Dead car in Yucaipa? The cover rule, then the sale

How Yucaipa defines a dead car

Section 10.16.020 gives the city's terms, and one of them is wider than people expect. An inoperative vehicle is one "unable to be lawfully operated on public roads due to mechanical failure, missing parts, expired registration, or other legal restrictions." Picture a sedan in Yucaipa that idles perfectly on expired stickers: it can qualify.

The other two terms are narrower:

• Dismantled: "missing one or more major components, such as the engine, transmission, wheels, or other essential parts, rendering it inoperable."
• Wrecked: damaged so badly that it is inoperable, cannot be repaired, and "has no apparent value except as scrap."

Section 10.16.030 also forbids piling them up. "No property owner shall permit the accumulation" of such cars, except licensed dismantlers and repair shops working within the Yucaipa Development Code and Vehicle Code 22660. Any of these cars not stored the way the chapter allows "shall constitute a nuisance."

Where the timing comes from

The Yucaipa sections quoted here set no countdown, and the city may have notice steps of its own that are not shown. State law adds three clocks:

• 72 hours on a street. In Yucaipa, a car parked in one street spot for 72 hours straight or more breaks a local rule, and Vehicle Code 22651 then lets it be towed.
• Right away, if parts are gone. Vehicle Code 22669 lets Yucaipa officers haul a car off public right-of-way on the spot if it's missing an engine or transmission, wheels or tires, doors, windshield, or other needed parts.
• 15 days for a low-value car. Vehicle Code 22851.3 covers abandoned Yucaipa cars worth $500 or less: a warning goes up 72 hours before the tow, and the owner hears within 48 hours after. Yucaipa may then get rid of the car once 15 days pass from that notice. Hearing requests are due within 10 days.

Paperwork for a Yucaipa sale

Yucaipa sits in San Bernardino County, yet the county has nothing to do with titles. The California DMV and its field offices handle them, and you can also mail title papers to it in Sacramento. In a private Yucaipa sale, the Certificate of Title gets the seller's signature, and a lienholder's if there is one. The buyer turns it in after that. No notary step appears in the DMV's list. A missing title means REG 227 before anything else; see junk car with no title.

After a Yucaipa sale, you have five days for the REG 138 release form. Send it by post or use dmv.ca.gov/nrl. Standard plates usually go with the car. A junker headed for dismantling is outside the Smog Check rule, so you skip that test. After you sell walks through the rest.

Towns around Yucaipa

Redlands is 7.4 miles away as the crow flies, Highland 8.9 and Banning 10.2. Loma Linda is 11.7 miles out. Statewide rules are on the California page.

Getting an offer

Selling a car in Yucaipa? Call (877) 421-6008 or start with the form. In Yucaipa our truck can get it from a garage, from beneath a tarp by the house, or from the shop where it gave out.