South San Francisco: selling a dead or junk car

Start with REG 227 if the title is gone

The form's full name is the "Application for Replacement or Transfer of Title." Hand it in at a DMV field office or mail it. A replacement South San Francisco title costs $28 (VC 9265), and DMV says one sent by mail usually arrives in 15 to 30 days. For a South San Francisco sale, its section 5 calls for a notary only when DMV's record shows a legal owner or lienholder. Junk car with no title walks through it.

No papers at all

Sometimes there is simply no normal proof of ownership, say for a car bought years back and never transferred. DMV's junking rules then turn on what the car is worth:

• At $5,000 and up: DMV wants a motor vehicle bond.
• Below $5,000: no bond. Submit whatever ownership documents exist and a REG 256 Statement of Facts. In South San Francisco, that form names who you got the car from, sets its value, and states no lien exists.

When the car is still registered to somebody else, read car not in your name.

Recording a car as Junk

DMV defines a junk vehicle as one dismantled because it was wrecked, abandoned, or stopped working. If you plan to do the taking apart, ask DMV to record the car as Junk first; start dismantling before that and DMV adds an investigative service fee. Junking is open to ordinary owners, not only licensed dismantlers. Recording a car as Junk means its plates go back to DMV. Sell it whole instead, and a normal set of plates generally goes with the car.

What the title brand says

California has seven title brands. In South San Francisco, a salvaged car can mean one hurt by an accident, a flood or vandals, or one that was dismantled before. There's no separate brand for flooding. A total-loss salvage car has damage so bad that the owner or insurer judges repair not worth the money. DMV then replaces the title with a salvage certificate. See salvage title.

The local code

South San Francisco has an Abandoned Vehicle Abatement Ordinance, adopted under Vehicle Code 22660. It is "unlawful and an infraction" to leave a car "in an abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or inoperative condition upon any private property or public property including highways within the city for a period in excess of ten days," unless an exception in the code applies.

First, South San Francisco mails out a notice saying it intends to abate and haul away the car. A public hearing is open to the car's owner or the landowner "within ten days after the mailing of the notice of intention to abate and remove." At it, the hearing officer decides on removal and the administrative costs.

After an order, the car may go "to a scrapyard or automobile dismantler's yard" five days later. When the code requires mailing the decision, a South San Francisco owner gets five days from the mailing date. Following an appeal, you get fifteen days. After removal, the car "shall not be reconstructed or made operable," except when it's eligible for horseless carriage or historical plates.

Closing out the sale

When the paperwork is in hand, the owner and any lender listed both sign the title; the DMV's seller instructions skip any notary step. After a South San Francisco sale, REG 138, the release form, is due within five days. In South San Francisco, send it through dmv.ca.gov/nrl, or put a paper copy in the mail to DMV. No smog inspection applies when a car leaves your hands to be broken up.

Around South San Francisco

San Bruno is 3.6 miles away as the crow flies, Millbrae 4.1, Burlingame 4.6 and Daly City 5.8. The California page has the statewide rules.

Getting an offer

Use the form or call (877) 421-6008. Tell us about your South San Francisco car, with or without a title. A garage, the curb or a repair bay all work as pickup spots.