How to sell a junk car with no title or no keys

Can you sell a junk car with no title or no keys?

You can sell a junk car without keys: we buy and tow cars with none, so mention it on the call and the truck comes ready. No title is a state question. Indiana needs the title or a BMV certificate of authority; Illinois law lists the ownership papers a scrap processor must collect, and we confirm yours on the call.

The two problems feel alike when you’re standing next to the car. They aren’t. Missing keys change how the car gets loaded. A missing title changes whether it can be sold at all, and the answer comes from statute, not from us. The full wording for both states sits in what Illinois and Indiana ask for; this page is the practical version.

No keys: what to tell us before the truck comes

A car that’s sat behind a garage through three winters may well have lost its keys somewhere along the way. That’s fine. We buy and tow cars without keys; telling us ahead just means the truck comes ready for it. The more you tell us up front, the smoother the pickup goes. Four details help most:

1. Whether the car is locked, and whether any door or the trunk opens.
2. Whether the wheels roll, or a flat tire or seized brake has them stuck.
3. Where it sits: street, driveway, garage, repair shop or an apartment or HOA lot, and how close a truck can get.
4. Whether it was left in park or in neutral, if you remember.

Keys and papers are separate questions. Having the keys doesn’t prove the car is yours, and losing them doesn’t stop a sale.

No title in Illinois

The two Illinois statutes on junk sales have no single “no title” rule. What they have is a list. Under 625 ILCS 5/5-401.3(a)(2), an owner who isn’t licensed under that chapter hands the scrap processor documentary proof of ownership as 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 of ownership.” The processor isn’t allowed to take the vehicle without one of them, and it records the seller’s identity from two sources, one being a driver’s license or state ID card.

The other statute, 625 ILCS 5/3-117.1, covers the junking certificate the person holding the car applies for within 15 days. Neither section sets an age past which no paper is needed.

What does “other similar documentary proof” cover? The statute doesn’t say. So tell us exactly which papers you have, even ones you doubt, and we confirm on the call whether your sale can go ahead. We’d rather say no on the phone than at the curb.

No title in Indiana: the certificate of authority

Indiana leaves less room. Every sale to a recycler needs one of two papers, whatever the car’s age: the title or a BMV certificate of authority (IC 9-22-5-18). The certificate is the BMV’s answer for owners whose title is lost, destroyed or faulty; its Special Titling Circumstances page describes it as authority to “sell, give away, or dispose of the vehicle for scrap metal without applying for a certificate of title.”

Age still matters for the buyer. Under IC 9-32-9-29, a recycler may buy without a title only when the car is at least 15 model years old and the seller presents the certificate of authority. A recycler that knowingly buys a car under 15 model years old with neither paper commits a Level 6 felony. So for a newer car in Hammond or Gary with no title and no certificate, there’s no sale until one of them turns up.

The application is State Form 55018, with a $4 fee, and the BMV also takes it online through myBMV. Our Indiana pickup page shows which towns across the state line we reach.

How to sell a junk car with no title, step by step

1. Search for any ownership paper first. Glovebox, filing cabinet, the envelope the lender mailed when the loan closed. A salvage certificate or certificate of purchase may be sitting in a drawer.
2. Replace a lost title if the car is in your name. A duplicate is often the cleanest fix. Indiana’s BMV charges $15, and the duplicate voids the original. An Illinois title is replaced by the Illinois Secretary of State.
3. In Indiana, apply for the certificate of authority if a duplicate isn’t an option. It’s the one paper Indiana accepts in place of the title.
4. Clear any lien. If a loan was ever on the car, find the lender’s lien release. Illinois ties its title-surrender exception to it, and Indiana’s certificate route has you sign that no lien exists.
5. Call with what you’ve got. We confirm on the call whether the papers work. Our offer doesn’t expire, so if you need a month to get a duplicate, the number still stands when you’re ready.

When a buyer says the papers don’t matter

If a buyer tells you any car goes, title or not, no questions asked, that isn’t how either state writes it. Illinois tells a scrap processor it “shall not acquire” a vehicle without one of the listed ownership papers. Indiana makes buying a newer car with neither paper a felony for the buyer. A buyer who waves all of that away is describing neither state’s law, and you’re the one who signed the car over.

That’s why we ask about papers before we talk about a pickup time.

If the car is titled in another state

A title from Iowa, Ohio or any other state raises its own questions about which document counts. Junking a car with an out-of-state title covers that case, including what to do when someone else has to hand the car over.

Ready when your papers are

If the car is inside Chicago, the steps for junking a car in the city put all of this in order, plates included. When you know which papers you have, get an offer through the form or call (708) 663-1010. The tow is free, and you’re paid before the car leaves, in cash or through Zelle, Cash App or another payment app. our home page covers where the truck goes.

Sources for this guide

• 625 ILCS 5/5-401.3 on FindLaw: ownership papers a scrap processor must collect; seller ID.
• 625 ILCS 5/3-117.1 on FindLaw: junking certificate within 15 days; the lien release exception.
• IC 9-22-5-18 on FindLaw: title or certificate of authority for any sale to an Indiana recycler.
• IC 9-32-9-29 on FindLaw: the 15 model year rule and the Level 6 felony.
• Indiana BMV Special Titling Circumstances: what the certificate of authority is for.
• Indiana BMV fee chart (PDF): $15 duplicate title, $4 certificate of authority.
• Indiana BMV duplicate title application: the original title becomes void once a duplicate is issued.
• Indiana BMV: submitting a certificate of authority electronically (PDF): filing through myBMV.