Sell Your Junk Car in Burbank, Illinois

Burbank’s city code gives a dead car in a driveway about two weeks before it becomes a code problem. Under the Burbank Code of Ordinances, an inoperable motor vehicle is one sitting on private property in public view for at least 14 days that can’t be driven safely or legally because the engine, wheels or other parts have been removed. Repairs that finish within 14 days don’t count. If yours is past that point, selling it is the quickest way to clear it.

About 8 miles from Western Avenue

From our base in Chicago’s Gage Park, the truck runs south on Western Avenue, picks up Columbus Avenue heading southwest, and follows 79th Street west into Burbank. The route to the middle of town, near 79th Street and Narragansett Avenue, is about 8 miles.

Burbank sits less than two miles south of Midway Airport and shares its whole east side with Chicago’s Ashburn neighborhood (Wikipedia). Oak Lawn is to the south, Bridgeview to the west, Bedford Park to the north and Hometown at the southeast corner. Head north and a bit east and you reach West Lawn and the old Ford City Mall, and past Bedford Park, Clearing.

A young city with an older name

The area stayed mostly rural for a century. It joined Stickney Township in 1952, grew to more than 20,000 people by 1960, and incorporated as a city in 1970, partly to avoid being annexed by Chicago. The name comes from Luther Burbank Elementary School, which had served the area since the 1930s. Reavis High School, St. Laurence High School and Queen of Peace High School are all listed among Burbank’s schools.

Housing here is mostly single-family. Census Reporter’s Burbank profile shows roughly 83 percent of homes in single-unit buildings, based on the 2020 to 2024 American Community Survey. So a Burbank pickup is far more likely to start in a driveway or a garage than in an apartment lot.

The rest of Burbank’s car rules

The 14-day rule is only part of it. Here’s how the code treats different situations:

Situation	What the Burbank code says
Inoperable car on a public street	Abandoned if left unattended 10 hours or more in a state of disrepair
Car on the street without plates	Abandoned after 2 or more days without state plates or a temporary placard
Car unmoved for 7 days	Abandoned if it also looks deserted, which includes being parked more than a mile from the owner’s home
Covered car, 14 days unmoved	Presumed inoperable if under a tarp or without a current city sticker
Inoperable car on a residential lot	The property’s record owner may not park or store it there (section 15-38)

Police can remove an inoperable car from private property after sending a pre-relocation notice. The owner then has 7 days to request a hearing, and at that hearing an extension of up to 30 days can be granted if the car is being held for sale or for a quick repair. Selling to us is the simplest way to answer one of those letters.

One camper per lot

Section 15-38 also limits each residentially zoned lot to one of any single type of recreational vehicle or equipment, such as a trailer, camper, RV, boat or snowmobile. If a second camper or an old travel trailer has been parked beside the house, that’s another reason to sell it. Our RVs and campers page explains how we handle them, and we arrange the right tow for the size.

Snow routes

Burbank’s snow route ordinance bans parking on posted snow routes after two inches of snow until the snow is fully cleared, and it lets the police or public works tow violators without notice. The listed routes include 75th Street from Laramie to Long, 76th Street from State Road to Long, 77th Street from Lockwood to Narragansett, 78th Street from Cicero to Newland, and 81st, 83rd and 85th Streets out to Newcastle. The mayor can also declare a snow emergency on other streets.

What to have ready

Tell us the year, make and model, whether it runs, and what papers you have. If the title is branded salvage or rebuilt, our guide to salvage and rebuilt titles explains how that affects a sale, and our guide to junk car value covers what drives the offer. A car that won’t start is no obstacle; see non-running cars.