Junk car removal in the village of Riverdale, on Chicago's southern edge

Do you do free junk car removal in the village of Riverdale or only in Chicago?

Both, and this page is about the village. Cash For Junk Cars Junk My Car Inc tows junk cars out of the village of Riverdale in Cook County for free, from drives off Halsted Street to lots near the Metra Electric stations, and pays you at pickup by Zelle, Cash App, cash or another digital payment.

Two Riverdales on one border

There are two places called Riverdale here, and they touch. The village of Riverdale, incorporated in 1893, sits on the southern border of Chicago, and the Chicago community area next door carries the same name. This page is about the village: 10,663 people at the 2020 Census on 3.75 square miles in Thornton and Calumet townships, ZIP 60827. If you’re in Chicago’s Riverdale, we collect there too, but the parking and nuisance rules below don’t apply to you.

The village grew up beside the Little Calumet River. In 1905 the Charles Pope beet-sugar works opened on its south bank by the Illinois Central tracks, and the county hazard plan still describes the village as mostly industrial.

The village sticker is also a night pass

Residents need an annual village vehicle licence, due before July 1, with 30 days’ grace for newcomers (§§ 10.20.020, 10.20.070). In Riverdale that sticker does a second job. Under § 10.60.070, no car may park on any public street from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. unless it displays the village licence; anyone else needs a temporary overnight permit from the village clerk.

For a dead car, that rule bites. If you stopped paying for a sticker on a car that doesn’t run, the car can’t sit at the curb overnight. Get it onto a drive, then request an offer; we call back within 15 minutes.

Seventy-two hours on the street

On public property, a vehicle left unmoved for 72 hours, or one that would break the law if driven, is presumed abandoned or junked (§ 10.76.020). On private property, wrecked or disabled cars in public view, and cars unmoved for 7 consecutive days, are unlawful (§ 10.76.030), and the police chief or health officer may order removal within 10 days of a notice (§ 10.76.040). Ten days is enough time to sell, if you start when the notice arrives.

Behind a five-foot fence

The property code adds a nuisance rule of its own. Any inoperable or unregistered vehicle, or its parts, kept outside or under a roof that isn’t enclosed is a public nuisance (§ 15.110.030(3)). Inoperable means it can’t be driven under its own power for at least 7 days in a row (§ 15.110.010). There are three ways out: an owner’s own repair finished within 21 days, at most twice in 12 months; up to two restoration projects in a backyard behind a 5-foot opaque fence; or a lawful vehicle business.

If the restoration has stopped, the fence only hides the problem. Our guide to what sets an offer shows what a stalled project is likely to be worth.

Halsted Street and the river crossings

Halsted Street (IL 1) crosses the Little Calumet River twice, passing through Riverdale and Dolton between the two bridges, and the county plan notes those bridges are hard to keep clear of ice. I-57 cuts across the village, and Ashland Avenue and Indiana Avenue are the other through roads. Metra Electric stops at Ivanhoe station on 144th Street and Riverdale station on 137th, and several Pace routes run here.

Some residential blocks keep larger vehicles out at night: § 10.60.200 bars vehicles with Illinois plates above Class B from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. on listed streets, such as 141st to 146th between Halsted and Indiana. If the car is on one of those blocks, mention it so the driver can plan the stop.

Papers, and the towns next door

The sale follows Illinois rules. A title in your name makes it quick. Without one, tell us what you have and we confirm on the call whether those papers support a scrap sale.

Blue Island borders the village on the west and Dolton on the east, with Calumet Park to the northwest and Dixmoor and Harvey to the south. Posen lies past Dixmoor, and Phoenix sits on the far side of Harvey. See our Cook County page and areas we serve.

Questions we hear in Riverdale