Selling a non-running car in Tustin

Three ways to break Section 4503

Section 4503 lists three offenses, and none of them requires that you own the car:

• leaving a car or parts "in an abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or inoperative condition upon any private or public property within the city"
• being a property owner who lets someone else do it on your land
• refusing to remove the car "when ordered to do so"

The second one catches landlords and relatives. A tenant's dead sedan in the carport is the owner's problem as well.

The code also defines "Dismantled" and "Wrecked" by one test: damage or missing parts that make the car "unsafe or illegal to operate on any public street." Someone else's car left on your property more than "seventy-two (72) consecutive hours" without your consent meets the code's definition of abandoned.

The notice, and when the city skips it

Tustin Section 4506 sends "A ten (10) day notice of intention to abate" by registered and/or certified mail to both the property owner and the car owner. It must explain hearing rights. A property owner can show up, or answer in a sworn written statement with reasons.

The notice can be skipped in two cases. One is when both owners have signed releases giving up the car. The other is when the car is missing a motor, transmission or wheels "and is incapable of being towed". After removal, the city mails the car's registered and legal owner one more notice before final disposal. If the car is not claimed from the scrap yard or dismantler "within twelve (12) days after the notice is mailed", disposal goes ahead.

Street limits in Tustin

Section 5330 says no one may "park or store such vehicle upon any public street or dedicated alley for a consecutive period of more than seventy-two (72) hours." After that, police may remove it under the state Vehicle Code's tow rules. Curbside fixes get very little time: "one (1) hour for private vehicles" for temporary emergency repairs.

Signing over a California title

Tustin is in Orange County, yet the county has no role in titles; the state DMV does. For a Tustin sale, the seller signs the title, and so does a lienholder if one exists. DMV's private-sale steps don't include a notary. A Tustin buyer files it with the $15 transfer fee and has 10 days to tell DMV of the change.

Your clock is half that. REG 138, the seller's release, is due within 5 days, and dmv.ca.gov/nrl accepts it, as does the mail. Once it's on record, the buyer owns any tickets and civil suits after the sale. If the buyer abandons the car later, that filing covers you (VC 22523). Regular plates normally remain on the car. See after you sell.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or fill out the form. Call (877) 421-6008 or use the form for your Tustin car. We come where it quit: an Old Town garage, an apartment stall, or a shop lot toward Santa Ana or Irvine. For statewide rules, see California.