Junk Car Removal in St. Cloud, MN: What It Pays, What the City Requires

St. Cloud gives you 14 days. Under Section 1005:60 of the St. Cloud Code of Ordinances, once the Health and Inspections Department posts a notice on an abandoned or junk vehicle, you have 14 days to remove it or put it inside a building, and failing to do so is a misdemeanor with the abatement bill assessed to your property taxes. The ordinance was rewritten by Ordinance 2968 in July 2025, so older advice about the city looking the other way is out of date. 1-800-We-Junk-Cars is the faster route. Call 1-800-935-8652 with the year, make, model and an honest account of the condition, and you get a quote on the phone. We send a tow truck to the car anywhere in the city, on the Stearns, Benton or Sherburne County side of the lines, and the driver pays cash before the car is loaded. Typical payouts run $150 to $700 depending on weight, parts and the converter.

Call 1-800-935-8652 for a free offer on your vehicle in St. Cloud. Free towing, cash on pickup.

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How to sell a junk car in St. Cloud

Start with what the car is and what it lacks. A quote built on a complete drivetrain and a converter that is actually gone will not survive the driver’s walk-around, so say up front if the exhaust has been cut or the engine pulled. Next, where is it. St. Cloud’s core neighborhoods, Southside-University, Lake George, Seberger-Roosevelt, St. John Cantius and Northside-Hester Park, are on the old grid with alleys and single-car garages, and a car that has been parked behind one since the last winter is often fenced or snowed in. The Southeast district along Kilian Boulevard and the older blocks of Pantown have narrower lots. Between November 1 and April 1 the city’s odd-even winter parking rule bans overnight parking on one side of the street from 1 a.m. to 7 a.m., and in the blocks around St. Cloud State the posted rule is no parking those hours on alternating days, so a car that cannot move should not be on the street at all in winter. Have the title or tell us it is missing. If a lien shows on it, we will explain what the lender has to send before the sale can close.

What is a junk car worth in St. Cloud?

Expect $150 to $700 and expect the number to track three things: what the car weighs, which parts still have a resale market, and whether the catalytic converter is on it. Distance to a processor matters more in St. Cloud than in the Twin Cities, and the news is better than you would guess for a city 65 miles out. EMR operates a yard in St. Cloud itself at 119 6th Avenue NE, and its Becker shredder sits between St. Cloud and the metro, so the tow leg from a St. Cloud driveway is short and the offer does not absorb a long haul. The other factor is the climate. St. Cloud averages about 48 inches of snow a year and has recorded 43 below zero, which means salted roads for months and cold starts that finish off marginal engines. Cars past their tenth winter here commonly have rust in the rockers, floor pans and brake lines, and rusty cars sell as tonnage because the used parts are not worth pulling. A truck or full-size SUV with a straight frame and its converter intact is what reaches the top of the range; a stripped compact with a rotted floor is the floor.

Title and paperwork rules in Minnesota

Start with the lien, because that is what stalls sales in St. Cloud. If the front of your Minnesota title lists a secured party, DVS will not transfer ownership without a signed lien release card or a notarized lien release from every lienholder shown, so contact the lender before you book a pickup. With a clean title, sign it over to the buyer; Minnesota expects the transfer to happen on the title within ten days of the sale. If the title is lost, stolen or destroyed, file form PS2067A, Application for Duplicate Title, Registration, Cab or Lien Card, with Driver and Vehicle Services. The cost is $21.50: $7.25 for the duplicate, a $2.25 technology surcharge and a $12 filing fee, with $1 more if a deputy registrar handles it. Nothing on the form requires a notary; you sign a certification that you own the vehicle and never signed the original over. Titles are a state function, so it does not matter whether you live on the Stearns, Benton or Sherburne County side of town: any deputy registrar in Minnesota can take it, and most of them print the duplicate the same day. By mail, send it to DVS, 445 Minnesota Street, St. Paul, MN 55101-5187.

St. Cloud abandoned and inoperable vehicle rules

St. Cloud treats junk cars as a public nuisance under Chapter X, Section 1005 of its Code of Ordinances, rewritten by Ordinance 2968 on July 7, 2025. Section 1005:10 defines a junk vehicle as one that is three years old or older, extensively damaged, apparently inoperable, without a valid current registration plate, and worth only its scrap value. Section 1005:60 prohibits keeping an abandoned or junk vehicle on any real property, including private property, for 14 successive days unless it is completely enclosed in a building or belongs to a licensed business that needs it. The enforcement officer posts a weatherproof notice on the vehicle and mails a copy to the last registered owner and the property owner; the notice sets a date 14 days out. Missing that date is a misdemeanor, and the vehicle can be removed and disposed of under Minnesota Statutes Chapter 168B. Section 1005:70 assigns enforcement to the Health and Inspections Department and adds a $75 administrative fee to the actual abatement cost, $60 per hour if city staff are tied up more than an hour, all levied as a special assessment, plus $50 when the account goes to the county auditor. The city also adopts the 2018 International Property Maintenance Code under Section 305:02, the source of its rule against inoperative or unlicensed vehicles on any premises. Call Health and Inspections at 320-255-7214.

Which County Office Handles Your St. Cloud Junk Car Title?

