Selling a dead or junk car in Manteca

The council's reasons

Relying on the power Vehicle Code 22660 gives cities, Manteca's council found that stored wrecks "reduce the value of private property," "promote blight and deterioration," invite plundering and add fire hazards (8.20.020). Off the highways, any car in that state on private or public land is a public nuisance in Manteca unless the chapter expressly allows it.

Notice and hearing

Manteca puts both its police chief and its fire chief in charge of enforcement. The landowner's notice reads: "You are hereby notified to abate said nuisance by the removal of said vehicle, or said parts of a vehicle, within 10 days from the date of mailing of this notice." After that, the city hauls the car off and bills the landowner for removal and administration.

Either owner may ask for a hearing. In Manteca the request must reach the police chief or fire chief inside ten days of mailing, and that chief then hears the question of removal and costs. Without a timely request, the chief may order the car taken.

From order to scrapyard

The code gives three possible start dates for disposal, after which the car "may be disposed of by removal to a scrapyard or automobile dismantler's yard":

• five days from adoption of the nuisance order,
• five days from mailing notice of the decision, when notice is required, or
• fifteen days from the governing body's approval of removal after an appeal.

Abandoned cars are towed by operators on the police chief's abandoned vehicle rotation list (5.44.070). If no operator volunteers for it, every operator already on the city's rotation list must take those calls (5.44.080).

Registration, title and plates

Because Manteca's test turns on registration, look up what you owe. If no Planned Non-Operation (REG 102) was filed, DMV charges each lapsed year with penalties. See sitting for years.

To sell, put your signature on the California title; a lienholder, if there is one, signs too. Get REG 138 to DMV inside five days. DMV accepts title work at its field offices or by mail. Regular plates usually go to the buyer. If you apply to have the car recorded as Junk, they go back to DMV instead. Dismantling-bound cars are exempt from smog. Missing parts covers a car that has been picked over.

Getting an offer

Fill in the form or call (877) 421-6008 about your Manteca car: its year, make, model and miles, if the engine runs, and what's on the title. Pickup can be at a cul-de-sac, a side yard, or the shop it was towed to. Lathrop is 5.1 miles away and Stockton 13.5; the California page has statewide rules.