Junk it, sell it yourself or trade it in?

There are three ordinary ways to get rid of an old car: sell it to a junk car buyer, sell it yourself, or hand it to a dealer as a trade-in. Each one pays differently and asks different things of you. The deciding question is usually simple: does the car run well enough that someone would want to drive it?

The three routes side by side

When a private sale wins

If the car runs, drives safely and has no big repair coming, a private buyer is the one most likely to pay for it as a car rather than as parts and metal. The cost is your time and some risk.

• Payment fraud is real. The FTC warns car sellers about fake checks: “Don’t accept a check for more than the selling price” and “Never send money to anyone who says they overpaid you by check” (FTC consumer alert).
• Sign the title correctly. At delivery, the Illinois seller signs the assignment on the title to the buyer, under 625 ILCS 5/3-112. Fill in the buyer’s name yourself; never hand over a signed, blank title.
• Keep your plates. In Illinois they belong to you, not the car (Secretary of State).
• Don’t make it a habit. Illinois requires a dealer license for anyone selling five or more used vehicles in a year (625 ILCS 5/5-102).

The buyer handles their own tax and registration, and the state charges its private-party vehicle tax to them.

When a trade-in wins

A trade-in is the least effort, and it carries a tax advantage that a private sale doesn’t. In Illinois you pay sales tax only on the difference between the new car’s price and your trade-in. ABC7 Chicago gives the example of a $40,000 car with a $20,000 trade: tax is charged on $20,000. A $10,000 cap on that credit applied in 2020 and 2021, and it was removed starting January 1, 2022 (ABC7 Chicago).

The catch is that the trade value is folded into a bigger deal. Ask for the trade-in figure on its own, separate from the price of the car you’re buying. And a car that doesn’t run is worth little to a dealer, who is likely to send it to auction or scrap.

When junking wins

Junking makes sense when the car’s problems are bigger than its value as a car:

• it doesn’t run, or needs an engine or transmission (see repair or sell);
• it was wrecked or totaled;
• it fails in ways that would scare off a private buyer: rust through, flood damage, a missing title;
• you need it gone this week, not after a month of listings.

There’s also the street. In Chicago, a car on the public way that is “in such a state of disrepair as to be incapable of being driven” counts as abandoned, along with one not moved for more than seven days and apparently deserted, under MCC 9-80-110. Abandoned cars get ticketed and towed. A dead car parked out front while you wait for a private buyer can cost you more than it brings.

What a junk car is worth comes down to weight, metal prices and the parts that still have value; our guide to parts or scrap goes through it. To keep a junk offer from shrinking at pickup, describe the car honestly; why junk car offers change explains what moves the number.

A quick way to decide

1. Does it run and drive safely? If not, junk it.
2. Is a repair coming that costs more than the car is worth? Junk it, or sell it privately as a project and disclose the problem.
3. Are you buying another car from a dealer anyway? Get a trade-in figure and compare it, after the tax credit, with a private-sale price.
4. Is your time worth more than the difference? That’s the honest tiebreaker.

If the answer points to junking, send the form on this page or call (872) 356-9799. We’ll give you a number you can compare against the others.