How long do I have after Downey mails a notice about my car?

The notice asks you to remove the car within 10 days from the date it was mailed. Inside those 10 days, either the Downey landowner or the car's owner may request a public hearing from the City Manager.

If the city orders my car removed, how fast can it be scrapped?

Before a Downey car goes to a scrapyard or dismantler's yard, the city waits five days once the order is final or any required decision notice has gone out by mail. After an appeal to the Council, the wait is 15 days.

If the city hauls the car off my land, who gets the bill?

Per the notice, whoever owns the land under the car is charged for the removal and the administrative costs.

Town guide · California

Downey's notice to abate, and selling the car first

Once Downey orders a dead car removed, it can head for the crusher in five days. The city code says that "Five days after the adoption of the order declaring the vehicle, or parts thereof, to be a public nuisance," it "may be disposed of by removal to a scrapyard or automobile dismantler's yard." After that, there is no getting it back to fix. If you want the call on the car to be yours, not the city's, we buy whole non-running and junk cars. You sell the whole car as it sits, with free pickup anywhere in the US.

Updated October 11, 2026 · 8 sources

Photo: Eric Pierce · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Downey, the short version

Population: 108,468 (Census estimate, July 1, 2025)
County: Los Angeles
Junk-vehicle rule: Downey Municipal Code, abandoned vehicle abatement
Notice to abate: 10 days from the date of mailing
Hearing request: To the City Manager within 10 days
Disposal after an order: 5 days, or 15 after a Council appeal
Release of liability: REG 138 within 5 days

How a Downey case starts

Vehicle Code 22660 lets cities treat "abandoned, wrecked, dismantled, or inoperative vehicles" as public nuisances and remove them, and Downey does just that. When the city decides a car qualifies under its municipal code, two notices go out by mail. Downey mails one copy to the car's last registered or legal owner and one to the landowner.

The notice to the landowner says to move the car "within 10 days from the date of mailing of this notice." Skip that and the city tows it, and as the landowner you are charged the costs "together with administrative costs." The ten days start at mailing, so check the postmark.

The hearing window

In Downey, a hearing can be asked for by the person who owns the land or the person who owns the car. The City Manager has to receive it "within 10 days after the mailing of the notices of intention." A public hearing then decides if the car is removed and who pays. With no request on file, the City Manager can have the car taken away as a public nuisance.

When the hearing wraps up, the City Manager may order the car taken away and decide what the landowner is charged. Downey may then have a scrapyard take the car. Downey's clock runs five days past the order, five days past the mailing of any required decision notice, or 15 days past an appeal where the Council approves removal.

Title, plates and the DMV from Downey

Titles come from the California DMV, not Los Angeles County. Your job on a sale is a signature on the title, plus the lienholder's if one is listed. Whoever buys the Downey car takes it to DMV and pays the $15 transfer fee. DMV's private-sale steps leave out any notary. Title missing? You can get a new one with REG 227 for $28.

Within 5 days, tell the DMV about the sale on REG 138, either on its website or on paper. Vehicle Code 5602 then puts later tickets and liability on the buyer. Regular plates mostly stay on the car. A car sold to a dismantler skips the Smog Check.

Nearby towns

Straight-line distances from Downey: Bell Gardens 2.3 miles, Paramount and Norwalk 3.4 miles each, Bellflower 3.5. See California for statewide rules.

Getting an offer

Use the form or call (877) 421-6008. Use the form for your Downey car. If a city notice arrived, keep it nearby, since its mailing date starts the ten days. Pickup can be in the driveway, the side yard, or wherever Downey found the car.

Questions people ask

How long do I have after Downey mails a notice about my car?: The notice asks you to remove the car within 10 days from the date it was mailed. Inside those 10 days, either the Downey landowner or the car's owner may request a public hearing from the City Manager.
If the city orders my car removed, how fast can it be scrapped?: Before a Downey car goes to a scrapyard or dismantler's yard, the city waits five days once the order is final or any required decision notice has gone out by mail. After an appeal to the Council, the wait is 15 days.
If the city hauls the car off my land, who gets the bill?: Per the notice, whoever owns the land under the car is charged for the removal and the administrative costs.

Sources

Every fact on this page comes from one of these. Checked October 11, 2026.

Downey Municipal Code, abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or inoperative vehicles ecode360.com
California DMV: Title transfers and changes dmv.ca.gov
California DMV: Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability (REG 138) dmv.ca.gov
California DMV: License plates dmv.ca.gov
California DMV: Registration fees dmv.ca.gov
California DMV: Junking a vehicle (individual) dmv.ca.gov
California Vehicle Code 22660 california.public.law
U.S. Census Bureau: City population estimates, 2020-2025 www2.census.gov