Sell your car in Boise: running, wrecked, won't start or sat for years
Ada County's emissions testing ended in 2023, so a car sold in Boise needs no test first. What's left to know is local: the Ada County Assessor's five motor vehicle offices, how the city deals with dead cars, and the choices for people who live in Boise and work at Mountain Home Air Force Base.
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How Boise handles a car abandoned on the street
- After someone reports it, an officer checks whether it has been reported stolen, marks it and leaves a notice on it: if it isn't moved within 48 hours, it will be towed.
- At least 48 hours later the officer comes back. If the marks show it hasn't moved, it's deemed abandoned. If it has moved, the city can't legally call it abandoned, and it may not be towed.
- A tow company licensed for non-consent tows takes it to its impound lot, and the city sends the current registered owner an official notice on how to claim it. The details are on the City of Boise's abandoned vehicles page.
Where we pick up around Boise
Pickup is free anywhere in Boise, from 83702 downtown and the North End out to 83709 and toward Lucky Peak, and across the Treasure Valley in Meridian (83646), Eagle and Kuna, as far as Emmett. You get the offer the same day you describe the car. After you accept, a metro Boise pickup is usually on the calendar within one to two days, and payment is made at the handoff: once the driver confirms the car matches your description, you're paid before the truck pulls away.
Lost track of what the title says? Ada County's motor vehicle offices charge $7 for a Motor Vehicle Record, a copy of a vehicle's title or registration record.
Cash for your car in Boise
In Boise, a dead car can draw a complaint even on your own property. Inoperable or junked vehicles, and vehicle parts, left in plain view on private property are on the list of problems the city's Code Compliance office handles, along with cars parked on the lawn. Complaints go in through the city's online system.
We make offers on cars that won't start, have been wrecked or have sat for years, and we bring the truck, so it can leave without starting. To sell your junk car in Boise before anyone files that complaint, you can sell it as a junk car from the spot where it's parked.
A wreck can end with the insurer calling the car a total loss, and selling a totaled car explains the choice between taking the payout and keeping the car. For a wrecked car that wasn't totaled, see selling an accident-damaged car, and if it won't start because the engine seized or overheated, read selling a car with engine problems.
Living in Boise, working at Mountain Home
Mountain Home Air Force Base, where the 366th Fighter Wing is based, sits about 50 miles southeast of Boise, and Military OneSource puts the drive at roughly 51 minutes. If you'd rather not keep a car just for that commute, ACHD Commuteride runs vanpools to the base for people who live in Boise, Kuna and Meridian.
PCS orders may come with an entitlement to ship or store one car at government expense. On a move from one continental U.S. base to another, shipping the car is largely your own cost, though the military pays mileage when you drive it. Ask the Traffic Management Office in Building 1132 on base about your own entitlement. It takes walk-ins on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and appointments from 2 to 4 p.m. Turn-in appointments are booked through PCSmyPOV, whose list has no vehicle processing center in Idaho. Washington's is the Seattle VPC in Kent, which sees customers by appointment only. Selling is the third route; the pickup would be at your Boise-area address. Whether the car ends up in Kent, on the base Lemon Lot or with us, our guide to selling before a PCS move sets out what the military pays for.
The Ada County Assessor's five motor vehicle offices
- •Downtown Boise: 190 E. Front St., Suite 107, on the ground floor just east of the Ada County Courthouse. One space in the surface lot between the two buildings is marked for VIN inspections (Ada County Assessor)
- •Franklin Road, Boise: 8655 W. Franklin Rd., which also has the will-call window for registrations renewed by phone (Ada County Assessor)
- •Meridian, Garden City and Star: 1769 N. Lakes Pl., 9115 Chinden Blvd. (Suite 103) and 10769 W. State St. (Ada County Assessor)
- •All five are open weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for walk-ins or appointments, and one call center answers for them at (208) 577-3135 (Ada County Assessor)
Asked by Boise sellers
Where can I meet a buyer near Boise police?
In 2022 Boise Police set aside the northeast section of the parking lot at City Hall West, 333 N. Mark Stall Place, where the department is based, as a place to meet for internet sales and trades. Officers are often in the area. If you meet somewhere else, police advise a busy public place in daylight. If you take our offer, the handoff happens at your address instead.
How does the Lemon Lot at Mountain Home AFB work?
You need a permit, bought in person at Outdoor Recreation, 655 Pine St. (Building 2800), where you show proof of insurance and registration. It comes with a 30-day lot fee and lasts 30 days; after that you need a new one, because it doesn't renew on its own. The lot is at the corner of Liberator Street and Phantom Avenue, next to the baseball fields, and cars stay on display around the clock. The office's listed hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday; it's closed Wednesdays and weekends.
My car is parked at someone else's place in Boise. Can they have it towed?
It can happen. Under Idaho Code, the city notes, a vehicle left on private property without consent for 24 hours or more counts as abandoned. Since January 1, 2026, law enforcement can no longer enter private property in Boise to tow one; the property owner has to call a tow company the city licenses for non-consent tows. If you'd rather sell it first, pickup can be at the address where it's parked.
If I sell my commuter car, how do I get to Mountain Home AFB from Boise?
Check the current Commuteride vanpool routes on Share the Ride Idaho, then submit a Commuteride Participant Agreement; if no route fits, call 208-345-POOL to get on the list for a new one. Service members can get a TRANServe card that pays 100% of the monthly fare, requested at Building 1132 (LRS) on base. New riders can ride free for up to a month in a Club Red vanpool while the card is on its way.
For what you sign as the seller, see our Idaho selling page.