Cash for your junk car in Richton Park

Richton Park is at the south end of our area, and it’s an easy drive: south on Crawford Avenue (which turns into Pulaski Road and back again), onto Governors Highway, then east on Sauk Trail. It’s about 8.5 road miles, roughly 18 minutes.

The village of Richton Park

The village has about 12,800 residents (2020 Census) on 4.4 square miles in Rich Township, along the old Sauk Trail. It borders Matteson to the north, Park Forest to the east and University Park to the south. German farm families settled here by the 1840s, and the village is named after Richton, Vermont. Mail goes to 60471.

Main roads:

• Sauk Trail, the east-west spine, with an I-57 interchange (exit 339).
• Cicero Avenue (IL 50), which enters Cook County here and runs north into Matteson.
• Governors Highway, which our route follows into town.

Richton Park reference points

• The Richton Park Metra Electric station on Sauk Trail east of Governors Highway, at 3807 Tower Drive. It was the end of the line until 1977.
• Rich Township High School’s Fine Arts and Communications campus on Cicero Avenue (still labeled Rich South on some maps) and Southland College Prep, in a former insurance call center.
• Rich City Skate, the roller rink.
• The Richton Park Public Library and the headquarters of Matteson School District 162.
• Parks such as Klawitter Park, Farm Trace Family Park and Glaeser Park.

Housing and apartment lots

About 40% of housing units are in buildings with two or more units, most of them five or more, and only about half of homes are owner-occupied. Park Towers Apartment Homes sits near the Metra station.

That changes how pickups work:

• Tell the property manager that a tow truck is coming for your car, so it isn’t mistaken for an unauthorized tow.
• Tell us about the lot: gated entry, assigned spaces, covered parking with low clearance, or a car wedged between others.
• Don’t move it to the street. Richton Park bans parking on a street with expired plates or registration (§ 424.02), bans vehicles over 8,000 pounds or 9 feet tall on village streets (§ 438.02), and bans parking on any village street after 2 inches of snow until plowing is finished (§ 438.13). Signs are posted at subdivision entrances, according to the village snow page.

Richton Park’s inoperable vehicle rule

Richton Park’s Chapter 422 defines an inoperable vehicle as one with the engine, wheels or other parts removed, altered or damaged so it can’t be driven under its own power (§ 422.01). Under § 422.03, an inoperable vehicle on private or public property is a nuisance unless it’s moved to a legal storage place within 10 days of notice, and a lack of proper licensing counts as evidence of a nuisance. Police can have it removed to a pound or garage (§ 422.04). Vehicles kept in a building, historic vehicles 25 years and older, and wrecking or junking businesses are exempt.

The village’s own list of common code violations includes inoperable vehicles (flat tires, body damage, dismantled), vehicles without current plates and parking on unpaved surfaces. Separately, Chapter 418 treats a car that can’t be driven, or one unmoved for seven days and apparently deserted, as abandoned, with removal from private property authorized after 7 days.

Our inoperable car notice guide compares this 10-day rule with the 7-day rules elsewhere.

No sticker to worry about

Richton Park stopped selling resident vehicle stickers. Since May 1, 2024 only commercial vehicle stickers are sold, so there’s nothing local to cancel when your car is sold. The state’s Seller’s Report of Sale still applies; see what happens after you sell.

North of Richton Park

We also cover Matteson just north, Flossmoor and Country Club Hills. For an old family van or SUV, see trucks, vans and SUVs.