Junking certificates, salvage certificates and rebuilt titles in Illinois

Three Illinois documents get mixed up all the time: the junking certificate, the salvage certificate and the rebuilt title. They point in different directions. One says the car is finished for good. One says it was totaled but might come back. One says it did come back.

The three papers side by side

Junking certificate: the end of the road

Illinois defines a junk vehicle in 625 ILCS 5/1-134.1 as one that has been or is being “disassembled, crushed, compressed, flattened, destroyed or otherwise reduced to a state in which it no longer can be returned to an operable state.”

Under § 3-117.1(a), a person who has a junk vehicle surrenders the title within 15 days with an application for a junking certificate. The certificate lets the holder possess, transport or transfer the junk vehicle, and “a certificate of title shall not again be issued for such vehicle.” Under § 3-118, a junking certificate may be assigned to anyone.

Selling to a license-holding buyer is usually simpler

Most people never apply for one. When a license-holding scrap processor or automotive parts recycler receives a properly assigned title, § 3-117.2 has the licensee file a Junk Vehicle Notification within 15 days instead, and the licensee “shall not be required to apply for or obtain a junking certificate.” The state then won’t issue a title or salvage certificate for that vehicle again.

In plain terms: sign your title over to the license-holding buyer and the paperwork to retire the car is the buyer’s job.

Salvage certificate: totaled, not finished

A salvage certificate is required under § 3-117.1(b) when:

• an insurer pays a total-loss claim and becomes the owner;
• a repossessed or fleet vehicle needs repairs costing more than 50% of its fair market value;
• a flood vehicle has damage over 50%, and the certificate is marked “flood.”

By agreement with the insurer, an owner can keep a hail-damaged vehicle or any vehicle 9 model years old or older after a total loss. That’s how many owners end up holding a salvage car they then sell as junk.

Salvage certificates can only be assigned to a license-holding rebuilder, parts recycler, scrap processor or out-of-state salvage buyer, under § 3-118(c). And a salvage or junk vehicle may not be driven on Illinois roads; doing so is a Class A misdemeanor.

Rebuilt title: back on the road

Section 3-301 lets the Secretary of State issue a new title to a rebuilt former salvage vehicle. Vehicles 8 model years old or newer need a successful inspection first; older ones skip it, unless they’re flood vehicles with more than 50% damage.

A rebuilt car that’s now junk is just a junk car with a rebuilt title. Sell it the way you’d sell any titled car.

What this means for your junk car

• Clean title in your name: sign it over at pickup. Nothing else to file.
• Salvage certificate in your name: tell us on the call. It can go to a license-holding buyer.
• Lien on the title: it has to be released first; see selling a car with a lien.
• No title at all: see cars without a title.

One warning from the statute: acquiring, selling, transferring or destroying the title of a junk or salvage vehicle “without authority” is a Class 3 felony under § 3-117.1(c). Don’t let anyone talk you into handing over an unsigned title or signing in the wrong place.

For a car that’s past saving, see scrap cars. For how recyclers with a state license differ from other buyers, read junkyard vs junk car buyer.