How to get your car out of impound in Southwest Side
If your car got towed in Southwest Side, here is how to find it and get it back today.
What Illinois law says
Chicago is unusual in one important way: a car that is gone has not necessarily been impounded. The city also relocates vehicles to clear streets for agency work, and it says plainly that this can happen in an emergency with no opportunity to post signs. Its own advice is to call 311 before reporting the vehicle stolen. If it was impounded by the city, it is at one of four auto pounds, all open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year: Central at 500 E Wacker Dr on the lower level, the O'Hare pound on Bessie Coleman Drive, Pound 2 at 103rd and Doty Avenue, and Pound 6 at 701 N Sacramento Avenue. If a suburb towed it, none of that applies, because every village runs its own impound with its own fee. Work out which of the three situations you are in first, because they have almost nothing in common.
How it works in Southwest Side
- 1 Call 311 before you drive anywhere
The city relocates vehicles as well as impounding them, sometimes with no signs posted, and 311 will tell you which pound has it or whether it was moved instead. This is the city's own instruction and it saves a wasted trip.
- 2 Ask whether police are holding it
Vehicles held for narcotics, DUI, firearms, fleeing and eluding, a suspended or revoked licence and a long list of similar reasons cannot be released at the pound at all. Those go through the Vehicle Impoundment Office at 400 W Superior.
- 3 Bring the right documents
Valid photo identification for everyone claiming the vehicle, proof of ownership as a valid title, a current registration card or a bill of sale not more than 30 days old, a lease agreement if you are the lessee, and an original notarized letter from the owner if you are acting for them.
- 4 Check plates, sticker and fines
No vehicle is released without current state plates and a Chicago Vehicle Sticker where required, and all charges and fines have to be paid in full. If you are driving it out, you need a current valid driver's licence.
- 5 Know how they take payment
Cash, Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express or Diners Club. No checks and no money orders. The tow is $250 under 8,000 pounds or $350 at or above, with storage at $50 or $100 a day.
- 6 Watch the clock
Vehicles are normally stored no less than 21 days from the date the city mails notice to the registered owner, and under 9-92-100(a) you have a right to one extension of 15 days. Request it from the Auto Pound Office at 312.746.4954.
What this looks like around Southwest Side
Inside the city, start with 311. Once you know which pound has it, the fees are published under Municipal Code 9-92-080: $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, Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express or Diners Club only, and the city does not accept checks or money orders.
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.
Common Southwest Side questions
How do I find out where my car was towed in Southwest Side?
Call 311. Inside the city that tells you which of the four pounds has the vehicle, or whether it was relocated rather than impounded, which is a real and common outcome the city warns about itself. If a suburb towed it, call that village's police department directly.
What will I owe to get my car out of impound in Southwest Side?
If the City of Chicago towed it, the published fees are $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 split, under Municipal Code 9-92-080. If a suburb towed it, that village sets its own administrative fee and it will not match the city's.
Can I pay with a check in Southwest Side?
Not at a City of Chicago pound. The city takes cash, Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express or Diners Club, and it states plainly that checks and money orders are not accepted. Suburban impounds set their own payment rules, so ask before you drive over.
Can Quick Tow Chicago release my car from impound in Southwest Side?
No, and we will not pretend otherwise. We connect drivers with private tow and roadside operators. We are not the pound, the village or the police department holding your car, so we cannot waive fees or speed up a release. What we can do is help you work out who has it and line up an operator once it is released. Call (773) 830-6930.
Related help for Southwest Side
Impound release process in the rest of the Chicago City Sides area
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.