Selling a dead or junk car in Atwater

For Atwater owners done with a car: we buy whole non-running and junk cars. You sell the whole car as it sits, and free pickup anywhere in the US includes Merced County farm roads.

Behind the misdemeanor

Section 8.04.010 grounds the chapter in "Section 22660 of the Vehicle Code" and lists the harms: stored wrecks tend "to reduce the value of private property," to "invite plundering," and to create fire hazards. Leaving one more than ten days is how the city turns that finding into an offense.

Hearings go to the council

Atwater sends abatement hearings to its City Council. Section 8.04.100 lays out the steps:

• A hearing happens "upon request by the owner of the vehicle or owner of the land received by the Chief of Police within ten days after the mailing of the notices of intention to abate and remove."
• "If the owner of the land submits a sworn written statement denying responsibility for the presence of the vehicle on his land within such ten-day period, said statement shall be construed as a request for a hearing which does not require his presence."
• "Notice of the hearing shall be mailed, by registered mail, at least ten days before the hearing."
• No request means the city may remove the car "without holding a public hearing."

At the hearing, Section 8.04.110 lets the council grant extra time: "It may delay the time for removal of the vehicle or parts thereof if, in its opinion, the circumstances justify it." It can also order removal and charge costs to the landowner. Those costs skip an Atwater landowner who didn't allow the car to be left and didn't take it on later.

Jack stands and front lawns

Section 8.32.030 adds rules that apply before any ten-day count:

• Its list of nuisances dangerous to children names "vehicles under repair, up on blocks, stands or any other means in which a vehicle may fall."
• "Wrecked or inoperable vehicles, vehicle parts, or other articles of personal property that are abandoned or left in a state of partial construction or repair visible from public right-of-way" are nuisances too.
• Keeping a vehicle "required to be licensed" in a front or side yard is allowed only under the listed exceptions. One is a permanent driveway or parking place that is paved, all-weather surfaced or kept as live, trimmed landscaping, and "the driveway or parking place must measure no less than the width and length of the vehicle." Nothing may hang over the sidewalk.

At the curb, Vehicle Code 22651 applies: a car that sits 72 straight hours against a local rule can be towed.

Expired tags add up

A car parked in an Atwater side yard often has registration years behind it. California bills fees and penalties for those years, with one exception: owners who filed REG 102, Planned Non-Operation. Sitting for years has more.

Selling paperwork

Sacramento's DMV, a state agency, issues titles and takes filings at field offices or by mail.

1. Owner and any lender sign the title as sellers. DMV's step list for sellers has no notary in it.
2. Junk-bound cars, meaning those going for wrecking or dismantling, need no smog test.
3. Regular plates usually stay put on the vehicle, while personalized ones can move to you for a fee.
4. An Atwater seller sends in REG 138, online or on paper, no more than five days after selling.

A lost title starts with REG 227; selling with no title explains it. Statewide details are on the California page.

Merced is next door

Straight-line distance to Merced is 7.6 miles. Turlock is 17.8, Los Banos 24.1 and Ceres 26.4.

Getting an offer

For your Atwater car, call (877) 421-6008 or fill out the form. We pick up near the water tower, by a barn, or at a repair shop.