Selling a dead or wrecked car in San Gabriel

Where a car can and can't sit

Section 153.130 covers the R-1, R-1A, R-2 and R-3 zones, plus homes in other zones. None of these may be used for "permanent storage" of a vehicle:

• any part of a front yard;
• the outer three feet of a side yard;
• the rear three feet of a rear yard;
• the street side of a corner lot.

A car may park in a rear or side yard only when walls at least six feet high, or buildings, hide it from the street and the neighbors. Section 153.130 exempts only "occasional and incidental disassembly or repair" of a car the occupant owns, and only if the job takes no more than 48 hours.

The nuisance process

Section 90.01, written under Vehicle Code 22660, declares that an abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or inoperative vehicle "on private or public property" is a public nuisance. The council's findings name the harms: lower property values, blight, plundering, fire hazards and danger to children.

At a hearing under Section 90.10, the landowner can appear or send a sworn written statement denying responsibility, with reasons. The Hearing Officer:

• "may delay the time for the removal" if the circumstances justify it;
• may order removal and bill the parcel owner for the removal plus administrative costs;
• won't bill a landowner who neither agreed to the car nor later put up with it.

Towing and liens under state law

VC 22651 allows police to tow a car left three days or more on a street in violation of a local ordinance. Civil Code 3068.1 then gives the San Gabriel tow company a possessory lien. CC 3072 sends a San Gabriel car valued by law at $4,000 or less to lien sale 31 to 41 days after the "Notice of Pending Lien Sale" goes out by mail. An owner who objects has 10 days. If nobody claims the car, the last registered owner pays any shortfall, unless they had already filed a report of sale (VC 22523).

Title, smog and plates

San Gabriel sellers deal with the state DMV, which keeps its own field offices and accepts title papers by mail.

• Sign the title as the seller. Sellers need no notary under the DMV's steps.
• Get REG 138 in within 5 days. It serves as the report of sale that shields you if the buyer walks away from the car.
• Regular plates generally stay on.
• A San Gabriel car sold to someone who plans to wreck or dismantle it skips the smog check.
• In San Gabriel, a car failing Air Resources Board rules may still be sold for lawful wrecking or dismantling. San Gabriel sellers hand over a certificate saying whether it complies (VC 24007).

REG 227 and $28 replace a missing title. More on our California page and in the wrecked car guide.

Getting an offer

Selling a car in San Gabriel? Call (877) 421-6008 or send the offer form. Pickup works behind a six-foot wall in a San Gabriel yard or at a shop in Alhambra, 2.3 miles away.