary of State’s fee table), but you don’t need to when you sell to a scrap processor. The processor reports the title to the state with a Junk Vehicle Notification within 15 days.
Your jobs after the pickup
Your part isn’t quite done when the truck leaves. Keep your plates, file the Seller’s Report of Sale and sort out insurance. The checklist is in after you scrap your car, and what happens to the car itself is in what happens to a scrapped car. If the title is the sticking point, our page on scrapping a car without a title goes further.