A sticker for a car that doesn’t move
River Forest’s vehicle-license rule has a detail most owners miss. The village requires a sticker for any vehicle registered to a River Forest address, and the code says that includes vehicles that are temporarily not in operating condition. Stickers are due before July 15.
So a car that has sat dead in the garage for two summers has quietly cost two stickers. If you were waiting for the right moment to get rid of it, the weeks before mid-July are a sensible deadline.
The village’s nuisance code is fairly patient with a car on private property: a vehicle only counts as inoperable after its parts have been altered or damaged for 60 days, and the trouble starts when an owner ignores a notice to dispose of it. Cars stored inside a building don’t count. Out in public view, though, a car that hasn’t moved in seven days can be treated as abandoned and towed after a certified-mail notice.
Streets, alleys and snow
River Forest is mostly owner-occupied houses (close to nine in ten homes), bounded by Harlem Avenue on the east, North Avenue on the north and the Des Plaines River and Thatcher Woods on the west. Most of our pickups here are from a driveway or a garage.
The street is a poor place to leave a car that won’t start:
- Overnight: no car may park on any street for more than 30 minutes between 2 and 6 a.m.
- Snow: after more than 2 inches, parking stops on every street and every alley until 8 hours after the snow ends, and police can tow without warning.
- Stripped cars: a car on public property with major parts missing or damaged and no current registration, or one lapsed more than three months, can be towed without notice.
- For sale: parking on the street to show a car for sale is banned.
Alleys must keep 10 feet clear, and some streets and alleys are closed to trucks except to cross or make deliveries, so tell us how the garage is reached.
Before our truck shows up
Find the title if you can, and have your ID. If the title is missing, say so on the call and list what you have; Illinois rules decide which papers a scrap sale can use, and we check before scheduling. For a sense of what drives an offer, read our guide to how much a junk car is worth.
Towing is free, payment is made at pickup, and same-day collection is often possible. We also buy cars in Forest Park to the south and Elmwood Park to the north. See our full town list for the rest.
Selling a car in River Forest: common questions
Do I need a River Forest vehicle sticker for a car that doesn't run?
The village code says yes if the car is registered to a River Forest address, even when it is temporarily not in operating condition. Stickers are due before July 15 each year, so selling a dead car before then means one less sticker to buy.
Can my dead car wait in the alley behind my River Forest house?
Only briefly, and never in snow. River Forest requires 10 feet of alley to stay clear and bans parking in alleys as well as streets once snow passes 2 inches. Keep the car in the garage or on the driveway until our truck arrives.