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Town guide · California

Selling a junk car in Dublin, California

Lost the title to a car that died in a Dublin garage? In California, a single form covers it: REG 227. The DMV says it is used "both to replace and to transfer," and it costs $28. If DMV's record still lists a lender as legal owner, section 5 of that form needs a notary. Once the paperwork is sorted, we buy whole non-running and junk cars. You sell the whole car as it sits, and pickup is free anywhere in the US, from a townhome garage to a driveway in the hills.

Updated · 10 sources

Fog lying over the hills around Dublin and Pleasanton in December, seen from the air, with a freeway cutting straight across the valley
Photo: Pi.1415926535 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Dublin, the short version

Population
71,602 (Census estimate, July 1, 2025)
County
Alameda
Land area
15.229 square miles
City junk-car code
None found online; state law applies here
Lost title
REG 227, $28, usually 15 to 30 days by mail
Notary
Only on REG 227 section 5 when a lienholder is on record
Release of liability
REG 138 within 5 days

Missing title: what to file

  1. REG 227. Dublin owners use this DMV form, the "Application for Replacement or Transfer of Title." Turn it in with $28, by mail or at a field office. The DMV mails the new Dublin title, usually 15 to 30 days later.
  2. Section 5, if a lender is on record. A bank or credit union still listed as legal owner means section 5 needs a notary's stamp. Loans not paid off are covered in still owe on the loan.
  3. No papers at all. Value decides the route. The DMV wants a motor vehicle bond when a Dublin car is valued at $5,000 or more. Below that amount there is no bond. Dublin applicants hand in REG 256, the Statement of Facts, along with whatever ownership papers they still have. On it you name who sold you the car, give its value and confirm there is no lien.

Inherited a car that was never retitled? Start with car not in your name.

With the title in hand

Sign on the seller's line of the California title; a lender who is still listed signs as well. Next, the Dublin buyer gets 10 days to tell the DMV about the change, paying the $15 transfer fee. DMV's steps for this never call for a notary.

Your own deadline is shorter. REG 138, the release-of-liability notice, goes to DMV within 5 days of the sale. Use the dmv.ca.gov/nrl page, or post the paper form to P.O. Box 942859, Sacramento, CA 94259-0001. From there, Vehicle Code 5602 puts any newer tickets and civil claims on the buyer.

Fees, smog and plates

  • Registration that ran out during the car's idle years leaves a bill: DMV charges fees and penalties for each one, except where a Planned Non-Operation (REG 102) had been filed.
  • Selling for dismantling means no smog test is required.
  • Regular plates normally travel with the car. Junking it through DMV on your own is different: then you surrender the plates.

Dublin's own rules

We searched online and couldn't find Dublin's municipal code. Vehicle Code 22660 lets any California city call dead, wrecked or dismantled cars a nuisance, tow them from private or public land and charge for it. So Dublin may well have a rule with a deadline of its own. Street parking is a state matter too: Vehicle Code 22651 lets a car be towed once it has broken a local ordinance by sitting three days or more.

Nearby

Pleasanton is 3.5 miles away as the crow flies, San Ramon is 3.9 and Livermore is 7.7. Statewide steps are on the California page and in junk car with no title.

Getting an offer

Selling a car in Dublin? Call (877) 421-6008 or use the form for your Dublin car, even with a lost title or a lender listed. Pickup is at the garage or curb where the car sits now.

Questions people ask

I can't find the title for my dead car in Dublin. What do I file?
Send in REG 227 by mail or at a DMV office. It costs $28, and DMV says a new title usually comes in the mail within 15 to 30 days. That one form also handles the transfer.
A bank is still listed on the title. Do I need a notary?
Only for one box. For a Dublin car whose DMV record lists a lender as legal owner, section 5 of REG 227 needs a notary. Signing the title itself has no notary step in DMV's instructions.
I have zero ownership papers. Now what?
DMV's junking rules turn on value. A car worth $5,000 or more likely needs a motor vehicle bond. Under $5,000, no bond. Dublin owners hand over whatever ownership papers they still have, along with REG 256. That Statement of Facts gives the car's source and value and confirms no lien is owed.
Does Dublin have its own junk-car ordinance?
Our search of online code libraries came up empty for Dublin. Because Vehicle Code 22660 lets a California city write its own, Dublin could still have a local clock for dead cars on private land.

Sources

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

  1. California DMV: Title transfers and changes dmv.ca.gov
  2. California DMV: Registration fees dmv.ca.gov
  3. California DMV: Junking a vehicle (individual) dmv.ca.gov
  4. California DMV: REG 138 Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability dmv.ca.gov
  5. California DMV: License plates dmv.ca.gov
  6. California DMV: Late renewals dmv.ca.gov
  7. California Vehicle Code 22660 (local abatement ordinances) california.public.law
  8. California Vehicle Code 22651 (72-hour street tows) california.public.law
  9. U.S. Census Bureau city population estimates, 2020-2025 www2.census.gov
  10. U.S. Census Bureau 2025 Gazetteer (land area) www2.census.gov