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Town guide · California

Selling a dead car under Millbrae's three-day rule

Millbrae gives a dead car three days. Under Section 4.60.140, keeping a vehicle "in an abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or inoperative condition" on private or public land "for a period in excess of three days" is unlawful, apart from the code's exception. Break down on a Friday and by Tuesday the car is past the limit. If that is your driveway, we buy whole non-running and junk cars. You sell the whole car as it sits, and pickup is free anywhere in the US.

Updated · 12 sources

The Millbrae Museum, a blue single-story house with a white picket fence and an American flag, beside a white tower
Photo: mliu92 · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Millbrae, the short version

Population
22,869 (Census estimate, July 1, 2025)
County
San Mateo
Land area
3.269 sq mi
Inoperative car on a lot
3 days (Code 4.60.140)
Mailed notice
10 days
Hearing request goes to
City Clerk
Hearing held by
City council
Wrecked car brand
Salvaged (no separate flood brand)

The Millbrae letter, and the City Clerk

Section 4.60.070 lets Millbrae's chief of police order removal from private property, public property, or "a highway within the city." The car owner and the landowner get "a ten-day notice of intention to abate and remove" under Section 4.60.080, sent registered or certified, unless missing ID numbers make the owner unknowable.

Contesting means getting a hearing request to the City Clerk within those ten days. Millbrae's city council itself hears the case and decides removal and costs. With no request, the notice hands the Chief of Police removal authority.

Five days after the council acts

Millbrae moves fast once it decides. The code says a car "may be disposed of by removal to a scrapyard or automobile dismantler's yard":

  • 5 days once the nuisance order is adopted
  • 5 days from mailing a notice of decision, if one is required
  • 15 days once the council OKs removal on appeal

Section 4.60.150 separately makes it unlawful to refuse a removal order.

How California brands a wrecked Millbrae car

California prints seven brands on titles. With a wreck, Salvaged is the brand to know. It covers collision, flood and vandalism damage the same, plus cars that were dismantled at some point. Flood doesn't get a separate brand. No damage percentage applies either. For a Millbrae car, Vehicle Code 544 says it becomes total loss salvage when the owner or insurer judges repairs not worth the cost, and a salvage certificate takes the title's place. If it's declared nonrepairable under Vehicle Code 431, like a car that fully burned, it can never get a title again. See salvage title and wrecked or totaled.

The handoff

In Millbrae, you and any lienholder sign the title and the buyer files it. The DMV's seller instructions have no notary step. Standard plates usually go with the car. Send REG 138 within 5 days to release your liability. California covers the rest.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or fill in the form. Our short form is how a Millbrae seller gets started, title questions included. Burlingame is 2.2 miles from Millbrae and San Bruno 2.4.

Questions people ask

How long does Millbrae let a dead car stay on my lot?
Three days, under Section 4.60.140, unless the code's exception applies.
Who hears a Millbrae junk-car case?
The city council. Send the request to the City Clerk within ten days of the notice's mailing.
Will a California title say flood after my Millbrae car was flooded?
No. Flood damage falls under the Salvaged brand together with accident and vandalism damage; California has no flood brand.

Sources

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

  1. Millbrae Municipal Code 4.60.010, definitions and notice form ecode360.com
  2. Millbrae Municipal Code 4.60.140, unlawful to abandon vehicle or parts ecode360.com
  3. Millbrae Municipal Code 4.60.080, notice required ecode360.com
  4. Millbrae Municipal Code 4.60.150, unlawful to fail to remove ecode360.com
  5. Millbrae Municipal Code 4.60.070, abatement and removal authorized ecode360.com
  6. California DMV: branded titles dmv.ca.gov
  7. California DMV: salvage, nonrepairable and junk vehicle definitions dmv.ca.gov
  8. California DMV: title transfers and changes dmv.ca.gov
  9. California DMV: REG 138 Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability dmv.ca.gov
  10. California DMV: license plates dmv.ca.gov
  11. U.S. Census Bureau city population estimates, 2020-2025 www2.census.gov
  12. U.S. Census Bureau 2025 Gazetteer (land area) www2.census.gov