Not every junk car is in a driveway
Around our Riverdale lot, a lot of people live in apartments, condos and mobile home parks. In Riverdale more than a third of homes are in buildings with two or more units; in Blue Island it’s closer to half; in Dixmoor nearly half of all homes are mobile homes. When a car dies there, it’s sitting in a shared space, and someone besides you has a say.
Repair shops are the other common case. The estimate comes back higher than the car is worth, and now the car is in the shop’s lot, sometimes running up storage.
Both are routine pickups. The work is in arranging access before the truck comes.
Apartment buildings and condo associations
- Tell the manager or association. Ask about gates, codes, tow-truck rules and hours.
- Check the space. Is the car in a numbered spot, a carport or a garage? Is anything blocking it?
- Give us the details. Building address, lot entrance, space number, and whether a truck can pull in front of the car.
- Take your plates and belongings. Do this before pickup day if you can.
If the car is in a garage under a building, ask about the clearance height and tell us; some garages are too low for a tow truck.
Mobile home parks
Park roads are often narrow and the car may be on a pad tight against the home. Let the park office know, give us your site number, and tell us which way the car faces. Our Dixmoor page has more on the parks there.
Repair and body shops
- Settle the bill. Repair work and storage are between you and the shop. Pay what’s owed so they’ll release the car.
- Tell the shop a tow is coming. Ask for their hours and where the car is on their lot.
- Bring the paperwork. The title or other papers, and your ID.
- Meet us there. You’ll sign and be paid at the car.
If the car is at the shop because it was in a crash, wrecked car removal has more detail; if it just won’t start, see non-running car removal.
When lot pickups happen
We pick up from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., every day, and we can often come the same day. Lots and shops add one dependency, their hours and access, so arrange that first. Our guide to same-day junk car removal explains what speeds things up, and before the tow truck arrives is the checklist for plates, transponders and belongings.
Papers for a lot pickup
Lot pickups often involve cars whose titles went missing in a move. Tell us what papers you have; Illinois rules decide which ones can replace a title on a scrap sale, and our no-title page explains how we check before the tow. We pick up across our area, starting with our home village of Riverdale.