A dead car in San Marcos: the five-day rule and a whole-car sale

If repairs will not beat that deadline, we buy whole non-running and junk cars. You sell the whole car as it sits, and pickup is free anywhere in the US, from a cul-de-sac by the lake to a driveway in the hills.

The nuisance finding behind the rule

Section 12.32.010 relies on Vehicle Code 22660 and sets up an Abandoned Vehicle Abatement Committee. The council found that stored dead cars "reduce the value of private property," invite plundering and create fire hazards, and it declared their presence on private or public property, highways aside, "to constitute a public nuisance."

The 10-day notice

Under Section 12.32.090, San Marcos mails the notice of intention by registered mail to the owner of the land and the owner of the car, "unless the vehicle is in such condition that identification numbers are not available to determine ownership." The landowner has to remove the car "within 10 days from the date of mailing of this notice." If not, the City tows it and charges "the costs thereof, together with administrative costs."

Asking for a hearing

The San Marcos City Clerk takes public hearing requests from the landowner or the car's owner during those 10 days. The abatement committee holds it, and notice is mailed at least 10 days before. Property owners who never put the car there have a shortcut in 12.32.100: a sworn written denial of responsibility, sent inside the window, is treated as asking for a hearing, and nobody has to show up in person. If the 10 days pass with no request, San Marcos can abate without holding one.

Other San Marcos rules a dead car can hit

• Parks and trails. Section 9.04.080 forbids letting illegally parked or disabled vehicles "remain for more than 72 hours." Such cars "may be towed away and impounded at the owner's expense," and if nobody claims them they "may be sold" to cover towing and storage.
• Impound yards stay local. Under 5.23.010, tow operators working for the city or the San Diego County Sheriff's Department must keep a permitted impound yard "within the City limits."
• Heavy work vehicles. Section 12.20.150 bars commercial vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating of 9,000 pounds or more from residential streets and premises unless garaged under the code's conditions.

California title and plates

For San Marcos title work, go to a state DMV field office or send it by mail. San Marcos sellers sign the certificate, along with any lender listed. California's private-sale steps include no notary. File REG 138 for the sale inside 5 days, online or by mail. San Marcos plates of the regular kind stay on the car. If a San Marcos buyer will wreck or dismantle it, no smog check is needed. If a crash put the car out of action, see wrecked or totaled; to compare selling whole with stripping it, see part it out or sell it whole.

Neighboring towns

Straight-line distances from San Marcos: Escondido about 5.5 miles, Vista 5.6, Carlsbad 6.6, Encinitas 7.8, Oceanside 10.1 and Poway 13.2. Statewide rules are on the California page.

Getting an offer

With the five-day count running, start online or at (877) 421-6008. Selling a car in San Marcos? The offer form takes the details. Then a truck heads to the spot in San Marcos where it sits.