Sell Your Junk Car in Shreveport, LA: Free Towing, Cash Handed Over at the Curb

A junk car in Shreveport is either a check you have not cashed or a code violation you have not received yet, and the difference is usually a phone call. Dial 1-800-935-8652, describe the vehicle, and a tow truck is dispatched to wherever it sits in Caddo Parish, from a Highland driveway to a lot off Mansfield Road. There is no yard to bring it to and nothing to sign at a counter; the driver hands you the cash when the car goes on the truck. Two things make this city different from most. The first is that Shreveport’s property code counts an unlicensed car or one with a single flat tire as inoperable, so the clock can start earlier than owners expect. The second is that Louisiana titles are notarized documents, and the paperwork side deserves a few minutes of planning before the truck is on its way. Most vehicles here bring $150 to $700, and the sections below explain why.

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

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How to sell a junk car in Shreveport

The call to 1-800-935-8652 takes a few minutes. Have the year, make and model ready, then answer a short list: does it start, does it roll and steer, is the catalytic converter present, are any wheels or major parts gone, has it been in a wreck or a flood. The offer is built entirely on those answers, so give the driver the same car you described. Then tell us about the spot. Highland and South Highlands have older, tighter lots and a fair amount of on-street parking, which usually means a flatbed working from the curb. Shreve Island and the Anderson Island area sit inside bends of the Red River with curving streets and long driveways. Queensborough, Cedar Grove, Mooretown and Sunset Acres are mostly single-family lots with room to maneuver, though a car parked behind a house on soft ground may need a winch. Newer subdivisions along Ellerbe Road and Norris Ferry Road often have gated entries, so give us a code or meet the driver. Last, pull the Louisiana title, look for a lienholder on the face of it, and decide whether you need a duplicate. Both of those are notarized steps, and they take longer than the tow does.

What is a junk car worth in Shreveport?

Junk cars in Shreveport typically sell for $150 to $700. The single biggest factor is curb weight, because the floor of any offer is what a shredder pays per ton, which is why a three-quarter-ton pickup or a full-size SUV outearns a compact sedan even when both are equally dead. The catalytic converter is the next lever, and a missing one drops an offer sharply. After that comes the parts market: an intact engine, transmission, alternator and body panels that a dismantler can resell lift a car above scrap value, and the northwest Louisiana climate helps here. Winters are short and the roads are not salted, so undercarriages on twenty-year-old Shreveport cars tend to be solid. Humidity and standing water are the local enemies, and any car that sat in a low yard through a wet spring will have interior and electrical damage that the driver will spot. Two local sources of trade shape the market. Barksdale Air Force Base, across the river in Bossier Parish, carries more than 15,000 active-duty and Reserve members, and military moves leave behind cars nobody wants to haul. Haynesville Shale gas work put a lot of hard miles on trucks. Shreveport sits at the I-20 and I-49 junction, so hauls to processors are short and that keeps offers from being trimmed for transport.

Title and paperwork rules in Louisiana

Louisiana titles are issued by the state Office of Motor Vehicles and processed at OMV offices or through public tag agents, not by the Caddo Parish clerk. The first thing to settle is any lien. The OMV will not process a transfer without a properly released lien on the certificate of title, and if the lender never sent you the title after payoff, the Vehicle Application, form DPSMV 1799, carries an Affidavit of Non-Possession of Title by Lienholder that the lienholder signs and has notarized. The second is the signing itself: Louisiana requires the seller to assign the title to the buyer before a notary, and a separate bill of sale, if one is used, must also be notarized and state the actual price. If the title is simply gone, the same 1799 form has a Duplicate Title Affidavit; you mark lost, mutilated or never received, sign in front of a notary, and file at an OMV office, a public tag agent or by mail to P.O. Box 64886, Baton Rouge, LA 70896-4886. The OMV title fee is $68.50 with an $8 handling fee, and a public tag agent may charge a convenience fee of up to $23 on top. After the sale, file a Notice of Vehicle Transfer online at expresslane.la.gov so the OMV record shows the car left your hands.

Shreveport abandoned and inoperable vehicle rules

Shreveport regulates junk vehicles through Chapter 38 of its Code of Ordinances, Housing and Property Standards, Article II, Division 4, sections 38-31 through 38-41, most recently amended in 2022. Section 38-31 defines inoperable broadly: a vehicle that cannot legally be driven because it is unlicensed, wrecked, junked, wholly or partially dismantled, in disrepair, unable to move under its own power, or has one or more flat tires. Parking or storing such a vehicle anywhere except inside a garage or building that is itself in good repair is unlawful, and the section also bars pulling parts off one car to fix another if the donor becomes inoperable. When the Department of Property Standards learns of a violation, it serves written notice giving you ten days from receipt to comply, with a right of appeal to the environmental court under section 38-105. If nothing happens, code enforcement may enter the property, remove the vehicle and assess the costs against the property. Section 38-34 separately treats an inoperable vehicle left on private property for more than 48 hours as a nuisance subject to removal after three days following notice. Section 38-35 allows a carport only for a vehicle being actively repaired at least weekly and kept under an opaque cover, and a car whose only problem is a lapsed license or inspection may sit in a covered carport. Chapter 38 carries its own criminal penalty in section 38-115: a first conviction brings a fine of not less than $500 and up to 30 days in jail, plus restitution to the city for whatever it spent abating the nuisance; a second violation runs to $750 and 90 days, a third to $1,000 and six months, and each day the violation continues is a separate offense. Property Standards is at 1025 Shreveport Barksdale Hwy, (318) 673-6200.

