Even the backyard isn’t safe storage
In Franklin Park, the rule that catches people is about private property, not the street. Section 4-10-4 of the village code bars storing four kinds of vehicles outdoors on private land: inoperative ones, unlicensed ones, ones with expired plates, and ones not registered to the owner or occupant of the property. A car with a seized transmission parked beside the garage qualifies. So does a running car whose plates lapsed last year.
The street is no better. A car with an expired registration can’t park there at all, and a vehicle the police consider abandoned on a street can be towed after 10 hours. If an impounded abandoned car is more than 7 years old, the village holds it 10 days and then disposes of it as junk if no one claims it. Selling it to us first means you get paid instead of billed.
Houses, alleys and an airport overhead
Franklin Park is mostly detached houses: Census figures put them at nearly three-quarters of all homes, with three in four households owning. So a junk car here usually sits on a driveway or in a garage, which makes for a simple hookup. In alleys, the village requires 12 feet of clear width and no blocking of garages, so let us know if the car sits on an alley pad and how tight the space is.
The village sits beside O’Hare, with planes landing and taking off overhead, and freight rail runs through it, including the railyard Mannheim Road crosses. Older cars here have also lived through a lot of salted winters; our guide to road salt rust on Chicago cars explains when rust makes a repair pointless.
Booking the free tow
Share the year, make and model, what’s wrong with it, where it’s parked, and whether you have the title. If the title is missing, dig out the registration card and any insurance card; Illinois rules decide which papers can work for a scrap sale, and we sort that out on the phone before the truck rolls. There’s no towing charge, payment comes at pickup, and you can often book for the same day.
Neighboring towns we serve
From Franklin Park we also tow in Schiller Park to the north, Northlake to the southwest and Melrose Park to the southeast. See every town on our locations page.
Selling a car in Franklin Park: common questions
My son's old car is registered to him but parked at my Franklin Park house. Is that a problem?
It can be. Section 4-10-4 bans outdoor storage of vehicles not registered to the property's owner or occupant, along with inoperative ones and those with expired plates. If he's done with the car, the registered owner can sell it to us, and we tow it free.
How long can I work on a broken-down car on a Franklin Park street?
Only long enough to make it drivable, and only for 24 hours after the breakdown under § 6-11-1. Repairs on residential property are limited to the occupant's own car with valid plates and a current village sticker. If the fix isn't worth it, we'll quote and tow the car as it is.