Palos Heights is an older community by the numbers. The 2020 Census put the median age at 54.3, with nearly a third of residents 65 or older, and more than 93 percent of households own their homes. If you’re clearing out a car for a relative, the section on that below is for you. Either way, the Junk My Car Inc team buys it and tows it away free.
The garage rule
Palos Heights adopted the International Property Maintenance Code with its own version of Section 302.8. In residential districts, unregistered and inoperable motor vehicles must be garaged. In other districts, no vehicle may sit in major disassembly or disrepair, or be stripped.
That’s stricter than a simple “move it within a week” rule. There’s no grace period written into it. A car that doesn’t run, or one whose registration has lapsed, belongs inside or off the property.
Nights and snow
From 2 to 5 a.m., no car may park on any street (Section 73.011), with an exception only for emergency calls. Snow is tighter still: once the snow on a street is deeper than an inch, parking anywhere is cut to 3 minutes for passengers or 30 for property, from when the snow starts until 8 hours after it stops, and until removal is complete.
When it’s a relative’s car
If you’re selling a car for a parent or other relative, the sale itself is the easy part. What takes time is the paperwork: whose name is on the title, whether you have it, and what you hold in its place. Tell us all of that when you fill in the short quote form, and we’ll say on the call whether the papers you have will work. If the titled owner has died, our guide to selling a late owner’s car in Illinois sets out who has the right to sign. The offer doesn’t expire, so there’s no pressure to decide that day.
Palos Heights cross streets
Most homes here are single-unit buildings: about six in ten are detached houses and roughly one in five are attached, so the driver usually pulls up to a private driveway or a townhome garage.
Harlem Avenue (Route 43) runs through the city, and Route 83 meets it as 119th Street, also called College Drive. City hall is at 7607 West College Drive. The Palos Heights station is on Metra’s SouthWest Service, and three Pace routes cross town.
If a storm put the car out of action, read our guide to selling a storm-damaged car before calling the insurer back.
Over the Palos Heights line
North, up Harlem, is Worth, and Palos Hills, with its strict 2 to 6 a.m. ban, is to the west; see Palos Hills pickups. We also buy junk cars in Palos Park, where a car ruled a wreck can’t stay in a residential area at all. Alsip shares the eastern border (junk car buyers in Alsip), and Orland Park lies to the south: see Orland Park. The rest are on the page listing all the towns we serve.