Selling a booted car in Chicago

A boot turns a parked car into a ticking clock. In Chicago, the city doesn’t leave booted cars on the street for long, and the costs climb every day. If the car was already headed for the junkyard, the order you do things in matters.

Why Chicago boots a car

Under the city’s rules, a vehicle can be booted when its owner has three or more final determinations of liability for parking or compliance violations less than a year old, or two or more that are a year old or older. Red-light and bus-lane camera tickets count. That’s from the Department of Administrative Hearings FAQ.

The boot can go on any vehicle registered to that person unless the fines are paid within 21 days of the first seizure notice, according to the Department of Finance. It doesn’t have to be the car that got the tickets.

The 24-hour clock

The city tows a booted car 24 hours after the boot is placed. You can call 312-744-7275 (PARK) within those first 24 hours to get another 24, per the city’s boot FAQ.

If you do nothing, the costs stack:

Sources: Department of Finance, Streets and Sanitation towing questions.

Can you just sell it with the boot on?

No. A booted car can’t legally be moved, and a junk buyer’s tow truck is no exception. Removing the boot yourself is the most expensive option of all. The car has to be released by the city first.

There are two ways to release it:

1. Pay everything owed. The boot fee plus every fine and penalty in final determination on vehicles registered to you.
2. Get on a payment plan. The city’s online payment plan for booted vehicles takes a down payment of 50% of the ticket balance plus fees, or 10% plus fees with a hardship qualification, and releases the boot within one business day. Online plans are only for motorists without tow or storage fees.

Once the boot is off, the car is yours to sell like any other. If it doesn’t run, it can stay right where it is and be towed by the buyer.

If the city already towed it

Booted cars that get towed go to a city auto pound. The closest one to the West Side is at 701 N Sacramento Ave, home to Pound 6 (winter-ban tows) and Pound 3N (abandoned vehicles); all city pounds are open around the clock. Booted-and-towed owners deal with the Department of Finance at 312-744-PARK.

To get a car out of a city pound, per the city’s towing FAQ:

• You must be the owner of record, or bring an original notarized letter from the owner.
• All charges and fines must be paid.
• You need proof of ownership: a valid title, a current registration card, or a bill of sale no more than 30 days old.
• The car must have current registration and state plates, and a City Sticker if one is required.
• Bring a valid photo ID.

That’s a lot of money and paperwork for a car worth scrap prices. Run the numbers before you go. Cars are normally stored no more than 21 days after the city mails its notice; unclaimed ones may be disposed of or auctioned, and you still owe the fines and fees.

When a booted junk car is worth releasing

Release makes sense if the tickets are going to follow you anyway (they’re owed on your name, not the car) and a payment plan gets the boot off for less than the car brings when you sell it. It rarely makes sense to pay pound storage on a car that’s already junk.

Two other things to check:

• Your city sticker. If the car had one, it can move to your next vehicle, but not to the buyer. See what happens to your Chicago city sticker after you sell.
• Where the car will wait. A released car that doesn’t run still faces the city’s abandoned vehicle rules on the street. A garage is safer; our guide to getting a dead car out of an alley garage covers that pickup.

When it’s free to go, see non-running cars for what to tell us on the call.