Cash for your junk car in Posen

Posen is small (about 1.2 square miles and 5,600 people at the 2020 Census), so most addresses are within a few blocks of each other. From our Crawford Avenue location the route is north on Crawford (Pulaski Road) to 147th Street, then east into the village, roughly 4 miles and 9 minutes.

Where Posen is

The village sits on the north side of our area, in Bremen and Thornton townships, about two miles south of the Chicago city line. It borders Blue Island to the north, Midlothian to the west, Dixmoor to the east and Harvey to the south, and touches Markham as well. Its name is the German name for the Polish city of Poznań, from the Polish families who bought land here in the 1890s.

Posen is fully built out, with no vacant land left to annex, and has two mostly vacant industrial parks alongside its homes.

Posen’s through streets

• 147th Street (IL 83, Sibley Boulevard), the main east-west road and the way in from Crawford.
• Kedzie Avenue, running north-south through the village.
• Western Avenue / Dixie Highway, which forms the Dixmoor-Posen line.
• I-57 (exit 350 at 147th Street) and the Tri-State Tollway, which has a partial interchange at 147th.

Finding a Posen address

• The village hall on Walter Zimny Drive.
• Commissioners Park and Memorial Park, both run by the Posen Park District.
• Kedzie Plaza shopping.
• The former St. Stanislaus parish, whose church closed in 2022.
• The Thorntons at 147th and Western.
• The nearest commuter rail is the Midlothian Metra station on 147th Street, just west of the village.

Posen homes and street rules

Posen is mostly single-family homes: about 85% of units are detached houses, about 12% are in small multi-unit buildings and around 3% are mobile homes. Roughly two-thirds of homes are owner-occupied. Most junk cars here are in a driveway or behind the house off an alley.

Posen’s street rules that matter on pickup day:

• Route 83 is no-parking. Under § 10-6-9 you can’t stop, stand or park along either side of 147th Street except to load briefly. Don’t leave a dead car there.
• Only small passenger vehicles can stay on the street. § 10-6-4 limits on-street parking (beyond loading) to private passenger vehicles seating seven or fewer, and bans parking a car on the street to show it for sale.
• Alleys must stay open. Parking in an alley has to leave at least 16 feet clear.
• Snow routes. After 2 inches of snow, parking is banned for 12 hours on the listed routes (143rd to 149th Streets, parts of Sacramento, and the west side of McKinley, Harrison and California) until they’re plowed to the curb (§ 10-17-1). Cars left there can be towed to the village pound at the owner’s cost.

Posen’s rule on junked or nonoperating vehicles

Posen has a chapter just for this: Title 10, Chapter 14A, “Junked or Nonoperating Vehicles.” Under § 10-14A-2, a partially dismantled, wrecked, junked, discarded or nonoperating vehicle left on private premises for more than 10 days is a nuisance. It’s exempt if it’s inside an enclosed building or not readily visible from public places or neighboring property. The Chief of Police serves a written notice to abate or request a hearing, and if the owner doesn’t act, the village can remove it and charge the cost, which becomes a lien on the property.

That 10-day window is a little longer than the 7 days in some neighboring towns. Our guide to inoperable car notices in the south suburbs lines them up.

Village vehicle license

Posen charges an annual village vehicle license (§ 7-46-4): $30 for a passenger vehicle if paid by May 1 and $60 after, with lower rates for seniors. If you’re selling the car before the deadline, there’s no reason to buy a sticker for it.

Posen’s flood-prone blocks

Posen’s county hazard plan reports stormwater flooding on several blocks, including Harrison Avenue between 140th and 142nd and stretches between 142nd and 150th. If your car sat in water there, see flood and fire damaged cars for how it’s priced.

Beyond the Posen line

We also cover Harvey to the south, Markham and Oak Forest to the southwest. Old trucks and vans are welcome; see trucks, vans and SUVs or scrap cars.