Sell your car in Indianapolis: running, broken down or missing parts
A free cash offer takes minutes, and pickup comes to your driveway, inside I-465 or out in the suburbs. A car that hasn't moved in a while needs a closer look first: Indianapolis has its own rules for a car that can't be driven, and they reach onto private property as well as the street.
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Offer, pickup day, and keeping the plate on
- Price a trade-in both ways. If you're checking car trade-in value at an Indianapolis dealership, ask the dealer for its price with your trade and without it. Two minutes of description gets you our cash offer, free, and you're under no obligation to take it; set it beside that difference. Our trade-in guide walks through the comparison.
- Set the day. Pickup is typically a matter of days once you accept. Tell us your schedule when you accept; evenings and weekends are workable.
- Keep a valid plate on until the truck comes. Indianapolis code also counts a car as inoperable if it can't be driven on a city street without a ticket for lacking a valid license plate (Sec. 441-101), and that brings the outdoor-storage rule into play. Payment happens at pickup, not sometime after.
Where we pick up around Indianapolis
Pickup reaches everything inside I-465, the rest of Marion County, and most of the suburbs beyond it. To the north that includes Fishers and Carmel, the two largest; to the south, Greenwood. If the truck can reach your driveway, pickup happens there.
Where the car waits: don't push it onto the grass strip by the curb to make pickup easier. Indianapolis code makes it unlawful to leave a car on a sidewalk, a grass strip, or anywhere in the public right-of-way between the curb and your property line, and police can have a car parked there removed and impounded (Sec. 621-106).
Cash for your car in Indianapolis
Indianapolis code has its own word for a car that has quit: inoperable. That means a car with engine, transmission or differential parts removed, one partly taken apart or mechanically dead, or one that can't be driven on a city street without drawing a ticket because of its condition (Sec. 441-101). Keeping an inoperable car outdoors on private property, your own driveway included, breaks Sec. 621-127 unless the zoning there allows it. A first or second violation in 12 months means a civil penalty paid through the ordinance violations bureau. A car kept that way can also be treated as a public nuisance and impounded (Secs. 611-203 and 611-204).
If a car tagged as abandoned isn't removed within 72 hours and the officer thinks it's worth $500 or less, it is towed to storage and appraised. If the appraisal agrees, the tow service is told to take it straight to a scrapyard (Sec. 611-305). If you want cash for junk cars in Indianapolis, sell before any tag goes on, while the choice is still yours. For a car that no longer runs, the junk car offer is the one to ask for.
Not sure what quit? Selling a car with a blown engine or head gasket and selling a car with a slipping transmission help you name the failure and weigh the repair against what the car is worth; for crash damage, see selling a car after an accident.
The county vehicle fee changes in 2027
- •From 2027 through 2030, most cars, trucks and SUVs under 11,000 pounds registered in Marion County pay a flat $100 a year (source)
- •That replaces a 10% surtax on the vehicle excise tax, which came with a $7.50 minimum (source)
- •Buses, trailers, tractors and heavier trucks move to a flat $240 wheel tax, up from $10 to $40. The City-County Council passed the change over the mayor's veto, 17-7, on August 10, 2026 (source)
Asked by Indianapolis sellers
I have a title errand before pickup day. Which branch is open when?
Six Indiana BMV license branches have Indianapolis addresses. Midtown (4050 Meadows Pkwy.) and Beech Grove (3841 S. Emerson Ave.) open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and close Wednesday and Saturday. North (2670 Lake Circle Dr.), East (10101 E. Washington St.), South (3919 Madison Ave.) and West (5620 Crawfordsville Rd.) close Monday, stay open to 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday and open Saturday from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Those are the hours on the BMV's branch list in September 2026, so check it before you go.
I live in Speedway, Lawrence, Beech Grove or Southport. Do the Indianapolis tow rules reach my street?
Not for street tows. Those four are excluded cities inside Marion County. Indianapolis's Department of Business and Neighborhood Services (DBNS) handles abandoned-vehicle tows from streets and alleys only inside the City of Indianapolis, and it sends questions about tows in the excluded cities to those cities. Private property is broader: DBNS says it oversees abandoned and inoperable vehicle towing from private property throughout Marion County.
My stolen car was recovered and towed. Can the fees be waived before I sell it?
Possibly, once. Under Sec. 611-207, a registered owner who lives in the City of Indianapolis and reported the theft to IMPD before the car was recovered can ask for a waiver of the regular towing fee and up to five days of storage on a city-contracted tow, if they have never had one before. Collect the car within five days of being told it was found, or regular towing and storage fees apply from the day it reached the lot. Businesses, banks and insurers can't use the waiver.
Will I owe Marion County's new vehicle fee if I sell before my registration renews?
Not on that car. County code says the surtax is "to be paid with the registration," so it comes due when a car is registered or renewed. Sell before your renewal date and you won't be renewing that car. The next owner pays the county fee only if they register it in Marion County.
Before a trip to an Indianapolis BMV license branch, check our Indiana selling guide for what the title needs from you as the seller.