Sell your car in St. Paul: running, broken down or not worth fixing
The City of Saint Paul says off-street parking is very limited here and a large percentage of residents park on the street. If you're selling your car in St. Paul, MN, that's where most of the local rules come in: plow routes, alleys and impound lots. The offer is online, and pickup is free wherever the car sits, running or not.
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Getting a car back from a St. Paul impound lot
- Find which lot has it. Look up the plate or VIN at stpaul.gov/impound. Snow emergency tows go to 1129 Cathlin Street, near the State Fairgrounds; other police tows go to 830 Barge Channel Road, open daily from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
- Bring what the lot asks for. Photo ID; the title, bill of sale or lease; a current insurance card for that car, needed even to tow it out; and payment. If you're not the registered owner, bring the owner's notarized letter with a copy of their ID, or a power of attorney.
- Watch the 15 days. A car left 15 days after the city's mailed notice may be auctioned. If the fees top the car's value, the lot's "Junk Left to City" option takes the title and keys with no impound fees, though tickets are still owed. Call us before you choose, and we'll help you run the numbers.
Where we pick up around St. Paul
Free pickup covers every St. Paul address, 55101 through 55130, and the east metro suburbs on the same terms, from Woodbury and Eagan to Roseville (55113) and West St. Paul. Suburban pickups are scheduled the same way as city ones.
Garage off the alley? The City of Saint Paul has never plowed, salted or sanded its alleys in winter; neighbors often hire a private plow together, and some of its roughly 2,225 alleys are gravel or dirt. If yours hasn't been cleared, tell us before pickup day.
Where a parked car can stay during a St. Paul snow emergency
The city announces a snow emergency by 3 p.m., and parking rules start at 9 p.m. that night on the Night Plow Routes: streets signed "NIGHT PLOW ROUTE" or "NIGHT PLOW ROUTE THIS SIDE OF STREET", plus all of downtown. At 8 a.m. the next day the rules move to the Day Plow Routes, which are every unsigned street or side of a street, until each is plowed to the curb. Ticketing and towing can go on for 96 hours.
If the car doesn't run, tell us which side of the street it's on when you book pickup, because the truck needs to reach the curb. The city's snow page has a parking map, and 651-266-PLOW gives the current status. In the Snelling-University and Selby-Dale pilot areas, weekly alternate-side parking replaced these rules from January to April 2026, and as of June 2026 the city had made no final decision on citywide changes.
Cash for your car in St. Paul
St. Paul's property code gives a car that won't run, or is missing its motor, drive train or wheels, 48 hours outside before it counts as abandoned; in a garage or enclosed shed it's legal. A car on private property for repairs gets 30 days, and one without current plates gets 90, per the city's abandoned vehicles page (January 2026).
If the repair would cost more than the car is worth, sell it as it is. You don't need to fix anything first, and pickup is free. Cash for junk cars in St. Paul goes through our junk car offer, with the same free pickup.
If the repair you're weighing is the engine or the transmission, selling a car whose engine needs a rebuild and selling a car with a failing transmission each work through whether fixing it pays.
Tow fees and recent snow emergencies
- •A snow emergency tow costs $246 if you collect the car before midnight on the day it was towed, plus $15 a day after that and a $56 ticket (as of February 2026) (ticketing and towing)
- •A standard police tow is $225.24 (as of August 2026) (police impound lot)
- •The city declared four snow emergencies in winter 2025-26, the first on Nov. 30; it declared none in 2023-24 and seven in 2022-23 (past snow emergency dates)
Asked by St. Paul sellers
How do I sell a car in St. Paul that's been parked on the street all winter?
First make sure it can stay put. St. Paul doesn't allow a car in the same street spot for more than 48 hours, all year, and the city says a car still under old snow, or with plow ridges around it, may be treated as abandoned. A dead battery or seized brakes won't stop the sale, because we pick up cars that don't run. Tell us exactly where it's parked when you book.
Where can I get a duplicate title near St. Paul?
At a deputy registrar office, where Minnesota DVS (what many people call the Minnesota DMV) handles titles in person. The City of Roseville runs one, the Roseville License Center at 2737 Lexington Ave. N. It prints duplicate titles on site and handles title transfers and lien releases, weekdays 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Late in the day walk-ins go on a standby list, so go early.
What do I do with my E-ZPass tag when I sell the car?
Take it off the windshield before pickup. A Minnesota E-ZPass tag, the kind used on the I-35E express lane between St. Paul and White Bear Lake, is switchable and can move to another vehicle. Then update the vehicle list on your E-ZPass Minnesota account, which MnDOT asks customers to keep accurate.
Where can I meet a buyer safely in St. Paul?
St. Paul Police run three E-Commerce Exchange Zones under 24-hour video surveillance: 367 Grove Street, 722 Payne Avenue and 389 North Hamline Avenue. Police also call a buyer's money order or cashier's check a red flag. If you sell to us, there's no meeting spot to pick: the pickup comes to you.
For signing the title, filing the Notice of Sale and handing over the plates, see our Minnesota selling guide.