Selling a junk or dead car in Ceres

Rather than buy a cover and file for non-op, Ceres owners can sell. We buy whole non-running and junk cars. You sell the whole car as it sits, with free pickup anywhere in the US.

Ten days and three exceptions

Section 10.14.140: "On public or private property, excluding a highway, it is unlawful and an infraction for any person to abandon, park, store, or leave any licensed or unlicensed vehicle or a vehicle which lacks an engine, transmission, wheels, tires, doors, windshield or other major part or equipment necessary to operate safely for a period in excess of ten days unless one of the following conditions apply." The conditions:

• "The vehicle or part thereof is completely enclosed within a building in a lawful manner where it is not visible from the street or other public or private property."
• The non-op permit and cover described above.
• "The vehicle or part thereof is stored or parked in a lawful manner on private property in connection with the business of a licensed dismantler, licensed vehicle dealer or junk yard."

Fines are set by council resolution, "in addition to any costs of removal and disposition of the vehicle."

Project cars get a pass

Section 10.14.010 defines an abandoned vehicle as "a neglected, wrecked, dismantled or inoperative vehicle that is left on public property, including any right of way, or private property." Then it carves out a group: "Abandoned Vehicles do not include vehicles of historic value that are in an active state of renovation or restoration." Historic value means the car qualifies for historical vehicle plates. A restoration in progress is treated apart from a car that is only rusting.

Section 10.14.070 adds a visibility condition. The City Manager or a designee may serve notices on cars found on private or public property "and within public view."

The notice to abate

Ceres mails "a ten-day notice of intention to abate and remove the vehicle" by certified mail under Section 10.14.080, with one copy to the landowner and one to the car's owner. Its words: "You are hereby notified to abate said nuisance by the removal of said vehicle (or said parts of a vehicle) within ten days from the date of mailing of this notice."

The one-mile street rule

Under Section 10.04.130, nobody can keep a vehicle on a Ceres street, highway or alley "for more than 72 consecutive hours." Two clauses make it stricter:

• "A vehicle shall be considered to have been parked or left standing for 72 or more consecutive hours if it has remained inoperable or has not been moved at least one mile during said period." Shuffling between spaces does not reset it.
• "Obstruction of the odometer of a vehicle shall give rise to a presumption that the vehicle has not been moved."

Before towing, a warning goes "on the windshield or other conspicuous place on the vehicle (if it has no windshield)," saying removal may follow 72 hours later with no further notice.

Back fees for the years it sat

Ceres asks for "a valid California DMV non-operational permit." On top of that, the state charges Ceres owners fees and penalties for every year off the books, with a filed Planned Non-Operation (PNO, REG 102) as the one way out. Sitting for years explains what that does to a sale.

DMV paperwork

California's DMV, a state agency, handles titles at its field offices and by mail.

1. Seller and lienholder each sign the title; DMV's published seller steps include no notary.
2. A car leaving for wrecking or dismantling is free of the smog requirement.
3. Normal plates usually stay with the car; personalized sets may be moved to the owner for a fee.
4. File REG 138 within five days of selling.

For a lost title, start with REG 227 via selling with no title. The California page has more.

Around Ceres

Modesto is 3.3 straight-line miles away. Turlock is 8.8 miles, Riverbank 8.9 and Patterson 13.3.

Getting an offer

Use the form or call (877) 421-6008. Selling a car in Ceres? The form asks the few things we need. We load from a Ceres garage, a covered car on the driveway, or the shop where it died.