Selling a dead car in Placentia

Garage or driveway: the two sides of Chapter 13.80

Outside a building, the chapter is strict. It is "unlawful and a misdemeanor" to leave a vehicle "in an abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or inoperative condition" on private or public land in Placentia "for a period in excess of five days," with highways handled separately. A second misdemeanor covers anyone who will not remove the car "when ordered to do so."

The other exemption is commercial. Section 13.80.030 also excuses a car kept "in connection with the business of a licensed dismantler, licensed vehicle dealer, a junk dealer," or where storage is needed to run a lawful business. A home driveway is neither.

The removal timeline

Under 13.80.080, the City Administrator or a designee can start abatement on finding a wrecked or inoperative car.

• A 10 day notice reaches the parcel owner and the owner of record through registered or certified mail.
• Ten days to remove it. The landowner is told to abate "within ten days from the date of mailing." If not, the City of Placentia handles it and bills the landowner for the costs.
• A hearing, if requested of the City Administrator within those ten days.
• Disposal under 13.80.120 can come five days after a nuisance order, five days after a mailed decision, or "fifteen days after such action of the governing body authorizing removal following appeal."

Next the Placentia car heads to a scrap yard or dismantler, and it "shall not thereafter be reconstructed or made operable" unless it gets horseless carriage or historical plates.

Selling it legally in California

Two state rules apply directly to a car that no longer runs well. A Placentia car that fails Air Resources Board rules can't go to an ordinary private buyer under Vehicle Code 24007. Dealers remain allowed buyers, as does anyone who will see it "legally wrecked or dismantled." At delivery, a certificate showing compliance or noncompliance changes hands too. And a junk-bound car owes no Smog Check in California.

Placentia sellers only have to sign the California title. Your Placentia buyer brings it to the DMV and pays the $15 transfer fee. DMV guidance says a Placentia seller doesn't need a notary. REG 138 then goes in within 5 days, so later violations follow the buyer. Field offices are state-run, and mail works too.

If the car has sat unregistered for years, the DMV bills the missed years with penalties. Placentia owners who filed for Planned Non-Operation, form REG 102, escape that bill. See sitting for years and the California page.

Placentia's neighbors

Pages for nearby towns: Brea 3.1 miles, Fullerton 4.2, Yorba Linda 4.8, Anaheim 5.8.

Getting an offer

For a Placentia junk car, call (877) 421-6008 or send the short form. Free pickup anywhere in the US lets the truck back up to a closed garage, an apartment space, or a body shop yard. For the basics, read selling a junk car.