Junk car removal in University Park, at the end of the Metra Electric line

Can I get a dead car removed for free in University Park?

Yes. Cash For Junk Cars Junk My Car Inc removes junk, wrecked and non-running cars across University Park at no towing cost, from townhome courts to apartment lots off Governors Highway and University Parkway. You are paid at pickup, and the offer we make has no expiry date.

A planned town with a university in it

University Park was built as a planned community in the 1960s, first as Wood Hill and then as Park Forest South, before taking its current name. Governors State University was founded here in 1969. The village grew from 1,748 people in 1970 to 7,145 at the 2020 census, sitting on the Valparaiso Moraine, mostly in Will County with a small corner in Cook.

It’s also where the Metra Electric line ends. University Park station is the terminus, and Amtrak trains pass through without stopping. For a seller, the station is the easiest landmark in town to give a driver.

Courts, townhomes and the grass rule

Housing here is more varied than in most of the south suburbs. About 48 percent of homes are detached houses, about 22 percent are single-family attached, and about a quarter are in buildings of two or more units, with a small share of mobile homes. Roughly 64 percent are owner-occupied. A lot of pickups are from townhome courts and apartment lots, so clear the space with the association or manager and tell us which spot the car is in.

The village is particular about where a car may sit. Vehicles belong on an approved off-street space only, not on grass, dirt, gravel, parkways or sidewalks (§ 440-10). On the hydrant side of any street, no parking from 2 to 6 a.m. (§ 440-09). And you can’t use the roadway to repair a car or show it for sale (§ 440-01), so a project car at the curb is already a problem.

The word “immediately”

Chapter 430 of the village code covers abandoned and inoperable cars, and it’s one of the strictest we’ve read. A car counts as inoperable once its engine, wheels or other parts have been removed or changed for 7 days so it can’t run, with short repairs excepted. It counts as abandoned if it hasn’t moved for 7 days and looks deserted, or if it simply lacks a current registration sticker or plate (§ 430-01).

Either kind in public view, on public or private property, is a nuisance (§ 430-02). On private property, once police or code enforcement give written notice, the car must be disposed of immediately (§ 430-04). There’s no week of grace. That’s the moment to use our offer form: the tow is free and the offer doesn’t expire.

Snow adds a deadline of its own. After 2 inches, no car may park on any village street until removal is done, and police may tow and impound at the owner’s cost (§ 440-065). University Park also requires a village sticker on cars kept in the village (§ 424-04).

Getting in: Stuenkel Road and Governors Highway

From I-57, exit 337 at Stuenkel Road and University Parkway leads straight into the village and to Governors State. Governors Highway (Illinois 50) runs north through town and curves into Cook County at Richton Park, where it becomes Cicero Avenue. The village runs commuter lots on both sides of Governors Highway, north of University Parkway. If the car died in one of them, tell us which lot and roughly where.

University Park’s neighbours on our map

Richton Park lies to the north and northwest, Park Forest to the northeast, and Crete and Steger to the east. Monee is to the south, with Frankfort and unincorporated Will County to the west. The rest of the county is on our Will County page, and the pickup map covers everything else.

Titles and the alternatives

Hand over a signed Illinois title at pickup and the sale is done. Without one, tell us what you can find (registration, an insurance card, a bill of sale) and we’ll check on the call which of those Illinois accepts for a scrap sale. Our no-title guide covers the details.

Questions we hear in University Park