Selling a junk or dead car in Yuba City

Inside the garage, or nowhere

Section 4-8.101 draws the line at the garage or carport. A car that does not run counts as a nuisance on a driveway, on the street, or on "an unimproved surface". That section reaches running cars too. A vehicle, boat or trailer kept outside a garage or carport "on an unimproved surface" also counts. So the rule reaches running cars too, not only dead ones.

The city's reasons are in the code. Conditions on the list are ones that "substantially detract from the appearance of the immediate neighborhood" or "reduce the property value." Loose scrap metal and salvage materials kept where neighbors can see them are covered in the same section.

The ten-day letter

Chapter 15 of Title 4 is the city's abandoned and inoperative vehicle law. It was adopted under Vehicle Code 22660. Section 4-15.01 declares a wrecked, dismantled or inoperative car "or part thereof" on private or public property, highways excluded, to be a public nuisance.

The process runs on one clock:

1. The notice. Yuba City Section 4-15.08 requires a "ten-day notice of intention to abate and remove" by registered mail. The landowner gets one copy and the car's owner gets the other. The form tells you to remove the car on or before a date "which is ten (10) calendar days from the date of the mailing of this notice."
2. Your choice in those ten days. Move the car, or file a request for a public hearing with the City Clerk. Both the landowner and the registered owner get that option.
3. No request. Under Section 4-15.09, if no request arrives within ten days of mailing, the city "shall have the authority to abate and remove the vehicle" without a hearing. The removal costs and administrative costs are assessed to the landowner.
4. A hearing. If one is requested, the Council holds it. Notice goes by registered mail at least ten calendar days before the date.

Note that these are calendar days, so weekends count. In Yuba City, the clock runs from the day the letter is mailed, not the day you open it.

Section 4-15.09 helps an owner whose land is holding someone else's wreck. Swear in writing, inside the ten days, that it is not your doing, and that paper stands in for a hearing request "which does not require his or her presence." Our car abandoned on your property guide covers the rest.

Buses, trucks and trailers

Bigger vehicles have their own rules. Section 4-9.1403 bars parking a bus, motor truck, trailer or similar vehicle "of a width in excess of 90 in." on a residential street for more than 24 hours. Urgent repairs on the vehicle get a longer window, up to 120 consecutive hours. On private property, Section 4-9.1402 allows oversize vehicles in any yard area except the front yard setback or a side yard next to a street, and the spot needs a paved or graveled surface. A dead box truck or trailer that has to stay in the street while you decide counts against those 24 hours.

Pulling parts at home

The city's business-license definitions in Section 3-4.02 leave room for a home mechanic. Owners "who desire to dismantle not more than three personal vehicles within any 12-month period" are outside the automobile dismantler definition. That section also counts "any space of 200 square ft. or more" holding inoperable vehicles or scrap as a junk yard. Half-stripped cars also run into the driveway rule above. Read part it out or sell it whole before you pick up a wrench.

When state law takes over

Curbside, California law sets its own limits, and Yuba City may layer more on top. Vehicle Code 22651 lets Yuba City tow a car parked on one street past 72 hours against a city rule. After that, the Yuba City tow yard has a lien. When a Yuba City car's value is $4,000 or under, Civil Code 3072 lets the yard sell it after 31 days have passed since notice, and before day 41. When the sale falls short of what the yard is owed, Section 22523 makes the last registered owner pay the difference. Filing a report of sale protects you, so send REG 138 the same day the car goes.

Title, smog and plates in California

Titles across the state go through California DMV field offices. Title papers can go by mail instead, to PO Box 942869, Sacramento, ZIP 94269.

• Your name goes on the title, and a lienholder's too if there is one. The DMV does not tell sellers to use a notary. When the buyer submits it, they pay the $15 transfer fee.
• Yuba City sellers send in REG 138 inside 5 days of the sale. Send it through the DMV website (dmv.ca.gov/nrl) or on paper.
• No Smog Check is needed when a Yuba City car is sold for wrecking or dismantling, since that transfer is exempt.
• Most plates belong to the car and go with it. In Yuba City, personalized or special plates can move to a different car for a fee.
• Title missing? Start with REG 227. A replacement is $28.
• If the registration ran out and nobody filed Planned Non-Operation (REG 102), DMV bills every unregistered year plus penalties.

Nearby towns

As the crow flies, Oroville is 25.6 miles from Yuba City, Lincoln 25.7, Roseville 30.3, Rocklin 30.7 and Woodland 32.2. For statewide rules, see California.

Getting an offer

Use the form or call (877) 421-6008. Tell us about your Yuba City car and we'll take it from there. We pick it up where it sits, like a carport, a gravel pad behind the house, or a shop lot where the repair quote was too steep.