Abandoned vehicle removal in Naperville
A car sitting too long on a street near Naperville can get flagged and towed. Here is how the rules actually work.
What Illinois law says
Chicago publishes exactly what makes a vehicle abandoned, and it is more specific than most people expect. A vehicle can be classified as abandoned if it is on a public way in a state of disrepair such that it cannot be driven in its present condition, if it has not been moved or used for more than seven consecutive days and is apparently deserted, if it has been left on the public way without state registration or a temporary state registration placard for two or more days, or if it is a hazardous dilapidated vehicle left in full view of the general public, whether on public or private property. Bicycles are excluded. Only one of those has to be true. The city has run abandoned-vehicle removal through a private contractor since 1989, and it says more than 500,000 vehicles have been towed and impounded under that programme.
How it works in Naperville
- 1 Check the seven-day test
A vehicle that has not been moved or used for more than seven consecutive days and is apparently deserted meets the city's definition on its own, whatever condition it is in.
- 2 Check the registration test
A vehicle left on the public way without state registration or a temporary state registration placard for two or more days also meets the definition. Two days, not seven.
- 3 Check the condition tests
A vehicle on a public way in a state of disrepair that makes it incapable of being driven qualifies, and so does a hazardous dilapidated vehicle left in full view of the general public, whether it is on public or private property.
- 4 Report it through 311
Abandoned vehicles are reported by calling 311, and open complaints and completed requests are both tracked. If you are the owner and the car is missing, 311 is also how you find out whether it was taken as abandoned.
- 5 Check the process outside the city
A suburb runs its own abandoned-vehicle programme with its own timeline and its own impound. Call that village directly rather than assuming the city's seven-day test applies.
- 6 Consider removal instead
If the vehicle is yours and it is not worth repairing, arranging a junk-car pickup is usually cheaper and always less stressful than letting it be flagged. Illinois junking paperwork is permanent, so it is worth a short conversation first.
What this looks like around Naperville
Older housing stock through Cicero, Berwyn and Melrose Park means older vehicles, and a vehicle that fails an expensive repair is often worth more gone than kept. If it is yours and it is not going to be fixed, arranging a removal beats waiting for a village to flag it.
Naperville runs its own impound and spans DuPage and Will counties, both of which sit inside Illinois Commerce Commission relocation jurisdiction, so a private-lot tow here carries the state's sign, distance and rate rules. A suburban impound is not the City of Chicago pound and does not use Chicago's published rates. Illinois law (625 ILCS 5/11-208.7) requires a municipal administrative fee to be reasonable and related to the municipality's actual administrative and processing costs, and it sets no dollar cap, which is why these figures vary so widely from village to village. What it does guarantee is procedure: notice within 10 days, an initial hearing convened no later than 45 days after that notice is mailed, and a refund of administrative fees if the hearing officer finds the vehicle was stolen or hijacked at the time it was impounded. Call the department that ordered the tow and ask for its administrative fee and daily storage rate.
Naperville holds 149,540 residents, the fourth-most populous city in Illinois, with a median household income of $127,648 and a median family income of $150,075. It spans DuPage and Will counties. Interstate 88, the Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway, passes through the northern part of the city, and Illinois Route 59 runs the north-south commercial spine. Ogden Avenue follows the old trail from Chicago to the Potawatomi village that stood where downtown Naperville is now. Edward Hospital, with 352 private rooms and 4,500 employees, is the city's largest employer and its only hospital, which makes Naperville the only large Illinois city with just one. The retail footprint is substantial: Downtown Naperville, Freedom Commons, Springbrook Prairie Pavilion, and the Route 59 and Ogden Avenue corridors. For towing this is a two-part market. On the tollway it is breakdown and crash recovery at highway speed. In the retail corridors it is private-property relocation from shared lots, and because Naperville sits in DuPage and Will, both of which are inside the Illinois Commerce Commission's relocation-towing jurisdiction, those tows carry the state's sign, distance and rate rules. Vehicle values here mean flatbed by default. Operators cover I-88, Route 59, Ogden Avenue and the downtown district.
Common Naperville questions
How long can a car sit before it's abandoned in Naperville?
In the City of Chicago, a vehicle that has not been moved or used for more than seven consecutive days and is apparently deserted meets the definition of abandoned. It is only one of four tests, though: disrepair, missing registration for two or more days, and hazardous dilapidated condition each qualify on their own.
Can my car be towed for expired registration in Naperville?
In the city, a vehicle left on the public way without state registration or a temporary state registration placard for two or more days meets the abandoned-vehicle definition. That is a much shorter window than the seven-day test and it catches a lot of people out.
What if my car is parked in front of my own house in Naperville?
The city's tests are about the vehicle's condition, registration and whether it has moved, not about who owns the house it is parked in front of. A registered, drivable car that gets moved is not abandoned. Suburban rules vary, so check with your village.
Does Quick Tow Chicago buy or remove junk cars in Naperville?
Yes. Removal is usually free and we pay cash where the vehicle has scrap or parts value. Illinois paperwork matters more than the price here, because a junking certificate ends the vehicle's title permanently. Call (773) 830-6930.
Related help for Naperville
Abandoned vehicles in the rest of the West Suburbs area
Need your car towed once it's released in Naperville?
We can't waive the yard's fees. We can line up an operator the moment it clears.