Sell your junk car in Highland before the 5-day sticker runs out
How do I sell a junk car in Highland, Indiana?
Call us or use the form. Top Dollar Junk Cars prices a Highland junk car from the details you give, whether it's wrecked, stripped or simply dead, then tows it away free and pays you at pickup, in cash or by app transfer. If a 5-day sticker is already on the windshield, say so; same-day pickup is often possible.
Highland is a town of driveways: 69.9% of homes are detached houses and 78.4% are owner-occupied (Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020 to 2024). That mix shapes most of what follows. The answers below come from the town code and the roads our trucks use, and Highland sits in our pickup area alongside the towns around it.
What happens if a dead car sits on a Highland driveway?
It can earn a 5-day sticker sooner than most people expect. Under Highland's abandoned and junk vehicle ordinance (§ 9.60.010), a car counts as junk if it has no current plates or no current insurance, if it can't run safely under its own power, if it's missing major parts or badly damaged, if its tires are flat or it won't start or move, or if it's a hazard on a right-of-way. A car with a lapsed policy and a flat qualifies, even when the body looks fine.
Such a car may not stay in public view on any property for more than 5 days, and only junkyards holding a license are exempt. Police or code enforcement put a 5-day sticker on it; after that the town can tow, from private property too if the car is visible to the public. A tarp or car cover doesn't count as hiding it. If it's leaking fluids or is a hazard, removal can be immediate. Unresolved violations are fined $100 to $2,500 each, and every day counts as a separate offense (§ 9.60.030).
So the sticker is your deadline. Call the day it appears, or before, and we'll aim to collect inside the window.
Do I need the title to sell a junk car in Highland?
For a newer car, yes. For an older one, you need the title or one specific substitute. Here's the rule as plainly as we can put it. To sell any junk car to a recycler in Indiana you need either the certificate of title (the BMV charges $15 for a replacement) or a BMV certificate of authority, which costs $4 to apply for on State Form 55018; both fees are listed in the BMV fee schedule. The certificate opens the door only once a car has reached 15 model years. Anything newer needs the title.
The reason we hold that line: under Indiana Code 9-32-9-29, as it stands after the 2024 SEA 65 amendment, taking a car of fewer than 15 model years with no title and no certificate counts as a Level 6 felony for whoever buys it, and the seller has a duty of their own under IC 9-22-5-18. When you call, read us what you have, even if it's only a registration or an insurance card, and we'll tell you which of the two routes your car can take. Our title guide goes deeper.
How does the truck reach Highland from the yard?
Highland is about 21 road miles from the Alsip yard, about 17 miles straight-line. The truck takes Cicero Avenue to the Tri-State, the Tri-State to the Kingery, and the Kingery into Indiana, where it becomes the Borman Expressway. Highland lies just south of the Borman, so the last stretch is Indianapolis Boulevard (US 41) heading into town.
Once you're inside the limits, the through streets are the ones to name: Indianapolis Boulevard from the Hammond line down to Main Street, Cline Avenue, Kennedy Avenue, Ridge Road between Cline and the Munster line, and 45th Avenue between the Griffith and Munster lines. Downtown is a small business district around Highway Avenue near Kennedy, and the Erie Lackawanna Trail cuts diagonally across town. Houses are numbered on the Hammond system, so say "Highland" with the street number. Or put the street and the car into the quote form near the top.
Where can the car wait when snow hits Highland?
Off the street, if you can manage it. Once 2 inches or more have fallen, Highland bans parking on every street until it has been cleared; cars have to go off-street or onto stretches already plowed, and violators are ticketed and then towed (§ 10.20.220 in the parking chapter). A dead car can't obey that. The snow route schedule (§ 10.30.140) includes Grand Boulevard, Highway Avenue, Prairie Avenue and Wirth Road, among others.
The other spots have limits too. An alley can hold a parked car only if 10 feet stay open and no driveway is blocked (§ 10.20.080). Some streets are reserved for residents and their visitors, and anyone else parked there can be cited and towed (§ 10.20.280). And on the driveway, the 5-day junk rule still runs.
Will you buy a car that flooded near the Little Calumet?
Yes. Parts of Highland have a history of flooding along the Little Calumet River, mostly in spring and mostly away from Ridge Road, which is the highest ground in town; 2006, 2007 and 2008 all brought significant floods. Flood water doesn't make a car worthless: the metal and many parts still count, though soaked wiring and interiors pull the figure down. Tell us roughly how deep it got. What decides a junk car's value has more on how condition feeds into the number.
Do you also collect next door to Highland?
Yes. Munster is directly west, and it lets an inoperable car stay in view for 20 days before counting it as abandoned, against Highland's 5. Hammond touches the north side, with Indianapolis Boulevard running straight from its line into Highland, and its own limit for a junk car in view is 30 days. Gary also borders Highland and goes further than either, barring a nonoperating vehicle from public and private premises alike. Griffith, on the Highland line as well, is in our area.
Across the state line, Lansing sits on the Illinois side of Munster, and there the paperwork follows Illinois rules instead of Indiana's. Every one of these pickups starts from the same place, and the yard's own town page covers Alsip.
Three more Highland questions
My car has flat tires and lapsed insurance but looks fine. Is it a junk vehicle in Highland?
Under the town code it can be. § 9.60.010 lists flat tires and the lack of current insurance as separate conditions, and either one is enough, so a car with an intact body can still draw the 5-day sticker if it sits where the public can see it.
Can you collect from a Highland apartment lot off Indianapolis Boulevard?
Yes, once the property manager or association has agreed. One Highland home in five is in a building of five or more units (20.3%, Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020 to 2024). Clear it with them, then give us the building and the parking spot.
Is Frog Hollow part of Highland?
Yes. Frog Hollow is the local name for Wicker Park Manor, one of Highland's subdivisions, and we pick up there the same as anywhere else in town. Give us the street address rather than the nickname, though.