Sell a junk car in New Orleans: East, Ninth Ward, Mid-City
Junk car pickup across New Orleans, from the East and the Lower Ninth Ward to Mid-City and Algiers. What NOPD's 48-hour notice means and what to do next.
Who buys junk cars in New Orleans?
NOLA Junk Car Buyers is a website and phone line. Calls from New Orleans go to a towing and salvage yard on Paris Road in Chalmette, which makes the offer, picks up the car and pays you.
Give the year, make, model, what is wrong with it, what paperwork you have and where it sits. With that, the yard gives you its number.
New Orleans has more dead cars on the street than the city can tow. Selling yours to a yard in time keeps it from becoming a ticket, a tag, or a tow lot bill.
The city’s junk car problem, in numbers
In 2024, New Orleans 311 logged more than 7,000 abandoned or junk vehicle requests, and nearly 4,700 were still open when Fox 8 reported it in December. When the Department of Public Works decides a car is junk, it puts a yellow tag on it saying the car will be scrapped.
That backlog cuts both ways. Your car may sit a long time before anyone acts. But once a neighbor reports it, the clock starts.
What NOPD’s notice means
Under NOPD’s abandoned and nuisance vehicle policy, officers post a windshield notice telling the owner to move the car within 48 hours. A stripped or junk car gets referred to Public Works through the Towing Allocation Officer at 504-658-8100.
The city counts a car as abandoned when it is inoperable on public property more than three days, or left on private property without the owner’s consent more than three days. A “nuisance vehicle” includes one that harbors rats or mosquitoes, collects pools of water, has weeds over 8 inches around it, or has sharp, jagged metal.
Cars left on the interstate are a different matter. Those are handled by Louisiana State Police and DOTD, not NOPD.
If there is a notice on your car right now, read what to do about NOPD’s 48-hour notice and then call us.
Flooding depends on the block
New Orleans floods unevenly, and that matters for a car’s value. On August 5, 2017, the city’s gauges recorded 9.43 inches in Mid-City, 5.49 in Broadmoor and 4.71 in Lakeview, while New Orleans East got just 0.74 inches. The National Weather Service published an analysis of that storm.
In the Lower Ninth Ward, the Industrial Canal floodwall breached around 5 a.m. on August 29, 2005, with water reported over 10 feet deep.
If your car sat in water, Louisiana requires you to tell the buyer in writing. Here is how selling a flooded car works.
Getting your car to the yard
The yard is on Paris Road in Chalmette, close to the city line.
- Lower Ninth Ward and Bywater side: St. Claude Avenue runs straight into Arabi and Chalmette.
- New Orleans East: I-510 and the Paris Road Bridge connect the East directly to Chalmette.
- Gentilly, Mid-City, Lakeview, Uptown: I-10 east to I-510.
- Algiers: Algiers is the part of Orleans Parish on the West Bank. The Crescent City Connection has been toll-free since 2013.
Paperwork for a New Orleans car
If you lost the title, a duplicate is $68.50 plus an $8 handling fee at the OMV under Policy 69.00, and you can find the nearest office on the OMV office locator. Before you pay for one, check whether your car qualifies for one of the two no-title routes in Louisiana.
After the sale, tell the OMV within 15 days under R.S. 47:510, and destroy or turn in regular plates. The plates and paperwork guide has the checklist.
Communities in New Orleans
Tell the yard your street or cross streets when you call.
- New Orleans East
- Lower Ninth Ward
- Gentilly
- Mid-City
- Lakeview
- Uptown
- Algiers
Which cars does the yard buy in New Orleans?
What people in New Orleans ask
What does the NOPD 48-hour notice mean?
Officers post a windshield notice telling the owner to move the car within 48 hours, under NOPD’s abandoned and nuisance vehicle policy. A stripped or junk car gets referred to Public Works. Read the 48-hour notice guide and call the same day.
When does New Orleans treat a car as abandoned?
When it is inoperable on public property more than three days, or left on private property without the owner’s consent more than three days, per the NOPD policy.
Who handles a dead car left on the interstate?
Louisiana State Police and DOTD, not NOPD, per the NOPD policy.
Other areas the yard covers
Ready to get that car gone?
Call or text with the year, make, model and where it sits. The yard gives you its number.