Selling a dead car in Martinez

A dead car at a Martinez curb

Two state sections matter most here. Section 22651 allows a tow when a car sits three days (72 consecutive hours) against a local ordinance.

Section 22669 can move faster. Peace officers, and city staff assigned the task, can remove a vehicle they believe was abandoned from the roadway or from any property, public or private. A car on the right-of-way with big parts gone (the motor, gearbox, wheels, tires, doors or windshield) can be taken away right then.

The $500 and $300 lines

Value decides how much warning you get, and these figures are legal tests, not prices. Section 22851.3 requires a 72-hour notice on any abandoned car worth $500 or below before the tow. No posting is required for one worth $300 or below taken under 22669(d). After the tow:

• notice reaches the owner within 48 hours
• the owner gets 10 days to demand a hearing
• disposal can happen 15 days after the notice

Walking away from it

Leaving the car on a rural road or in a parking lot is an offense in itself. Under section 22523 you can't leave a vehicle on a highway or on someone's property without their OK. It costs at least $100, and you also have to prove removal was paid for. And when an impounded car sits unclaimed, the person whose name is on the registration takes the citation and the balance the auction didn't cover.

Paperwork is the escape hatch. Once one exists, a later buyer's abandonment no longer lands on the person who sold the car.

Title, plates and REG 138

The paperwork in question is REG 138. You have five days from a sale or disposal to submit it, either online or by mail.

Title paperwork goes to the California DMV through its field offices. As seller you sign the certificate; a lienholder, if there is one, signs as well. Notarization isn't among the DMV's seller steps. In Martinez, regular plates stay with the car when you sell. For a car that has already been towed, read towed or impounded.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or send the form. List the car by year and model, give an odometer figure, say whether it cranks, and tell us who holds the title. You sell the whole car as it sits, curbside or in a shop lot. Pleasant Hill is 3.7 miles from Martinez and Benicia 5.6; see California for the rest.