Selling a dead or junk car in Patterson

For owners who would rather close it out themselves: we buy whole non-running and junk cars. Sell the whole car as it sits, with free pickup anywhere in the US.

How Patterson defines abandoned

Section 10.24.020 starts from intent: "A vehicle is 'abandoned' if it is left on a highway, public property or private property in such inoperable or neglected condition that the owner's intention to relinquish all further rights or interests in it may be reasonably concluded." Two further tests follow:

• Highways. "In reference to highways, 'abandonment' is presumed to have occurred if a vehicle is left seventy-two hours or more on the highway, or is parked, resting or otherwise immobilized on any highway or public right-of-way; and lacks an engine, transmission, wheels, tires, doors, windshield or any other part of equipment necessary to operate safely on the highway." Those "may be removed immediately upon discovery."
• Off the highway. A junked or non-working car qualifies where it causes blight, fire hazards, an attractive nuisance for children or similar harm.

Crash victims get an exception: "A vehicle which has been wrecked in a traffic accident, and which has been removed from the roadway to a storage facility, but which has not been claimed by its owner will not be considered an abandoned vehicle."

Notice and hearing

Section 10.24.080 calls for "not less than a ten day notice of intention to abate and remove the vehicle," unless "the property owner and the owner of the vehicle have signed releases authorizing removal and waiving further interest in the vehicle." The notice "shall contain a statement of hearing rights."

• "A request for a hearing shall be made to the chief of police within ten days after the mailing of notice of intention to abate and remove the vehicle or at the time of signing a release."
• At the end, "the chief of police or his designee may find that a vehicle, or parts, has been abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or is inoperative" and charge removal and administrative costs to the landowner.
• "If it is determined at the hearing that the vehicle was placed on the land without the consent of the landowner and that he or she has not subsequently acquiesced in its presence," Patterson cannot collect those costs from that owner.

Excluded entirely: a car "completely enclosed within a building in a lawful manner where it is not visible from the street," and one kept at a licensed dismantler, dealer or junkyard.

Contractors and the scrap yard

Section 10.24.070 lets a city contractor tow from a highway or any property once a peace officer or other employee decides the car is abandoned. Section 10.24.120 sends such cars onward: "Vehicles or parts thereof may be disposed of by removal to a scrap yard, automobile dismantler's yard or other suitable site."

A crashed car sitting in storage

The accident exception protects the car from abatement, not from the tow yard. Civil Code 3068.1 gives the storage company a possessory lien. Civil Code 3072 is the rule for a Patterson car worth $4,000 or less. A Notice of Pending Lien Sale goes out by mail, and the sale follows 31 to 41 days later. A Patterson owner who objects can file a Declaration of Opposition in 10 days and get heard by a judge. See towed or impounded and wrecked or totaled.

DMV for a Patterson sale

Titles come from California's state DMV, through field offices or by mail.

• The seller signs, and if there is a loan the lienholder signs too. DMV lists no notary among the seller steps.
• No smog test for a car being sold for wrecking or dismantling.
• Ordinary plates stay on the car as a rule. Personalized ones can follow the owner for a fee.
• REG 138 goes to DMV within five days, online or on paper.
• No title? File REG 227 first; selling with no title covers it.

The California page holds the statewide rules.

West-side neighbors

Straight-line from Patterson: Ceres 13.3 miles, Modesto 13.9, Turlock 16.3, Tracy 23.8.

Getting an offer

Patterson sellers can call (877) 421-6008 or use the site. We come to the fountain roundabout downtown, a farm or warehouse, or the storage yard holding it.