Sell Your Junk Car in Fargo, ND: Free Towing, Cash Handed Over at Pickup

Selling a junk car in Fargo means one phone call to 1-800-935-8652, a quote based on what the vehicle actually is, and a tow truck that pays you when it loads. There is no yard to drive to on the west side of town and no counter to stand at. Give us the year, make, model, whether it runs, rolls and steers, and whether the catalytic converter is still bolted on, and you will have a number before you hang up. Then tell us where it sits, because Fargo’s core neighborhoods and its south-side subdivisions are different tow jobs. Hawthorne and Horace Mann were platted with alleys; Osgood and Urban Plains were not. If the North Dakota title is lost, say so on the first call. The duplicate costs $5 and does not need a notary, but it has to be in your hand before the truck arrives.

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

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How to sell a junk car in Fargo

The quote is built from your description, so be exact. A pickup with a dead transmission and every part still on it is a different vehicle from a sedan someone already stripped for the converter. Once you accept, we schedule the tow and the driver pays the agreed amount when the car is on the deck. Nothing is deducted for towing. Access in Fargo splits by era. The core neighborhoods in the city’s Core Neighborhoods Master Plan, meaning Hawthorne, Horace Mann, Roosevelt, Washington, Clara Barton, Jefferson/Carl Ben, Lewis & Clark and Madison/Unicorn Park, were laid out before I-29 and I-94 existed, and alleys are part of the infrastructure there. If the car is in a garage off an alley behind a bungalow near 8th Street South, say so, because a full-size flatbed may need to stage on the street. University Drive and 10th Street are one-way pairs, which affects how the truck approaches. South and southwest, in Osgood, Bluemont Lakes and Urban Plains, driveways are wide but subdivision covenants and winter snow ridges come up. North of 19th Avenue, near NDSU rentals, tell us if the car is on a rental lot and who holds the title.

What is a junk car worth in Fargo?

Expect $150 to $700 for a typical junk vehicle in Fargo, and expect the number to move with weight first. A three-quarter-ton pickup, a full-size van or a body-on-frame SUV with the engine and transmission still in it sits at the top of that range. A compact with the converter cut off sits at the bottom, because the converter is often the single most valuable part on an older car and its absence is obvious the moment the driver looks underneath. Parts are the second lever. A vehicle whose doors, glass, alternator and wheels can be resold is worth more than bare scrap tonnage, and honest disclosure of what has been pulled keeps the driveway quote equal to the phone quote. The third lever is where the metal goes. The Fargo and West Fargo area has its own salvage and dismantling yards, so a pickup here does not carry the long haul that quietly lowers offers in thinner parts of the state. Two Fargo-specific notes. Since 1997 the city has purchased and removed more than 200 properties from flood-prone areas along its line of protection, so a vehicle that sat in a garage that took water should be described that way. And a car that has been unlicensed or inoperative long enough to draw an Inspections Department notice has a cost attached to keeping it, which changes the math on waiting for a better price.

Title and paperwork rules in North Dakota

North Dakota titles are issued by the state, not the county, through the NDDOT Motor Vehicle Division. Fargo has a title-issuing branch at 745 45th Street South, Suite H, phone 701-282-5070, open Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with appointments taking priority over walk-ins. If your title is lost, stolen or damaged, file SFN 2872, the Application for Certificate of Title and Registration of a Vehicle, check Duplicate Title, mark the reason as Lost, Stolen or Mutilated, and pay $5. The form must be signed by the registered owner. It does not call for a notary. You can hand it in at the Fargo branch or mail it to the Motor Vehicle Division, 608 E Boulevard Ave, Bismarck ND 58505-0780. One catch in NDCC 39-05-09.1: if the state’s record still shows a lienholder, the duplicate is mailed to that lienholder, not to you, unless you include a Release of Lien by Legal Owner, SFN 2876, signed by the lender before a notary. When you sell, you endorse the assignment on the title with the buyer’s name and selling price under NDCC 39-05-17. If the vehicle is less than nine model years old, a Damage/Salvage Disclosure Statement, SFN 18609, goes with it. Plan the duplicate before the tow, not after.

Fargo abandoned and inoperable vehicle rules

Fargo regulates junk vehicles under Article 13-09 of the Fargo Municipal Code, and its definition is stricter than most people assume. Under section 13-0901, a junk automobile is any motor vehicle not licensed for North Dakota highway use for more than 60 days, and also any vehicle, licensed or not, that is inoperative for any reason for more than 15 days. Fifteen days is the clock that catches the car that will not start. Section 13-0903 makes it unlawful to store a junk automobile on private property except inside a completely enclosed building, so a garage works and a tarp or an open driveway does not. Section 13-0904 bars dismantling or pulling parts off any automobile outside an enclosed building, which covers the weekend salvage project. Enforcement runs through written notice under section 13-0907: the city notifies the owner or occupant that it intends to remove the vehicle, the owner has 12 days to remove it, plus three more if the notice came by mail, and after that the city removes it and assesses the cost against the real property. You can appeal to the Board of City Commissioners within 10 days of receiving the notice. A violation is an infraction under section 13-0910, punishable under section 1-0301 by a fine of up to $1,000, and each day counts as a separate infraction. Complaints about unlicensed or inoperable vehicles on private property go to the Inspections Department at 701-241-1561; vehicles abandoned on a street go to the Fargo Police at 701-451-7660.

