Selling a dead or junk car in Petaluma

What California lets a city do

Under 22660, a city may treat "abandoned, wrecked, dismantled, or inoperative vehicles" on private or public property as public nuisances, then bill the owner for removal. If a Petaluma notice ever lands in your mailbox, it should cite a city section. That section, not this page, sets your deadline.

Three state rules apply no matter what Petaluma adds:

• Stripped cars by the road. Section 22669 allows immediate removal of a Petaluma car sitting on public land along a road once it is missing parts such as its engine, transmission, wheels, doors or windshield.
• Value of $500 or under. Before towing such a car, Petaluma must put a notice on it 72 hours early, per Section 22851.3. For cars at $300 or under, that notice is not needed. Petaluma tells the owner within 48 hours. A Petaluma owner then has 10 days to ask for a hearing. Disposal may happen 15 days after that notice.
• Dumping it. Under Section 22523, you can't leave a car on a Petaluma public road. Nor can you leave it on someone else's land without permission. In Petaluma the fine starts at $100. You also need proof that the removal was paid for.

Petaluma streets and the tow lien

Petaluma may use Vehicle Code 22651 to tow a car that breaks a local parking ordinance by staying in one spot 72 straight hours or longer. From that point Civil Code 3068.1 gives the tow operator a lien for towing and storage.

Civil Code 3072 takes over for any Petaluma car with a value of $4,000 or under. A Notice of Pending Lien Sale is mailed to the owner, and the yard sets the sale 31 to 41 days out from that mailing. Petaluma owners have a 10-day window to return a Declaration of Opposition and request a court date. Towed or impounded walks through getting a car released.

Sonoma County smog, and why a junker skips it

DMV's partial-biennial appendix names Sonoma County among six counties split by ZIP code. The appendix carries a November 2011 revision date, so treat its ZIP lists with care. None of that touches a junker. No smog inspection is needed in California when a car goes off for wrecking or dismantling. Vehicle Code 24007 still lets a car that falls short of Air Resources Board standards be sold to a legal wrecker, provided a compliance or noncompliance certificate is handed over too.

Title, release and plates

In Petaluma the state DMV handles titles, since California does not use county title clerks. In Petaluma, the seller signs the "California Certificate of Title", and a lienholder, if there is one, signs it too. Petaluma sellers send the REG 138 release to DMV within five days, on dmv.ca.gov/nrl or on paper. Under Vehicle Code 5602, the buyer answers for any tickets and lawsuits after DMV records your Petaluma sale.

Ordinary plates stay on the car for its next owner. Personalized or special plates you may move to another car, for a fee. After you sell lists the final chores, and selling with no title covers a lost title.

Getting an offer

Selling a car in Petaluma? Call (877) 421-6008 or send our short form. We collect from a house on the west side, a ranch road outside town, or a garage that stopped work on it. Rohnert Park is 8.3 miles away and Novato 11.7; statewide rules live on the California page.