Summit sits on the Chicago border about 3 miles west of Midway Airport, in Lyons Township. It’s about 2.3 square miles, home to roughly 11,200 people as of the 2020 Census, and it uses ZIP code 60501. Wikipedia lists it as a city founded in 1890, but its own code calls it the Village of Summit, and Village Hall is on 59th Street.
The town has two halves. North of the Indiana Harbor Belt tracks at 59th Street is the older part, laid out around Archer Avenue. South of the tracks is Argo, a company-town neighborhood annexed in 1911, named for the starch brand of the corn-processing plant built just south of it in 1907 (that plant now sits in Bedford Park), with its own business strip on 63rd Street. If you tell a driver “Argo,” they’ll know you mean the south side.
We’re not a junkyard, and that’s the point
Plenty of people in Summit search for a junkyard, because the area is known for self-service used-parts yards. If you want parts, a yard is the right place. If you want to get rid of a car that won’t run, though, a yard means first getting the car there, which for a dead car means arranging a tow yourself.
Masters Cash for Junk Cars works the other way around. We don’t run a lot and we don’t sell parts. We buy the car where it’s sitting, in your driveway, garage, alley parking pad or apartment lot, and the tow is part of the deal. Our guide on choosing a junkyard or a junk car buyer lays out the difference in more detail.
Getting here from Ashburn
The usual route from 79th Street and Pulaski Road is about 8 miles: west on 79th Street for roughly 4 miles, north on Harlem Avenue (Illinois Route 43) for close to 3, then onto 59th Street. Expect around 20 minutes in normal traffic. The Stevenson Expressway (I-55) runs through Summit’s northwest corner, and both Harlem Avenue and Archer Avenue (Illinois Route 171) have interchanges with it inside town. At 55th Street, Archer bends north and turns into a short freeway that crosses the canals into Lyons.
Summit’s parking rules for a car that won’t run
Several village rules apply as soon as a car stops running. Under Title 10 of the code:
- No vehicle may be parked in any alley in Summit, at any time.
- You can’t park a car on the street to show it for sale, and you can’t wash, grease or repair it there unless it’s an emergency.
- Overnight, parking is banned from 4:00 to 6:00 a.m. on posted streets, which the schedule lists as Archer Road, 63rd Street and Harlem Avenue.
- Once more than 2 inches of snow falls, parking is off on posted snow routes until removal is done, and a snowfall of 3 inches or more brings restrictions to every street.
Posted street-cleaning zones are also enforced from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., with towing on designated streets. Residential permit-parking areas exist too, and permits go only to vehicles carrying a current Summit sticker, which belongs on the lower passenger-side corner of the windshield for the year running July 1 to June 30.
The 72-hour rule on private property
The village’s nuisance chapter lists any rusted, wrecked, junked, partly dismantled, inoperative or abandoned vehicle, licensed or not, kept on private property for more than 72 hours as a public nuisance. Yards cluttered with junked or disabled vehicles are named separately. The section lists exceptions, so if you’ve received a notice, read it closely or ask the village which part applies.
A separate towing chapter defines an abandoned vehicle as one in disrepair, unable to run and unmoved for 7 days or more, on public or private property. Before that kind of tow, the village posts a sticker on the window and mails a notice. You can read both chapters in the Summit village code.
Landmarks a driver will recognize
Summit station, at Archer and Center Avenues, is the easiest one: it’s a Metra Heritage Corridor and Amtrak Lincoln Service stop, and the nearest rail station to Midway. Argo Community High School and the 63rd Street business district are good markers for the south side. Much of Summit lies in the Des Plaines River floodplain, so if your car took on water, see our page on fire and flood damaged cars.
Selling to us
Call (708) 838-5553, 24 hours, every day, or use the cash offer form. Give us the year, make, model, condition and where the car is. We buy wrecked, burned, flooded and stripped cars, trucks, vans and SUVs, plus cars with no keys, but not good running cars to resell. Towing is free and isn’t deducted from the offer.
Let us know which papers you have: title, bill of sale, registration or an insurance card. Which of those is enough for a scrap sale is set by Illinois rules, and we check your case on the call. You’re paid at pickup.
Across the city line
Summit’s east side meets two Chicago neighborhoods we cover: Garfield Ridge to the east and Clearing to the southeast. Stickney is a few miles to the north. For every area we serve, see the service areas page.
Map of Summit
Summit questions
Are you a junkyard in Summit?
No. We don't run a yard and we don't sell used parts. We buy junk cars and tow them from wherever they're parked, so you don't have to drive or haul a dead car anywhere. If you're shopping for parts, a parts yard is what you want. If you're selling a car, call us.
How long can a broken-down car sit on private property in Summit?
Summit's nuisance rules list a wrecked, junked, partly dismantled or inoperative vehicle left on private property for more than 72 hours, licensed or not, as a nuisance. The section lists exceptions, so check with the village if you get a notice, and call us if you'd rather just sell.
Can you load a car that's parked in an alley in Summit?
Tell us exactly where it is first. Summit's code says no one may park a vehicle in any alley, so a car that died there shouldn't stay. If it's in a garage that opens onto an alley, let us know the garage door, the cross streets and anything blocking the way.
My car was flooded. Will you still buy it in Summit?
Yes. Much of Summit sits in the Des Plaines River floodplain, and we buy cars with water damage along with burned, wrecked and stripped ones. Tell us how high the water got and whether it starts, and we'll work out the offer on the call.