Junk car pickup in Alsip, north and south of the Cal-Sag
Do you pay cash for junk cars in Alsip?
Yes. Top Dollar Junk Cars is listed at 11630 S Cicero Ave in Alsip, and we buy junk, wrecked and non-running cars anywhere in the village, north of the Cal-Sag Channel and in Chippewa Ridge to the southwest. The tow is free, payment comes as the car is loaded, and same-day pickup is often possible.
Alsip is one of the towns in all our pickup areas, and the one our Google listing sits in. This page is about the practical side of a pickup here: where a flatbed can load, which village rules apply to a car that won't run, and how snow days change things.
Where we load in Alsip
For a tow truck, Alsip runs along Cicero Avenue. It carries IL-50 through the village and shares a stretch with IL-83, which leaves it along 127th Street and Calumet Sag Road. The Tri-State Tollway (I-294) crosses the village too, and its Cicero Avenue interchange works through 127th Street: the northbound exit and the southbound entrance both use it. Pulaski Road, Kedzie Avenue, Ridgeland Avenue and 111th Street fill in the rest of the grid, so most addresses are a short run off one of them.
Homes here are a mix. A little over half are single-family detached houses, and about a third are in buildings of five or more units, according to the Census Bureau's 2020 to 2024 American Community Survey. So pickups split between driveways and curbs on one hand, and apartment and condo lots on the other. For a lot, clear it with the management or the association first; once you have, we're glad to load there.
Driveways, yards and garages
The village allows residential parking in three places only: the street, a marked driveway, or a garage. Front, side and back yards are off limits (§ 19-48). A dead car that has drifted onto the grass beside the house is exactly what that rule is aimed at, and it's also the spot where loading takes the most planning. Tell us on the call where it sits.
Alleys
Where a car is parked in an alley, it must leave at least 10 feet of roadway clear and not block a driveway (§ 19-93). A flatbed needs room to back in and winch, so tell us the alley's width and whether a neighbor's car usually sits opposite.
Business lots and repair shops
If your car died in a store, church or business lot, check for signs. Under § 19-106, owners of school, church, shopping and business lots can opt in, by an agreement recorded with the county, to have the village enforce a ban on overnight parking between midnight and 6am for anyone without their decal. That's a good reason to call early in the day. Cars waiting at a repair shop are no trouble: tell the shop we're coming and settle anything you owe them before the day.
South of the channel
Most of Alsip lies north of the Cal-Sag Channel, but Chippewa Ridge, built on the old Alsip Nursery land, sits southwest of it. We collect there too. Give us the full street address so the driver takes the right crossing.
Alsip's rules on cars that don't run
Chapter 19 of the Alsip code of ordinances deals with vehicles that are unlicensed, wrecked, dismantled or simply don't work. It counts a car as inoperable if it lacks a current license, or if its engine, wheels or other parts have been off for seven days or more so it can't run (§ 19-42). Here is what follows for a car at a home in the village.
| Section | What it says | What it means for a dead car |
|---|---|---|
| § 19-43 | Every abandoned vehicle, on public or private land, is a nuisance | Being on your own driveway doesn't exempt it |
| § 19-44 | Unregistered, inoperable or abandoned vehicles in a residential district must be kept in a garage | Outside, under a cover, isn't enough |
| § 19-45 | No abandoned vehicle or its parts may sit in public view for more than 7 days | A week is the window, on the street or off it |
| § 19-46 | A car in major disassembly may stay at a home for up to 7 days, and one under repair must be licensed to the owner or a family member | A long project car in the drive needs plates and a plan |
| § 19-49 | Seven days after a warning, police may remove the vehicle, and the property owner pays for the removal | Waiting for a warning costs more than selling first |
The code also bars parking on a street to show a car for sale (§ 19-92), which narrows the private-sale route for anyone without a driveway. Compare Midlothian, a few miles south, where an inoperable car may stay in a residential district for only two days unless it's enclosed; our Midlothian pickups page covers that village's rules. If a dead car is in the garage waiting for a tow, our guide to insurance on a car waiting to be junked explains what Illinois expects of a car that isn't driven.
Snow days, street sweeping and stickers
Alsip has no village-wide overnight parking ban: the night-parking sections of the code were repealed in 2001. What it does have is a snow-route rule (§ 19-91). On primary snow routes, parking stops for 12 hours after a snowfall of an inch or more. On every other public street, which the code treats as a secondary route, parking stops for 24 hours after three inches or more. After three inches, police may tow a vehicle that's in the way of the plows.
The list of primary routes is kept on file with the village clerk rather than printed in the code, so if you're not sure about your street, ask the village. A car that won't start can't be moved for a plow, so the first heavy snow tends to become the deadline for a dead car parked outside.
Two smaller rules round it out. Parking stops where signs or markings show a street is being swept (§ 19-98). And residents' vehicles using village streets and alleys need a current village vehicle sticker (§ 19-57), one more cost of keeping a car that no longer goes anywhere.
None of this changes what the car is worth, but it does change what keeping it costs. For what sets the figure itself, see how junk car value is worked out.
The towns that touch Alsip
Alsip borders Worth and Palos Heights on the west, Crestwood on the south and Oak Lawn on the north. To the east it meets Merrionette Park, Blue Island and Robbins, and Chicago's Mount Greenwood neighborhood wraps its north and east edges. We collect in every one of them.
Past Oak Lawn, Evergreen Park is a straight run along 95th Street. Crestwood leads on to Midlothian and then Markham, both of which ban street parking for a few hours every night, which Alsip doesn't.
Handing the keys over and heading off without a car? Pace routes 383 and 385 serve the village.
Want the wider picture first? Our home page explains how we pay top dollar for junk cars across Chicago and the suburbs, the town directory groups every pickup area we have a page for, and the business behind the Alsip listing has its own page with our hours and Google reviews. Ready now? Put the car in the quote form at the top.
What Alsip sellers ask before the truck comes
Can you load from the alley behind my Alsip house?
Usually, if a flatbed fits. The village already expects a parked car to leave at least 10 feet of the alley clear and keep off driveways (§ 19-93), so tell us how wide the alley is and what else is parked there, and we'll plan the pickup around it.
My dead car is on the lawn beside the house. Is that a problem?
For the village it is: § 19-48 allows residential parking only on the street, a marked driveway or in a garage. For us it just needs mentioning on the call, so the driver knows where the car sits and how it's facing.
Is there an overnight parking ban in Alsip?
Not a village-wide one; the old night-parking sections were repealed in 2001. Snow routes, signed street sweeping and some business lots do restrict parking, so a car that can't move can still end up ticketed or towed.
Do you pick up in Chippewa Ridge?
Yes. Chippewa Ridge, the subdivision southwest of the Cal-Sag Channel, is part of Alsip, and we collect there as anywhere else in the village. Give us the full address when you call.