St. Cloud sits across three counties, and that matters once the car is gone: Stearns, Benton and Sherburne each run a separate titling counter, and the one nearest you depends on which side of the river or the city line you are on. The city ordinance does not split by county, though. Section 1005:60 gives you 14 days from a posted notice to move or enclose a junk vehicle, city-wide. Skip the counters and the clock. Call 1-800-935-8652, tell us where the car sits, and we tow it free and pay cash the same day, Stearns, Benton or Sherburne side alike.

Areas of St. Cloud we tow from

Coverage runs the whole city on both banks of the Mississippi. West of the river we work downtown and Lower Town, Barden Park, Southside-University around St. Cloud State, Lake George, Seberger-Roosevelt, St. John Cantius and Edelbrock, McKinley-Railroad Parks, Northside-Hester Park and Pantown along Veterans Drive. East of the river we cover Northeast Wilson Park and the Southeast district around Kilian Boulevard, Munsinger Gardens and Riverside Park. Routing follows I-94, US-10, Highway 15 and Highway 23, which is how the driver reaches you whether the car is on a city lot or a rural parcel at the edge of the tri-county line. We also pick up in Sartell, Sauk Rapids, Waite Park and the surrounding Stearns, Benton and Sherburne County townships, and the Becker corridor along US-10 toward the metro.

• Southside-University
• Lake George
• Seberger-Roosevelt
• St. John Cantius/Edelbrock
• Northeast Wilson Park
• McKinley-Railroad Parks
• Northside-Hester Park
• Pantown
• Southeast
• Barden Park
• Lower Town
• Downtown

Frequently asked questions

How many days does St. Cloud give me to move a junk car?

Fourteen. Section 1005:60 of the St. Cloud Code of Ordinances bars keeping an abandoned or junk vehicle on any real property, private property included, for 14 successive days unless it is completely enclosed in a building. Once the enforcement officer posts notice and mails a copy to you, the notice names a date 14 days out. If the car is still outside on that date, the failure is a misdemeanor and the city can remove and dispose of the vehicle under Minnesota Statutes Chapter 168B.

What does St. Cloud charge if the city removes the car for me?

Section 1005:70 adds a $75 administrative fee on top of the actual cost of abatement, bills $60 per hour when city staff spend more than an hour on the job, and levies the total against the property as a special assessment. If the account is certified to the county auditor for collection, a further $50 charge applies. Compare that with a free tow and $150 to $700 in hand, and the arithmetic settles itself.

What counts as a junk vehicle under St. Cloud’s ordinance?

Section 1005:10 uses five tests together: the vehicle is three years old or older, extensively damaged with items such as broken or missing wheels, motor, drive train or transmission, apparently inoperable, without a valid current registration plate, and worth roughly only its scrap. An inoperable vehicle is defined separately as one that cannot be legally and safely driven under its own power. Riding mowers and snow blowers are excluded from the motor vehicle definition, so the ordinance is aimed at cars and trucks.

I live on the Sherburne County side of St. Cloud. Where do I handle title paperwork?

Anywhere. Minnesota titles are issued by the state Driver and Vehicle Services, not the county, so you can use any deputy registrar office in the state regardless of which of the three counties your address falls in. The Stearns County License Center in St. Cloud lists title transfers among its motor vehicle services. Duplicate titles use form PS2067A, and most deputy registrars can print the replacement the same day.

Does a duplicate Minnesota title need to be notarized?

No. Form PS2067A carries a certification you sign stating you are the owner or secured party and that the original was never assigned or surrendered; there is no notary block on the form. DVS issues the duplicate only to the owner named on the original or to a legal representative with power of attorney, and if the original turns up later it has to be returned to DVS. The mail-in total is $21.50, and a $1 surcharge is added at a deputy registrar office.

Can you get a junk car out from behind a garage in the Southside or Lake George neighborhoods?

Usually, yes. Those blocks were laid out with alleys, so the driver approaches from the back and winches the car onto a flatbed. What we need to know in advance is whether the car rolls and steers, whether it is fenced in or blocked by another vehicle, and whether the alley has been plowed in winter. If a wheel is seized or missing, say so; a dolly or skates come on the truck only when we know to bring them.

Does winter parking enforcement affect a car I am about to junk?

It can, and it is easy to forget on a car nobody drives. From November 1 through April 1, St. Cloud’s odd-even rule prohibits parking on one side of the street between 1 a.m. and 7 a.m. every night regardless of snowfall, and the blocks near St. Cloud State use posted alternating-day bans for the same hours. During a declared snow emergency any vehicle violating a restriction is ticketed and towed at the owner’s expense. A car that cannot be moved should be sold before the season, not after the first tow.

Why does the driver need my ID and a signed statement at pickup?

Minnesota Statutes 168A.1501 requires a scrap vehicle operator to keep a permanent record of every purchase that includes the VIN and plate, a copy of the seller’s photo identification, a copy of the title, and a statement the seller signs under penalty of perjury that the vehicle is not stolen and is free of liens. Under Section 168A.153, a dealer buying a vehicle to dismantle or destroy reports it to DVS within ten days. Having your license and the signed title ready keeps the handoff to a few minutes.

Ready to get rid of it? Call 1-800-935-8652 and we will quote your car in St. Cloud over the phone, tow it free, and pay you cash at pickup.

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Cash for junk cars across Minnesota