We buy junk cars in Ford Heights

Ford Heights is the smallest village on our list. About 1,800 people live there (2020 Census), on under 2 square miles in Bloom Township. From Harding Avenue we take Sibley Boulevard to the Bishop Ford, the Calumet Expressway (IL 394) to its south end, then Lincoln Highway (US 30) into the village: about 11 miles and roughly 17 minutes. You’ll find it with the rest of our area on the locations page.

A short history that explains the name

The village was incorporated in 1949 as East Chicago Heights and renamed Ford Heights in 1987. The Ford Motor Company stamping plant that opened beside it in 1956 ended up annexed by Chicago Heights, not Ford Heights. At its 1980 peak about 5,300 people lived here; the 2020 count was roughly a third of that. In 2008 the Cook County Sheriff took over law enforcement for the village.

Glenwood is to the north, Chicago Heights to the west, Lynwood to the east and Sauk Village to the south. Like Sauk Village and Lynwood, Ford Heights uses ZIP code 60411, so the village name matters on the address.

Roads

IL 394 and US 30 both pass through. The Lincoln Highway stretch here belongs to the old coast-to-coast route and started life as a farm lane toward Indiana. Torrence and Cottage Grove are the other main streets. Pace routes 357 and 358 connect the village to Chicago Heights, and there is no Metra station.

Housing

Census figures (ACS 2020-2024) show about 76% single detached houses and 12% attached houses, with about 12% of homes in buildings of two or more units. Close to half of occupied homes are rented (about 51% are owner-occupied), and the 2020 Census counted about 12% of housing units vacant. If you rent, check with the landlord before a tow truck shows up, and if the car is parked by a vacant house, tell us so the driver doesn’t knock on the wrong door.

Ford Heights parking rules

From Chapter 48 of the Ford Heights Code:

• Overnight: section 48-151 bars parking any vehicle on any street for more than 30 minutes between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m.
• Snow, village-wide: after 3 inches, every public street is off-limits for 12 hours unless it has already been plowed (section 48-179).
• Snow, named streets: on the streets listed in section 48-180, once more than an inch falls, stops are capped at a few minutes for passengers or half an hour for loading, from the first snow until 8 hours after it ends. Ellis Avenue is the longest of them; the full list is in the code.
• Alleys: keep 10 feet open and don’t block anyone’s driveway (section 48-152).

So a car that won’t start can’t be left at the curb overnight at all. The safest spot until pickup is your own driveway.

Abandoned and inoperable vehicles

Article V of Chapter 48 covers cars that don’t run:

• Section 48-233: on private land, a car is “inoperable” if it won’t drive, isn’t legal to drive, or has sat a full week, and people can see it.
• Section 48-235: a car may not be left looking abandoned, and 48 straight hours is the outer limit, with each extra day a new violation. Letting a dead car stay on any property is also barred.
• Sections 48-239 to 48-241: after a notice goes on the car or the building, the owner has a week; then police can tow.
• Section 48-236: garages and repair shops can keep such a car 15 days, no more.

A 48-hour limit is about as short as these codes get. Our inoperable vehicle rules article puts it next to the 10-day rules in Lansing and Lynwood.

The village sticker

Section 48-75 requires residents to hold a village vehicle license, with the fee set by the board (section 48-77) and a calendar-year term ending December 31 (section 48-78). The code also allows back fees for unpaid years, so if a dead car has sat without a village license, ask the village what you owe before you sell it.

What the car is worth

If you wonder whether an old, stripped or burned car is worth a call, it is. Even with parts missing, a car has scrap value by weight. How offers are set is explained in what a junkyard pays for a car and on our scrap car page. Towing is free from anywhere in the village, as covered on the free towing page.

Nearby areas

South of the village, Sauk Village is a few minutes down Torrence Avenue. West along Lincoln Highway is Chicago Heights, and to the north is Glenwood.