Selling a dead or junk car in Ontario

Loose parts and yard parking

The same subsection reaches "motors, equipment, and automotive parts or accessories" stored outside those spaces. Subsection (i) adds vehicles, trailers, RVs and boats kept in yard areas anywhere except paved driveways, where they aren't screened from the street.

The abatement notice and its two shortcuts

Ontario's abandoned-vehicle law is Chapter 5-12, adopted under Vehicle Code 22660. It covers cars on private or public property, but not highways. Section 5-12.09 sends both the landowner and the car owner "a ten (10) day notice of intention to abate and remove," by registered or certified mail.

Two situations skip that notice:

• Signed releases. No notice is needed when "the property owner and the owner of the vehicle have signed releases authorizing removal and waiving further interest."
• A stripped, low-value car. If a car is "inoperable due to the absence of a motor, transmission, or wheels and incapable of being towed," is worth under $200, and is ruled an immediate threat to health or safety, it can be removed with no notice after the property owner signs a release. If registration evidence turns up, the registered and legal owners get notice, and disposal can follow if nobody claims it "within twelve (12) days after the notice is mailed."

That $200 figure is the legal test for the shortcut, not a value on your car. Missing parts covers selling a car in that state.

The hearing

Requests go to the Code Enforcement Manager, who holds a public hearing when asked within the ten days (5-12.10), with notice mailed at least ten days before. A landowner can swear in writing that the car isn't theirs to answer for; that counts as asking for a hearing, no appearance needed. Under 5-12.11 the manager "may delay the time for removal" when justified. Land whose owner never agreed to the car, and never accepted it later, is not billed.

Streets, city lots and the airport

Police may remove "any vehicle which has been parked or left standing upon a street, alley, or City-owned parking lot or parking facility for seventy two (72) or more consecutive hours" (4-6.309). At the airport, the General Manager can impound cars parked against its rules, and under 7-1.718 no owner may take one out "without first paying the impound charge and regular parking charge." So a car that dies in an airport lot comes back only after both charges are paid; see towed or impounded.

California title, smog and plates

Titles in California belong to the state DMV's system. In Ontario, the seller and any lender sign the Certificate of Title, then the buyer files it. A private sale needs no notary according to the DMV's steps. Ontario sellers have 5 days after handing over the car to file REG 138. Smog is waived for a car bound for dismantling. Standard plates in Ontario remain on the car, while vanity plates can go on a different car if you pay a fee. In Ontario, a car worth under $5,000 with no ownership papers needs no DMV bond. It wants a Statement of Facts (REG 256) and any ownership documents you can find.

Nearby cities

Eastvale lies 5.3 miles off in a straight line; Chino is 5.5, Upland 6.3 and Rancho Cucamonga 6.8. The California page has statewide rules.

Getting an offer

Reach us at (877) 421-6008 or online with the car, its mileage, if it can run, and the title's status. In Ontario, our truck can take it from a carport, a garage or the curb.