Sell your car in Idaho Falls: running, unregistered or won't start
We buy cars in Idaho Falls, running or not. Describe yours to get a cash offer. The pickup costs you nothing wherever it's parked: in town, in Ammon or out across the upper valley. If it has stopped running, where it sits matters here: the city allows a dead car only so long at the curb, and code enforcement handles one left in the yard.
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What happens after a code enforcement complaint
- City staff come out and decide whether what's in the yard breaks the city's ordinances on junk, litter and inoperable vehicles.
- If it does, the city sends a letter asking for a cleanup within a short time. The city says ignoring that request usually brings a misdemeanor citation.
- Fines are charged for each day the property stays out of compliance: $100 the first day, $200 the second and $300 the third. Repeat violations within 12 months can be fined too, and unpaid fines can end up as a lien on the property (IFPD code enforcement).
Where we pick up around Idaho Falls
Anywhere in Idaho Falls (83401 and 83402 included) and next door in Ammon (83406), we come to you and charge nothing for the pickup. Iona, Ucon and the rest of Bonneville County are covered as well. Regular runs also go south to Shelley and Blackfoot and north to Rigby, Roberts and Rexburg.
Snow alerts: text snowIF to 38276 and the city will tell you when a snow event is declared. That is worth doing while a car you plan to sell waits at the curb. The city's interactive snow removal map shows when your street is scheduled for the plow, and clearing every roadway typically takes 72 hours.
Cash for your car in Idaho Falls
The city's code enforcement FAQ asks whether the city can force the removal of an inoperative vehicle. The answer is yes, if the vehicle meets the definition, and it points to Section 302.8 of the property maintenance code (city code enforcement FAQ). Idaho Falls adopted that code, the 2018 international edition, as city code. Section 302.8 bars keeping an inoperative or unlicensed vehicle on any premises, and it also rules out a car left in major disassembly or partly stripped. A major overhaul is allowed only inside a structure approved for that work.
Code enforcement is part of the Idaho Falls Police Department, and its officers list non-licensed and nonfunctioning vehicles among the violations they work on.
A sale moves the car out of your yard or driveway for good, and it doesn't have to run to get a cash offer. We buy junk cars in Idaho Falls as well as ones that still drive. If yours is only worth its metal, our junk car offer is the place to begin.
Replacing a blown engine or a failed transmission is major work, and city code allows a major overhaul only inside a structure approved for it. Before you take that on, selling a car with a blown engine and selling a car with a bad transmission set the repair bill against selling the car as it is.
When Idaho Falls streets have to be clear for the plows
- •The snow parking rules cover the winter season, which ran November 15 through March 15 last winter, and they are enforced only after a snow event is declared: more than 2 inches of snow on the roadway (City of Idaho Falls, Nov. 2025)
- •In Zone B, which covers most of the city, parking stops at midnight on the snow event day and stays off until plowing is done. In Zone A, the narrower streets in the center of town, north-south streets clear 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on even-numbered days and east-west streets on odd ones (City Code 9-5-4)
- •A car parked against these rules can be towed to another street or to a storage lot without prior notice, and the owner is responsible for the towing and storage charges (City Code 9-5-6 and 9-5-7)
Asked by Idaho Falls sellers
My car died on an Idaho Falls street. What now?
You can still sell it. Tell us it doesn't start when you describe it, so the number reflects that, and the driver arrives with the equipment to load a car that won't run. Watch the clock, though. City code allows a disabled, unlicensed or inoperable vehicle no more than 24 hours in a row on a street or alley. A licensed car that runs gets 48 hours in one spot.
Can I sell my car from a vacant lot or the city right-of-way in Idaho Falls?
No. The city's answer is that, outside a commercially zoned sales lot, it is illegal to park and sell a vehicle from someone else's property, and that includes public property such as the city right-of-way. Selling to us needs no lot: the driver collects the car where you keep it.
Is it legal to work on the car at the curb before I sell it?
Only a temporary emergency repair. City code makes it an infraction to use a street or alley for any other vehicle repair, so anything bigger has to be done off the street.
Which office handles title work in Idaho Falls?
The Bonneville County Assessor's motor vehicle office. Its vehicle services counter is at 254 E Street, open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and every vehicle service there is walk-in only. The driver's license office at the same address books appointments; the vehicle side doesn't. For a motor vehicle question, the county's line is 208-529-1331.
I'm out at the site all week. How does pickup work around an INL schedule?
We schedule around you. The handoff takes a few minutes: the driver checks the car against your description, you sign, and you're paid. If your days off don't line up, a family member can hand the car over with the title you've already signed.
The city code on this page covers where a car can sit; what you sign when it sells is state law, set out on our Idaho page.