Abandoned vehicles · Southwest Side, IL

Abandoned vehicle removal in Southwest Side

A car sitting too long on a street near Southwest Side can get flagged and towed. Here is how the rules actually work.

The short version

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.

Step by step

How it works in Southwest Side

  1. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.

Southwest Side context

What this looks like around Southwest Side

Inside the city, report an abandoned vehicle through 311, and call 311 as well if you are looking for a car that may have been taken as one. The city's towing pages name Pound 2 at 103rd and Doty Avenue and Pound 6 at 701 N Sacramento as where abandoned vehicles are impounded, and its abandoned-vehicle page refers to pounds 3S and 3N, so 311 is the reliable way to find out which lot actually has yours.

A Southwest Side tow inside the city goes to a City of Chicago pound, and the fees are published: $250 to tow a vehicle under 8,000 pounds, $350 at 8,000 pounds or more, and $50 or $100 per day storage on the same split. Payment is cash or major card only. Se habla espanol, and the corralon process is the same one either way. A City of Chicago tow has published fees: $250 to tow a vehicle under 8,000 pounds and $350 at 8,000 pounds or more, with storage at $50 or $100 per day on the same weight split, under Municipal Code 9-92-080. Payment is cash, Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express or Diners Club only, with no checks and no money orders. To release a vehicle you need photo identification, proof of ownership as a title, a current registration card or a bill of sale under 30 days old, current state plates and a Chicago Vehicle Sticker where required, and all charges and fines paid in full. Vehicles are normally stored no less than 21 days from the date the city mails notice, with a right to one 15-day extension under 9-92-100(a); request it from the Auto Pound Office at 312.746.4954.

The Southwest Side is the Spanish-language core of Chicago and one of the densest Mexican-American areas in the United States. Gage Park is 88.8 percent Hispanic, West Lawn 88 percent, South Lawndale, which everyone calls Little Village, 80.7 percent with about 69,900 residents, Archer Heights 79.5 percent, Brighton Park 78.8 percent, the Lower West Side, which everyone calls Pilsen, 68.2 percent, New City, which everyone calls Back of the Yards, 67.5 percent, Chicago Lawn 61 percent and Garfield Ridge 59.1 percent. The Stevenson Expressway runs along the district's northern edge with Pilsen exits at Damen and Ashland, Archer Avenue runs the old diagonal, and Cermak, Western, Ashland and Pulaski carry the rest. Twenty-Sixth Street in Little Village hosts the largest Hispanic parade in Chicago. Pilsen has three Pink Line stops at Western, Damen and 18th Street. New City is bounded by Pershing Road, Western, the Norfolk Southern tracks and Garfield Boulevard and held the Union Stock Yards from 1865 until 1971. Midway International Airport sits on the western flank. Every Spanish page on this site is written for a reader here, in the register people actually use: carro, grua, corralon. Operators cover the Stevenson corridor, the Midway edge and the 26th Street and Archer Avenue commercial spines.

Southwest Side impound FAQs

Common Southwest Side questions

How long can a car sit before it's abandoned in Southwest Side?

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 Southwest Side?

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 Southwest Side?

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 Southwest Side?

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.

Nearby

Abandoned vehicles in the rest of the Chicago City Sides area

Serving Southwest Side

Need your car towed once it's released in Southwest Side?

We can't waive the yard's fees. We can line up an operator the moment it clears.