Front clips in illinois

Question for you car guys, especially if experienced with illinois car law.
I regularly pick up from a body shop. Usually just fenders, hoods, etc. Load and go. They ended up putting out a couple front clip carcasses after using all the parts they needed off of them. I called my usual yard and a couple others around and none of them will take the clips. I finally got a hold of a yard that told me over the phone, quote, as long as you have PAPERWORK we'll take them. Well, low and behold, I load one up on a trailer, make the half hour drive to the place, and when I get there they tell me I need the actual title. So, not wanting to bring the clip back to the pickup point, I took it home and let's just say, my usual yard takes front clips as long as it doesn't look like a front clip. I know that's kind of a grey area action to take, however I didn't fret too much as it came from a trusted established business and I had the original invoice from the junk yard that sold it to them. Not like I stole a car and chopped it. Now however, there's still 3 clips to be dealt with and I'm sure more will pop up eventually. So my question for you guys, is there any way to get a title for whats obviously a totalled car? Or is there some sort of certification I'd need to be able to legally break them up? Or am I pretty much stuck giving my yards shredder a head start so to speak?

I would think your a$$ would be covered with the paperwork from the other yard that came with the clips. That shows the "paper trail" of the parts.

I figured that as a given. Always cyoa. But, my biggest question is, is there any way to make this a pick up whole, haul, drop off situation? I've tried reading the illinois laws on scrap cars and the way they write laws here, you gotta be a lawyer to even half understand what most of them say. Lol. But everything leads to these clips as being in some sort of automobile pergatory were they can't be scrapped but can't be titled.

About the only difference between a legal and illegal "machine gun" is the Federal TAX stamp.

Much the same with many other things.

Seems that you are stuck with cutting them up, unless you find a yard that understands the red tape trail. Then If you had the paper trail from when the clips were salvaged I would think you could find a yard that would figure out the red tape and just add some more to the file.

Many years ago I studied up on salvage rights, rules and laws and found that there are what could be called legal loopholes when it comes to the acts of abandoned property and salvage.

What most comes down to is that it's the outright criminal parts and acts that are a no no.

It's mostly in the paper work and red tape.

I'm not saying that anyone should break any laws, rules, regulations and such. Just saying that there is a method to the madness.

The yard you take them to must be like a yard I go to that has a manager that has very little power to "do their own personal thinking". I'm not saying their stupid or such, much the opposite. It is the larger company that tells them that they must do certain things a certain way with NO exceptions.

That is why you will see STUPID things going on in these type of feeder yards. The mixing of materials and tossing more valuable scrap with the crap scrap.

I asked about a item that I saw in a pile at the yard and was told no, that nothing can be sold or traded to the public as it's company policy.

The reason that it is set up this way is that a feeder yard is like a franchise of sorts and a dishonest manager can cause many problems if given free hand at what is best for the yard and public.

The things not being sorted better and such is designed to be as idiot new guy proof as possible. They set many things up so that a trained chimp could do it simply put.

If the yard you go to is not a feeder yard then please excuse me as when you said they wouldn't take the clips with paper work it smelled of feeder yard rules and policy.

I'm remembering why we left Illinois, now.

If that law is like the agricultural laws we dealt with, the easiest thing to do would be to haul them out of state if you're near the border of the state. Barring that, you'll be in for a lot of paperwork. Illinois did not ratify the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1998. ;)

I think a lot of it has to do with how, just like any other law in this state, the laws are written to protect a few at the cost of hundreds. According to this article,

Illinois Salvage Title Laws - Register Used Car

Illinois is one of the strictest and most difficult states in which to receive a title once a vehicle is considered totalled or salvage. Now, I'm all for laws preventing chop shops and any other illegal activity, car related or otherwise. But when you think about it, these clips are from cars that clearly were so messed up, at least in the back end, the only thing worth saving is the front for parts. Before posting this thread, I did the considerate thing as far as forum ediquete goes and searched and read before posting a duplicate post. I came across a number of out of state posts that seemed to show that all you guys have to do with a car without a title is show you bought it, show id, and/or cut it in half. And here I am in stupid illinois with a quarter of a car, clearly bought and sold to/from established businesses, and due to our laws either the yards don't wanna touch them, or you need so much paperwork it almost isn't worth turning in unless it's yours.

Sorry for the partial rant in my post, but like so many here, this state makes me so mad, if I didn't have so much family and a great 9 to 5 (well, 6-330 lol) here, I'd leave this place far behind me and never look back. But that's a topic for another discussion on a different day.

How do they expect a title on a front clip, that's not even a majority of the car. The part with the motor/trans should be the titled part.
Boy am I cornfused.

Unless front clips include the cab section, I couldn't see them being anything other than metal parts, either.

When we moved from Illinois, we had a 1987 Chevrolet (And still do). It turns out that we never had the title switched to a Wyoming one. Luckily, we found the Illinois title from the 90s, but I read the procedures to acquiring a lost one from the state of Illinois first. What an ordeal that would have been!

At least we know that it wouldn't be easy for someone to run around, stealing front clips. ;)

I know next to nothing on this subject, have a friend who owns a junk yard, mostly does trucks, interesting question to ask him. I know we have many members here that do this for a living, hopefully they will soon answer.

I know that part number identifying and linking major parts to VIN's is of increasing concern with stopping auto theft for the parts (chop shops).

Part 541: Federal Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention Standard
Scope and Purpose:
This standard specifies performance requirements for identifying numbers or symbols to be placed on major parts of certain passenger motor vehicles. The purpose of this standard is to reduce the incidence of motor vehicle thefts by facilitating the tracing and recovery of parts from stolen vehicles.

http://i58.tinypic.com/2mfapav.png

http://i59.tinypic.com/1zocmcn.png

This is what they look like when I get them. My understanding is, when the body shop gets them, they have everything up front complete minus the drivetrain. So all the panels, radiator, supports etc are there. No engine, trans, or suspension. They pay between 500-1200 for this depending on the car. But it saves them money vs buying all the parts individually. Once they take all the panels they need, I get the leftovers.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mike1286

https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1Q...su_PpeypHbH1-v

https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1Q...vXYDs2SKpROahO

This is what they look like when I get them. My understanding is, when the body shop gets them, they have everything up front complete minus the drivetrain. So all the panels, radiator, supports etc are there. No engine, trans, or suspension. They pay between 500-1200 for this depending on the car. But it saves them money vs buying all the parts individually. Once they take all the panels they need, I get the leftovers.

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Couldn't see any pictures but I imagine a few minutes with a sawzall and my yard would take it as unprepared all day long.

Fixed the image links.

That part does have a vin number on it. Go see a lawyer. The laws in Illinois and in particularly in Chicago are far different from the rest of the U.S. Mike

Looks like there may be some good non metal parts to salvage from those wrecks.

Might get more then scrap. Any air bags and sensors? Heater cores & fans, fuse assembles and such.

Miked - I may end up having to go that route. I'll give a bit more time here in the hopes a seasoned illinoisan can chime in. Lol.

Childhooddream- I wish I had the room to hold onto stuff for better than scrap sale. I do break down the dash to get the wire and whatnot, but it all goes in the corresponding scrap pile in my truck bed. Unfortunately, the wife and I are in a 2nd floor condo. And what used to be our walk in closet (2nd bedroom lol) is in process of being cleared out and made a nursery. We're due with our first at the end of October.