Can You Sell a Junk Car in Shreveport Before It's Cited?

Yes, and speed matters more here than in most cities: Shreveport’s property code treats a single flat tire or an expired plate as inoperable, so a parked car can draw a citation before you have even listed it. Call 1-800-935-8652, describe the car, and a flatbed is dispatched anywhere in Caddo Parish, from a Highland driveway to the Barksdale side of the river; the driver pays cash the moment it’s hooked up. There is no office to visit and no title work until after the tow, since Louisiana’s notary rule on the title itself is the only paperwork that takes real planning. Most Shreveport vehicles bring $150 to $700.

Areas of Shreveport we tow from

Our trucks cover the whole city of Shreveport and the surrounding parts of Caddo Parish. Close to downtown that means Highland, Stoner Hill, Ledbetter Heights, Allendale and Queensborough. Along the Youree Drive corridor and the river we serve South Highlands, Pierremont, Broadmoor, Shreve Island, Anderson Island and Spring Lake. West and southwest of the I-20, I-49 and I-220 interchange we work Hollywood, Mooretown, Sunset Acres, Cedar Grove, Caddo Heights, Western Hills and the Pines Road area. South along the Inner Loop, Mansfield Road and Bert Kouns Industrial Loop we cover Southern Hills, University Terrace, Ellerbe Road Estates, Norris Ferry and Forbing. North Shreveport, including Cooper Road and the neighborhoods off North Market toward the I-49 and I-220 junction, is on the route as well. We also cross the Red River for Bossier City and the Barksdale area in Bossier Parish.

• Highland
• South Highlands
• Broadmoor
• Cedar Grove
• Queensborough
• Allendale
• Mooretown
• Pierremont
• Shreve Island
• Southern Hills
• Sunset Acres
• Caddo Heights

Frequently asked questions

What does a junk car sell for in Shreveport?

Typically $150 to $700. Weight sets the floor, so full-size trucks and SUVs with their drivetrain intact bring the most, and a stripped compact brings the least. The catalytic converter is the second biggest factor. Shreveport’s mild winters and unsalted roads mean older cars here keep more resellable parts than northern cars of the same age, which helps. Water damage hurts. Call 1-800-935-8652 and describe the car honestly for an exact figure.

Can Shreveport cite me for a car with a flat tire or expired plates?

Yes. Section 38-31 of the Shreveport Code of Ordinances defines an inoperable vehicle to include one that is unlicensed or has one or more flat tires, along with wrecked, dismantled or non-running cars. Keeping one anywhere other than inside a garage or sound building is unlawful. The one relief is in section 38-35: a car whose only defect is a lapsed license or inspection may be stored in a covered carport.

How many days does Shreveport give you to fix an inoperable vehicle violation?

Ten days from receipt of the written notice from the Department of Property Standards, under section 38-31(c). You can appeal the notice to the environmental court under section 38-105. If the violation is not abated and no timely appeal is filed, section 38-31(d) lets code enforcement enter the property, remove the vehicle and charge the cost against the property. Section 38-34 also treats an inoperable car left more than 48 hours as a nuisance subject to removal after three days following notice.

Is there an exception for a project car in a carport?

A narrow one. Section 38-35(a)(3) permits a vehicle in a carport only if it is being actively repaired on at least a weekly basis, and the vehicle and its parts must be neatly covered with an opaque cover when work is not underway. A tarp thrown over a car that has not moved in a year does not meet that test. Fully enclosed garages and licensed repair businesses are the other exceptions.

What is the penalty for a junk vehicle violation in Shreveport?

Section 38-115 makes violating any requirement of Chapter 38 a misdemeanor. A first conviction carries a fine of not less than $500 and/or up to 30 days in jail, plus restitution to the city for its abatement expenses; a second conviction is not less than $750 and/or up to 90 days, and a third is not less than $1,000 and/or up to six months. Each day the violation continues counts as a separate offense. On top of that, the city can remove the vehicle and assess its costs against the property under section 38-31(d), and the owner of a removed vehicle is liable for the expenses under section 38-39.

The lender never sent me my title after I paid off the car. What now?

Louisiana form DPSMV 1799 includes an Affidavit of Non-Possession of Title by Lienholder. The lienholder signs it before a notary and marks whether the title was never received or was received and surrendered to you. That goes in with your duplicate title application, which also has to be notarized. File at an OMV office or through a public tag agent, which may add a convenience fee of up to $23. Budget $68.50 for the OMV title fee and $8 for handling.

Do I have to go to Baton Rouge to get a Louisiana duplicate title?

No. The application can be mailed to the OMV at P.O. Box 64886, Baton Rouge, LA 70896-4886, or handled locally at an OMV office or a public tag agent, which the state lists on its locations page. Public tag agents are authorized to process title applications including duplicates. What you cannot skip is the notary: the Duplicate Title Affidavit on form 1799 must be signed by the owner and notarized, or witnessed by an OMV or tag agent employee when you sign in their presence.

Do you pick up in Bossier City and on the Barksdale side of the river?

Yes. We cross the Red River for Bossier City and the neighborhoods around Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier Parish, and we run the I-220 loop and the northern I-49 segment for the north end of Caddo Parish. If you are moving on military orders and leaving a car behind, tell us the date you need it gone. Access is what shapes the job, so mention a gated subdivision, a car boxed in behind others, or one parked on soft ground.

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

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