Selling a junk car in Buena Park

No yard is a parking spot for a dead car

Two sections cover the yards around a Buena Park home. Section 19.1108.020 says the front yard and any side yard facing a street "shall be kept and maintained free and clear of" auto parts, junk and "inoperative motor vehicles." Section 19.1112.020 extends that to "All front, side, and rear yards." A side yard behind an approved wall or fence is treated like a rear yard, and the rear yard has the same rule.

The one allowance is for repairs. A resident may make "emergency or minor repairs" on their own car "upon a paved driveway or paved parking area", and both sections say the work "shall be concluded within 72 hours of the commencement thereof." A car up on stands for a week is past that.

When the city steps in

Chapter 15.32 is Buena Park's abatement ordinance under Vehicle Code 22660. In Buena Park, Section 15.32.080 gives the city manager or an assigned officer power to take any "abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or inoperative vehicle, or parts thereof" off private or public property.

A mailed notice gives the landowner "10 days from the date of mailing of this notice" to clear the car. After that the city does it, with "the costs thereof, together with administrative costs, assessed to you as owner of the land". Either owner can request a hearing in that window, and a hearing officer rules. After Buena Park approves removal, there are three waits before the car "may be disposed of by removal to a scrapyard or automobile dismantler's yard". Buena Park sets three possible removal dates. Buena Park's waiting period is five days from the order. When the Buena Park decision notice goes out by mail, the count runs five days from the mailing date. If an appeal allows removal, it is fifteen days.

Smog and the California sale rules

Here a junk sale saves a Buena Park seller a step. Buena Park sellers normally hand the buyer a Smog Check, though a car headed to a dismantler or wrecker doesn't need one. A Buena Park car that fails Air Resources Board rules can go only to a dealer or to a buyer planning to lawfully wreck or dismantle it. That's Vehicle Code 24007. So a car that flunked smog can still leave whole for scrap. See failed inspection.

Orange County plays no part in the title; the state DMV does. Your signature goes on the seller's line, and DMV's private-sale steps mention no notary. The $15 transfer fee is the buyer's. Plates on an ordinary car normally ride along with it, while personalized or special plates are the owner's to reassign, for a fee.

Five days after the sale, the DMV should have your REG 138. The website route is dmv.ca.gov/nrl, and a mailed form also works. From the day DMV records it, the buyer answers for later tickets and lawsuits. More in after you sell.

Getting an offer

Ring (877) 421-6008 or send the form. Ready to sell in Buena Park? Our form walks you through it. Pickup happens at the Buena Park home, garage or repair lot where the car is. Cypress and La Mirada are next door, and California has the statewide page.