Woodland junk cars: titles, paperwork and selling

Replacing a lost title

For a lost, stolen or damaged title, begin with REG 227, DMV's Application for Replacement or Transfer of Title. The same form does both. Hand it in at a field office or mail it. Under Vehicle Code 9265 a replacement costs $28. Most Woodland owners get the new title by mail 15 to 30 days on.

Woodland sellers often miss this: section 5 of REG 227 calls for a notary only when DMV still shows a legal owner or lienholder. A car loan paid off years ago but never cleared from the record can cause that. Full steps: junk car with no title.

Junk, salvage, nonrepairable

DMV sorts damaged cars three ways:

• Junk: taken apart after being wrecked, abandoned or left inoperable.
• Total loss salvage: damaged so badly the owner or insurer judges repair uneconomical. There is no percentage test. A salvage certificate replaces the title.
• Nonrepairable: a car that was surgically stripped, fully burned, or declared by its owner as good only for parts or scrap. No title or registration is ever possible for it again.

In California, the "Salvaged" brand is used for accident, flood and vandalism damage. Flood has no brand of its own. See salvage title and wrecked or totaled.

Recording a car as Junk

Planning to strip it yourself? Order matters. California requires the owner to ask DMV to record a car as Junk before dismantling begins. You don't need a dismantler license. Taking it apart first does add an investigative service fee. With that application, the plates go back to DMV.

Woodland's own rules

We found no online copy of Woodland's municipal code. Any California city can adopt its own removal ordinance for inoperative cars under Vehicle Code 22660, so Woodland may have rules beyond the state's. Leaving the car on another person's land is not an option either: abandonment carries at least a $100 fine, plus proof that removal was paid for.

Signing it over

Yolo County issues no titles; DMV does that for the whole state. You, and any lender still listed, sign the certificate; your buyer files it. DMV lists no notary step for that signature. Within five days, send DMV REG 138, and later tickets become the buyer's problem. In an ordinary sale, standard plates remain on the car. State rules: California.

Getting an offer

Selling a car in Woodland? Call (877) 421-6008 or begin with our form. Our truck can reach a house, a farm lot or a repair shop. Nearby: Davis, 8.0 miles.