Selling a Junk Car in Cleveland: FAQ

For most cars around Cleveland it lands in the low to middle hundreds, and a heavy pickup or full-size SUV with the engine, transmission and converter still on it can go considerably higher. Weight, what is still bolted to the car, and what scrap steel is bringing that month decide the number. Tell us the year, make, model and what is wrong with it and you hear a firm figure for that car, not a bracket copied off a chart.

Yes. In Ohio a licensed buyer needs the certificate of title in your name, and we do not buy without it. If the title is lost, stolen or damaged, you get a duplicate on BMV form 3774 at a Cuyahoga County Clerk of Courts Auto Title office. The state fee is $15. The downtown office at 2079 E. 9th St. is a short walk from ours, and there are branches in Parma, Bedford and North Olmsted.

Not through us, and not legally through any licensed buyer we know of. Ohio does not give private owners a no-title or derelict route the way some states do. The fix is the duplicate title on BMV 3774, which usually takes one visit to the title office. If there is an old lien on the record, the lienholder has to release it first, and we can tell you what to ask them for.

Yes. Most of what we pick up in Cuyahoga County does not start. Seized engines, dead batteries, no keys, four flat tires and rocker panels that road salt ate through are all normal. The driver winches it up the ramp and straps it down.

Yes, everywhere we list, from Bay Village and Westlake on the West Side to Euclid and Solon on the East. The car pays for its own ride to the recycler. Nothing is subtracted from your price for the truck or the time.

Often the same day inside the city and the inner suburbs like Lakewood, Parma and Garfield Heights, and usually within a day or two out in Strongsville, Solon or North Olmsted. Winter storms and a car that has to be winched out of a backyard can add time. We give you a window when we book it.

Inside Cleveland city limits, a junk vehicle (three model years or older and inoperable or badly damaged) left on private property more than 72 hours is supposed to be kept in a garage or other suitable structure under Codified Ordinance 451.27. After a notice you get 10 days to garage it or remove it. Most suburbs have a similar rule. Selling it to us closes the problem the same day the truck comes.

If the car needs one $400 repair and otherwise runs, a shop on Lorain Avenue or Pearl Road is the better call and we will say so. If it needs an engine, a transmission, or the frame has rusted, the repair costs more than the car is worth and scrap value is the honest number. Tell us what is wrong with it and we will tell you which side of that line it sits on.

The buyer who is not paying a lead network for your phone number. A lot of the sites that rank for Cleveland junk cars sell your details to whoever bids, and that bidder has to earn the fee back off your price. We are the buyer, so the number we quote is the number we planned to pay.

The Ohio title in your name, a photo ID that matches it, and the keys if you have them. Take your plates off and anything personal out of the car. The driver checks the VIN against the title, you sign the back, you get paid, and the car goes on the truck.

Yes to all three. No keys means the driver winches it with the steering locked, on skates if needed. Expired plates don't matter because the car is coming off the road for good. A dead battery is the normal condition of a car that has sat through a Cleveland winter.

Apartment lots on Clifton, Lake Road or Mayfield are routine, and we try to beat the tow-away sticker. A repair shop on Lorain Avenue that is holding the car for an unpaid bill has to release it to you first. A car already in a tow yard is usually not worth pulling out, because the yard's fees run past what the car brings.

Someone has to sign the Ohio title and take the payment, and the name on the title is the person who signs. If that is you and you can't be there, call and we'll work out a time. A neighbor can't sign for you.

Trucks and SUVs are the vehicles we most want, because weight sets the price and a complete F-150 or Tahoe outweighs any sedan. Work vans, minivans and the occasional box truck all get picked up. Motorcycles and small trailers are a case-by-case call.

A little, not a lot. Rockers and quarter panels eaten by road salt are cosmetic to a recycler; the car still weighs what it weighs. Rust that has gone through the frame or subframe keeps the car from being safely towed on its wheels, so say so and the driver brings the right gear. Either way it is still a sale.

Usable parts come off first, then the fluids are drained and handled under Ohio EPA rules, and the shell goes to the metal recyclers in the industrial valley along the Cuyahoga, where it is shredded and melted into new steel. Your plates stay with you and the title is retired, so nothing about the car comes back to you.