Junk it, sell it privately or trade it in: which route fits your car

The car makes most of this decision for you. Before you compare anyone’s numbers, answer two questions honestly. Does it run well enough that a stranger would drive it around the block and want it? And are you buying your next car from a dealer? Those two answers point to one of three routes.

The three routes side by side

	Junk buyer	Private sale	Dealer trade-in
Who travels	The buyer comes to the car and tows it	Buyers come to you, or you meet them somewhere	You drive the car to the dealer
How fast	Same-day pickup is often possible	Depends on who answers your listing	Done when you close on the next car
Your effort	A phone call, then be there at pickup	Photos, a listing, messages, showings, test drives	Negotiating two deals at the same table
Condition it suits	Dead, wrecked, burned, flooded, no keys	Runs, drives and holds up to a buyer’s inspection	Mostly cars the dealer thinks it can resell
Paperwork	Title signed over (or tell us what papers you have), plates off	Title, bill of sale, plates off, report of sale	Title signed over to the dealer as part of the purchase
When you’re paid	At pickup	Whenever the buyer pays	As a credit toward the next car, not cash
Main risk	A good running car gets priced as scrap	Strangers at your door, test drives, no-shows, payments you can’t verify	The trade value hides inside the new car’s price
Only works if	The car is past its road life	Someone wants to drive it	You’re buying from that dealer

When selling privately wins

If the car is a dependable daily driver, sell it yourself. A dealer has to resell it at a profit, and a junk buyer prices it as metal and parts, so the person who’ll actually drive it is usually the one who pays most for it.

What it costs you is time and your front door. You list it, answer the same questions a dozen times, and have people you’ve never met park outside the house to look. Some won’t show. Go along on test drives, look at a driver’s license before anyone gets behind the wheel, and don’t sign the title until you’re holding cash or the payment has cleared. Illinois Legal Aid Online also suggests getting a copy of the buyer’s driver’s license as part of the sale.

Where a trade-in earns its place

A trade-in is only on the table if you’re buying. The dealer takes your old car and takes its value off the price of the one you’re driving home. One visit, no listing, no strangers.

Illinois adds a tax point in its favor. In the instructions for the dealer’s sales tax return, Form ST-556, the Department of Revenue has the dealer subtract a qualified trade-in from the selling price before figuring the tax. The cap on that credit covered sales in 2020 and 2021 only. The same instructions say the signatures on the return confirm that your old title was properly assigned and surrendered to the dealer, so the title still changes hands.

The weak spot is clarity. When the trade value and the new price are worked out together, it’s hard to see what you really got for the old car. Get an outside number first, a private-sale estimate or a junk quote if it barely runs, so you have something to hold the dealer’s figure against.

Where a junk buyer fits

Some cars have no road buyer left. The transmission quit, the frame bent in a crash, or the car sat in water. Nobody answering a listing wants to tow that home, and a dealer may offer little for it. Those are the cars we buy.

Masters Cash for Junk Cars buys cars, pickups, vans and SUVs in any condition, including cars that don’t run and wrecked and totaled cars. We come to the car in our own tow truck, and the towing is free. A dead sedan in a detached garage off an alley in Ashburn is handled the same way as a van with a seized engine on a side street in Garfield Ridge: tell us where it sits and how to reach it. You get paid when we pick up, by Zelle, cash or Cash App, and since our offer has no expiry date, you can test the private market for a while and come back to it. For a number, call (708) 838-5553.

Here’s the honest flip side. We don’t buy good running cars for resale. If yours runs and drives well, a junk offer prices it for its metal and parts, and you’ll usually do better with one of the other two routes. Our guide to why junk car offers differ shows what goes into our number.

The Illinois paperwork for each route

The seller’s side of the paperwork is mostly the same whichever way the car goes.

1. Sign the title over. Illinois Legal Aid Online says you sign the Assignment of Title section, certify the mileage and check that the VIN on the car matches the title. Every co-owner listed has to sign. Keep a photocopy.
2. Write a bill of sale for a private sale. ILAO says the law doesn’t require one but recommends it, signed by both of you, naming the car, the price, the date and both addresses.
3. Take your plates off. The Secretary of State treats plates as yours rather than the car’s, and they can be moved only to a different vehicle that you own.
4. Mail the state’s report of sale. The Seller’s Report of Sale (VSD 703) is meant to be filled out right away after you sell a car titled or registered in Illinois, and the form says sending it ends your responsibility for that car. It doesn’t transfer ownership, so the title still has to be signed.
5. Cancel the insurance and peel the sticker. For the windshield sticker, read what happens to city and village stickers after a sale, which goes through Chicago and each nearby village.

ILAO points out that sales made by dealers follow a different process, so on a trade-in, ask the dealer which forms you sign there. For a junk sale, tell us what papers you have before pickup. Which of them will do for a scrap sale is a question Illinois rules answer, and we go through yours with you on the phone. If the title is missing, our no-title junk cars page is the place to start. More seller guides are on the tips page.

Pick the route, then make the call

If the car runs well, list it or take it to the dealer you’re buying from. If it doesn’t, get a cash offer or call (708) 838-5553. Calls are answered 24 hours, every day, from anywhere in Chicago and the suburbs.