Selling a dead or junk car in Mountain View

Four things Section 25.6 forbids

Mountain View adopted its abatement chapter under Vehicle Code 22660. Chapter 39 states its purpose, and Section 25.6 spells out what is unlawful:

1. Keeping a vehicle or its parts on private property, or public property that is not a street, when it is "unlicensed, unregistered, registered nonoperational," abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or inoperative. The section sets a time limit; read the linked text for it.
2. Refusing to remove such a car, or to abate the nuisance, once the city orders it.
3. Rebuilding a car after the city has removed it under the chapter.
4. Taking apart, repairing or rebuilding "any vehicle on residential property that is not registered to the owner of the residential property."

The last one catches people who let a friend park a project car at their house.

The driveway rule in Section 19.111

A second section deals with what the street can see. That means the whole front yard, plus any side yard not hidden behind a six-foot opaque fence. Any vehicle parked there "for more than seventy-two (72) hours shall be owned or leased by the occupants." In R1 and R2 districts, the paved strip you may park on in view of the street is up to 20 feet wide with no garage or a one-car garage, and up to 30 feet with a two- or three-car garage. A dead car belonging to someone who moved out is the classic problem here. Our page on a car not in your name covers selling one.

PNO, back fees and the sale

PNO still matters at the DMV. If it was not filed, fees and penalties come due for every unregistered year. With it filed, they do not. Selling clears the question for good.

In Mountain View, titles go through the state DMV, by mail or at a field office. Sign the title (a lender with a recorded lien signs too) and hand it to the buyer, who files it. You won't need a notary for a private sale, going by the DMV's steps. You owe the DMV your release, REG 138, within five days of the handover. Under Vehicle Code 22523, that report of sale also clears you if a later owner abandons the car. Standard plates go with the car. Mountain View sellers can pay a fee and keep personalized plates for their next car.

Getting an offer

Ring (877) 421-6008 or fill in the form, which asks everything about your Mountain View car. Pickup can be from a carport, an assigned apartment space or a repair shop's lot. For places nearby, see Los Altos, Sunnyvale and Palo Alto, or California for state rules.