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Town guide · California

Selling an inoperative or junk car in Whittier

In Whittier, a car need not be abandoned to be a problem. Whittier's Section 10.56.020 names a car a public nuisance when it is "abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or inoperative, located on any real property, publicly or privately owned, excluding highways, in the city." So inoperative is enough, and a private driveway is real property. We buy whole non-running and junk cars. You sell the whole car as it sits, and pickup is free anywhere in the US.

Updated · 12 sources

Greenleaf Street in uptown Whittier, rounded trees shading brick storefronts and parked cars, with a hill at the far end of the street
Photo: Northwalker · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons

Whittier, the short version

Population
85,815 (Census estimate, July 1, 2025)
County
Los Angeles
Junk-car rule
Municipal Code 10.56.020
Who sends the notice
The city manager
Green curb
20 minutes, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., except Sundays and holidays
Release of liability
REG 138 within 5 days
Smog check on a car being junked
Exempt

How Whittier's nuisance rule works

What triggers it is the car's state plus its spot. Where a vehicle is a nuisance "by reason of its condition and location," the section says "the nuisance shall be abated and the vehicle shall be removed and disposed of as provided in this chapter." The city manager starts the process: on finding a car kept against the chapter, "he/she shall give the notice required in this chapter."

The notice period and hearing steps sit elsewhere in Chapter 10.56, which we did not have in front of us. Read the notice itself for your deadline. Any California city can pass a rule like this and get its removal costs back, thanks to Vehicle Code 22660.

Streets and city lots

Because the nuisance section carves out highways, other rules reach a Whittier car on the street or in a city lot:

  • Three days unmoved. Leave a car in one curb spot for 72 hours straight where a local rule forbids it, and Vehicle Code 22651 permits a tow.
  • Green curbs. Section 10.16.100 defines a green curb as "no standing or parking for a period of time longer than twenty minutes at any time between nine a.m. and six p.m. on any day except Sundays and holidays." Posted signs and curb paint set the limit wherever they appear.
  • EV charging stalls. In city-owned lots, the city may tow a car sitting in a posted charging stall that is "not connected for electric charging purposes" (Section 10.16.170). An EV that dies there unplugged should be moved or sold first.

Title, smog and plates

  • Signing. Whittier sellers sign California's Certificate of Title, together with any lender listed. The buyer handles the filing and the $15 charge. The DMV does not ask sellers to get anything notarized.
  • Lost title. File REG 227 before anything else; it costs $28 (junk car with no title).
  • Smog. You can skip it if a wrecker or dismantler is buying the car.
  • Release. Within five days of the sale, send REG 138 by web or mail. Citations and suits dated after the sale then belong to the buyer.
  • Plates. Ordinary plates normally stay on. Recording the car as junk returns them to the DMV.

Towns near Whittier

Pico Rivera is 4.3 miles away and La Mirada 4.5. La Habra is 4.8 miles and Norwalk 5.5. The California page has the statewide rules.

Getting an offer

Call (877) 421-6008 or use the form for your Whittier car. Pickup works from a hillside driveway, a lot off Greenleaf, or a garage that ran out of fixes.

Questions people ask

Is a broken-down car in my Whittier driveway against city code?
It can be. Section 10.56.020 calls any such vehicle on "any real property, publicly or privately owned, excluding highways" a public nuisance, and the city manager sends the notice.
My electric car died in a city charging stall. Can it be towed?
It can. Section 10.16.170 lets the city remove a vehicle from a posted charging stall in a city-owned lot when it is "not connected for electric charging purposes." A dead, unplugged EV qualifies.
Does a dead car on a Whittier street fall under the same rule?
No, streets are carved out of the nuisance section. State law allows towing a Whittier street car left three straight days against a local ordinance. Posted limits and curb colors count too.

Sources

Every fact on this page comes from one of these. Checked October 11, 2026.

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, city population estimates 2020-2025 www2.census.gov
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer (land area) www2.census.gov
  3. Whittier Municipal Code 10.56.020, Nuisance declared library.municode.com
  4. Whittier Municipal Code 10.16.170, Electric charging stalls library.municode.com
  5. Whittier Municipal Code 10.16.100, Parking time limits library.municode.com
  6. California Vehicle Code 22651 (72-hour street towing) california.public.law
  7. California Vehicle Code 22660 (local abatement ordinances) california.public.law
  8. California DMV: Title transfers and changes dmv.ca.gov
  9. California DMV: REG 138 Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability dmv.ca.gov
  10. California DMV: Junking a vehicle (individual) dmv.ca.gov
  11. California DMV: License plates dmv.ca.gov
  12. California DMV: Registration fees dmv.ca.gov