Selling a junk car in Selma

To get ahead of that, we buy whole non-running and junk cars. Sell the whole car as it sits, and there is free pickup anywhere in the US, Selma included.

After a removal order, a private haul

The most useful line in Selma's code for an owner is in Section 6-19-15. Once the enforcement authority orders a car removed, "any interested party may cause such vehicle to be removed." If removal costs were already assessed against the property and the car leaves "without the cost to the city, only the administrative costs shall thereafter be collected from the owner of the land." In that case, a private haul leaves the landowner owing the administrative costs alone.

How a case moves

1. Discovery. Under 10-13-7, the Chief of Police can start abatement on finding such a vehicle "on private property or public property within the City."
2. Notice. Under Section 10-13-8, the landowner and the vehicle's owner each get "A ten (10) day notice of intention to abate and remove the vehicle," sent by registered mail. The landowner must act "within ten (10) days from the date of mailing of this notice." If not, the city removes the car, and the costs, "together with administrative costs," are assessed to the landowner.
3. Hearing. Inside those same ten days, either owner can ask for a public hearing. Without one, the designated officer can remove the car.
4. Decision and deadline. With no appeal, the car must be gone ten days after the decision notice is mailed, not counting Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays. After that, the enforcement authority has it taken to a junkyard, dismantler or refuse site. If there is an appeal, the same ten-day count starts when the city council's decision is mailed.

State law covers the streets. Under Vehicle Code 22651, a Selma car that breaks a local ordinance by sitting 72 hours or more can be towed.

California title and plates

California has no county title office. Selma sellers use the state DMV.

• Title. You sign as seller, and any lienholder signs too. In Selma, the buyer covers the $15 transfer fee. DMV's list of seller steps for a Selma sale has no notary in it.
• Release. Within 5 days of selling, Selma owners file REG 138, online at dmv.ca.gov/nrl or on paper.
• Plates. Standard plates generally stay on the car.
• Smog. A Selma car headed for a wrecker or dismantler skips the smog check.
• Lost title. File REG 227 first, for $28. See junk car with no title.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or reach us online. Tell us about your Selma car. We can pick it up at a house, on a vineyard road, or at a body shop. Reedley and Sanger both lie 9.4 miles off in a straight line, and Dinuba is 12.1. Statewide: California.