Cash for junk cars in Fargo, ND: the short answer

Cash for a junk car in Fargo starts with one call to 1-800-935-8652; you get a number for the vehicle as it sits, and the driver pays it when the car is on the deck. Fargo runs the shortest clock in the state for a stalled car: the Municipal Code calls any vehicle a junk automobile after 15 days inoperative, for any reason, or 60 days unlicensed, and storage outside a fully enclosed building is the violation by itself. Cass County’s own NDDOT branch sits on 45th Street South, so a lost title gets handled locally, not mailed to Bismarck.

Areas of Fargo we tow from

We pick up anywhere in Fargo and the rest of Cass County. In the core that means Downtown, Hawthorne along 8th Street South and Island Park, Horace Mann, Roosevelt near NDSU, Washington north of downtown, and Clara Barton, Jefferson/Carl Ben, Lewis & Clark and Madison/Unicorn Park along Main Avenue and 13th Avenue South. West of 25th Street we cover West Acres, Prairiewood, Woodhaven, Brandt Crossing and Amber Valley. South of I-94 we work Osgood, Bluemont Lakes, Rose Creek, Urban Plains, Deer Creek and Davies. I-29 and I-94 organize routing, so a car near either interchange is usually the quickest slot of the day. We also tow in West Fargo and Horace, and across the Red River into Moorhead and Dilworth, Minnesota. Where the car sits inside the metro has no bearing on the number.

• Downtown
• Hawthorne
• Horace Mann
• Roosevelt/NDSU
• Washington
• Clara Barton
• Jefferson/Carl Ben
• Lewis & Clark
• Madison/Unicorn Park
• West Acres
• Osgood
• Bluemont Lakes

Frequently asked questions

How long can a car sit without running before Fargo calls it a junk automobile?

Fifteen days. Section 13-0901 of the Fargo Municipal Code defines a junk automobile as any motor vehicle inoperative for any reason for more than 15 days, licensed or not, and separately any vehicle unlicensed for North Dakota highway use for more than 60 days. That is a shorter window than many cities use. Once the definition is met, section 13-0903 allows storage only inside a completely enclosed building.

What happens after the city sends a junk vehicle notice in Fargo?

Under section 13-0907 the city notifies the owner or occupant in writing that it intends to remove the vehicle. You then have 12 days to remove it yourself, plus three additional days if the notice was mailed. If it is still there, the city removes it and assesses the removal cost against the real property. Section 13-0908 lets you appeal to the Board of City Commissioners within 10 days of receiving the notice.

How much is the fine for a junk car violation in Fargo?

A violation of Article 13-09 is an infraction under section 13-0910, and section 1-0301 sets the infraction fine at up to $1,000. Each day of violation is a separate infraction, so a car left in the yard for a month after notice is exposed to more than one fine. The city can also charge removal costs to the property. Selling the car for $150 to $700 is usually cheaper than absorbing that.

My North Dakota title is lost. What do I file and what does it cost?

File SFN 2872, the Application for Certificate of Title and Registration of a Vehicle, check Duplicate Title, mark Lost, Stolen or Mutilated, and pay $5. The registered owner signs; no notary is required. Take it to the Fargo branch at 745 45th Street South, Suite H, or mail it to the Motor Vehicle Division at 608 E Boulevard Ave, Bismarck ND 58505-0780. If a lien is still on record, the duplicate goes to the lienholder unless you attach SFN 2876.

Can I pull the catalytic converter or parts off before you come?

You can, but two things follow. Section 13-0904 of the Fargo Municipal Code makes it unlawful to dismantle or remove parts from any automobile except inside a completely enclosed building, so do it in the garage, not the driveway. And a car without its converter drops toward the bottom of the $150 to $700 range, because the converter is often worth more than the parts you would sell separately. Tell us what is missing when you call.

Do you pick up in the alleys behind the older Fargo neighborhoods?

Yes. Hawthorne, Horace Mann, Roosevelt and the other core neighborhoods were built with alleys, and the city’s own master plan calls them an important part of the infrastructure there. A full-size flatbed may need to stage on the street and winch from the alley, so tell us whether the car is in a detached garage, behind a fence, or blocked in. That lets the driver bring the right rig and finish in one trip.

Does the car have to run, and do I get paid at pickup?

It does not need to run, roll or steer. Blown engines, seized transmissions, hail damage and cars that have sat since a Fargo winter are the bulk of what we buy. The driver pays the quoted amount when the vehicle is loaded, with nothing subtracted for towing. If a driver ever tried to change the number over a condition you already disclosed, you would be right to refuse to release the car.

Do you also cover West Fargo and Moorhead?

Yes. We tow throughout Fargo and Cass County, including West Fargo and Horace, and we pick up across the Red River in Moorhead and Dilworth, Minnesota. Because Minnesota vehicles carry Minnesota titles, the North Dakota form and fee facts on this page apply only to North Dakota-titled cars; ask us about a Minnesota-titled vehicle when you call. Routing follows I-29 and I-94, and distance inside the metro does not change the offer.

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

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Cash for junk cars across North Dakota