Illinois salvage title rules: Salvage Certificate, Junking Certificate, Rebuilt and Flood

The Illinois Secretary of State titles vehicles in Illinois. A vehicle that becomes salvage gets a Salvage Certificate in place of its title, and a junk vehicle gets a Junking Certificate. Illinois also limits who can take a vehicle on a Salvage Certificate, and that limit shapes how these vehicles are sold.

These notes sum up the Illinois Secretary of State's published rules as of October 2026. They aren't legal advice, so check with the Illinois Secretary of State before you buy, repair or register a vehicle.

Illinois's words

How a vehicle gets a Salvage Certificate

When an insurer pays a total-loss claim, Illinois treats the insurer as the owner and the vehicle as salvage, and the insurer applies for a Salvage Certificate in its own name. After a theft claim, that applies only if the vehicle is recovered with damage that would have made it a total loss. The registered owner can keep the vehicle by agreement with the insurer only when the damage is hail alone and doesn't affect the vehicle's operational safety, or when the vehicle is 9 model years old or older.

Other routes in include a self-insured company's vehicle that's to be sold in Illinois and that the company considers a total loss, or that would cost more than 70% of its fair market value to repair; a repossessed vehicle, or one from a fleet of more than five commercial vehicles, that would cost more than 50% of its fair market value to repair; and a vehicle a licensed rebuilder, repairer, dealer or remittance agent applies to title when it knows, or reasonably should have known, that the damage is more than 50% of its fair market value.

A flood vehicle is one where rising water came over the door sill and into the passenger compartment or trunk. It's salvage only if repairs would cost more than 50% of its fair market value. Either way, Illinois puts the word flood on its salvage certificate or title and on every title after that.

Who can take a Salvage Certificate

Illinois law lets a Salvage Certificate be assigned to licensed rebuilders, automotive parts recyclers and scrap processors, to out-of-state salvage vehicle buyers (people licensed in another state who acquire salvage or junk vehicles mainly to take them out of Illinois), and, for a vehicle from a police impoundment, to a municipal fire department. Acquiring, selling or transferring the title to a salvage or junk vehicle without authority is a Class 3 felony.

That's why, on DNF, Illinois Salvage Certificate listings take offers only from buyers with a license number on their business profile: Illinois law lets only licensed rebuilders, automotive parts recyclers and scrap processors, or salvage buyers licensed in another state, take a vehicle on an Illinois Salvage Certificate. To make an offer on one, add your license number to your business profile. A Junking Certificate, by contrast, can be assigned to anyone.

Buying one: what to get from the seller

Ask to see the document before you pay, and check it's in the seller's name. For a Salvage Certificate, make sure you're one of the buyers Illinois allows. For a Junking Certificate, remember there's no road back. For a vehicle with a Rebuilt title, ask for the signed Disclosure of Rebuilt Vehicle Status form: Illinois makes it a crime to knowingly sell a rebuilt-title vehicle without one, with intent to defraud or deceive.

Compare the VIN on the paperwork with the one on the dashboard and the driver's door frame. Run the full VIN through an NMVTIS vehicle history report from a provider listed at vehiclehistory.gov, and check for open recalls at nhtsa.gov/recalls. Salvage and junk vehicles can't be driven on Illinois roads. The exceptions are for a salvage vehicle going to and from its inspection with special plates, or under a short-term permit, so plan a trailer or a tow.

Vehicles that can never be titled again

A vehicle on a Junking Certificate will never get an Illinois title again. Its holder can keep it, move it and transfer it to anyone. On DNF, a Junking Certificate vehicle is listed for parts or scrap only.

Flood and fire on DNF

Illinois lets a flood vehicle be rebuilt and retitled, and the word flood stays on every title it ever gets. On DNF, an Illinois listing with a flood brand keeps the state's word and carries a high-risk notice: water damage can hide in wiring and safety systems, and Canada won't accept a flood-branded vehicle as a vehicle at all, only as parts. When the title carries a flood brand or the seller reports flood or fire damage, the Score stays in the Parts only band (0 to 24). That's our rule, not Illinois's.

Next steps

For any listing other than a Salvage Certificate, no dealer license is needed to make an offer on DNF. The Illinois guide to buying without a dealer license covers the licenses Illinois issues, and the Illinois rebuilt title guide walks through the rebuild and the inspection.

Every Illinois listing on DNF shows the title word as the seller reports it, with the damage, the condition, photos and a Score. See salvage vehicles for sale in Illinois.