Sell your car in Des Moines: running, hail-damaged or not running
Describe your car online or by phone, which takes about two minutes, and you get a cash offer. Pickup is free across the Des Moines metro. If the car has stopped running, two city rules below matter: where it's allowed to sit, and what happens when the plows come.
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A car that can't move when the plows come
- Check which kind of street it's on. On a Snow Route, you can't park while emergency snow or ice removal is under way, and those routes are normally plowed once snow passes an inch; every home is within four blocks of one (Des Moines Public Works, September 2026). On other residential streets, city code Chapter 114 bans parking during snow removal, which starts once the snow stops: a $35 ticket, and the car may be towed (snow removal).
- Look for odd/even signs. In Carpenter, Drake, Sherman Hill and part of River Bend, street parking stays allowed, but on odd-numbered days only in front of odd-numbered addresses, and on even days in front of even ones, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (odd/even zones).
- Get the alert early. Text SNOW, or ODDSNOW in those four neighborhoods, to 515-355-8815. Public Works answers snow questions at (515) 283-4950 at any hour.
Where we pick up around Des Moines
Free pickup covers West Des Moines, Ankeny (50023) and Waukee (50263) in Dallas County, and an address there books the same way as one downtown in 50309. The driver meets the car where it sits, checks that it matches your description and pays you on the spot.
Parked downtown? Des Moines sets no weather-related parking limits in the downtown business district during normal plowing, and a car at a meter is allowed to stay. Public Works warns it may get plowed in, though.
Cash for your car in Des Moines
Junk cars in Des Moines fall under the city's property maintenance code, Chapter 61, which the City Council rewrote in December 2024. The new chapter took effect on February 1, 2025, and it says a property owner can't allow an inoperable vehicle outside on the property (Ordinance 16,407, Sec. 61-34). Its definition of inoperable lists "unlicensed" first, ahead of wrecked, abandoned or unable to move under its own power, so a car that still starts can count.
Cash for cars in Des Moines doesn't depend on the car running. Hail dents, salt rust, a paid hail claim or a dead engine still get an honest offer, and pickup is still free. If your car fits the city's definition, start from sell my junk car, which covers missing keys, missing titles and cars that haven't moved in years.
Hail mostly dents panels, not the structure: selling a hail-damaged car explains what that means for a buyer, and selling a totaled car covers your choices if the insurer wrote the car off instead of paying for repairs. For a dead engine, selling a car with a blown engine or head gasket weighs fixing it against selling it as it is.
Title and plate paperwork at 111 Court Avenue
- •For titles and plates, the Iowa DMV counter is your county treasurer, working as the Iowa DOT's agent. Polk County's is the Treasurer's Office in Room 154, open Monday to Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., though on the third Thursday of each month it opens at 9 a.m. (Polk County Treasurer)
- •An in-person title transfer, lien release or replacement title requires an appointment, and you need the title paperwork in hand to book one. The schedule updates daily at 7 p.m. On the day, check in on your phone from 15 minutes before to 15 minutes after your time (Polk County appointments)
- •To skip the visit, mail your paperwork or seal it in an envelope for the drop box near the building's south entrance (no cash). Plates sent back with a registration refund claim can go the same way (Polk County refunds)
Asked by Des Moines sellers
I live in Waukee. Which treasurer's office handles my car?
Dallas County's. The City of Waukee says cars there are registered through the Dallas County Treasurer's Office in Adel, at 800 Court Street, Suite 110. In-person visits there are by appointment only. Appointments open one week ahead, and if a day is full the office says to check back the next day. It also asks you not to arrive more than five minutes early.
Can old Des Moines parking tickets cause trouble after I sell the car?
Yes, if they're unpaid. A city ticket turns delinquent after 30 days, and late tickets can put a hold on registration renewals for every vehicle registered to you, not only the ticketed one. The state can also take the amount from your Iowa tax refund. Look tickets up by plate number on the City Clerk's site. The city also warns that texts claiming to be from the "Iowa DMV" about parking or camera fines are a scam; neither the city nor the state sends them.
What if a Des Moines traffic camera ticket arrives after the car is sold?
The city's red-light and speed cameras photograph the rear plate, and the citation goes to the vehicle's registered owner. You can ask for a free administrative hearing by mail, or schedule one by phone at 1-877-468-4912, and send the hearing officer the papers showing when the car changed hands. Make the request by the due date printed on the notice.
Is there a camera-watched spot near Des Moines to meet an online buyer?
The Johnston Police Department runs an e-commerce safe exchange zone outside the Johnston Public Safety Building, 6373 Merle Hay Road. A surveillance camera watches it 24 hours a day, and it's meant for meeting strangers from online selling sites. If you'd rather not meet anyone, the pickup comes to the car instead.
Polk County follows the same statewide title rules as every Iowa county, and our Iowa page sets them out.