Junk Cars, Pickups and Vans Bought in Melrose Park

Towed first, told later

Melrose Park gives dead cars very little runway. Its code calls any inoperable vehicle a nuisance, whether it sits on the street or on private land, and a car parked off the street but visible from it qualifies after just 5 days of being undrivable. A vehicle that hasn’t moved in 24 hours and looks abandoned can be treated as abandoned.

What happens next is the part people miss: police have nuisance vehicles towed to a pound and then send the owner a written notice that the car was removed. There’s no pre-tow notice period in that chapter. Unclaimed vehicles are auctioned after 30 days. If you have a car that stopped running last week, the safer move is to sell it before it gets that far.

A special rule for pickups and vans

Melrose Park writes separate rules for small trucks. A noncommercial pickup or van of 1 ton or less can’t park on a residential-zone street from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. And if it’s kept on residential private property, it can’t be in disrepair or show major collision damage.

That means a crumpled F-150 or a van with a dead transmission can’t simply wait in the driveway while you think about it. We buy damaged trucks and vans in any condition. If an insurance company has already declared it a loss, our guide to what to do with a totaled car in Illinois explains the salvage paperwork.

Getting it out of a Melrose Park lot or alley

About half the village’s homes share a building with at least one other unit, and some residents live in mobile homes, so the car may well be in a shared lot. Alleys are no place to stage a pickup: the code bans stopping or parking within the 14-foot public right-of-way of an alley. Tell us where the car is and whether it rolls, and our driver will plan the hook from the driveway or lot.

As for paperwork, a title is ideal. Lost it? Check the glove box or cab for a registration card, and tell us what else you have; during the call we’ll go over what Illinois allows when a vehicle is scrapped without its title. Towing costs you nothing, and payment comes at pickup.

Around Melrose Park

We work Melrose Park from North Avenue and Mannheim Road down to Lake Street and First Avenue, near Gottlieb Memorial Hospital. Next door, we also cover Franklin Park to the north and Hillside to the south. Check our list of service towns for the rest.