Selling a junk car in Hawaii

Four counties, four title offices

No state DMV exists here. Each county's finance director keeps vehicle records, so the office depends on the island.

• Oahu: Honolulu's Department of Customer Services. Book an AlohaQ slot at a satellite city hall.
• Maui, Molokai and Lanai: Maui County's motor vehicle and licensing division (DMVL).
• Big Island: Hawaii County's Vehicle Registration & Licensing (VRL) office.
• Kauai: the county's licensing division in Lihue.

Your jobs as seller:

• In Section A, enter the odometer reading and date, then print and sign your name. Co-owners each sign too.
• A lender still on the title fills out Section B.
• Pass three papers to the buyer: the endorsed title, the newest registration slip and a current safety certificate.

Honolulu treats a notary as optional here, though it suggests one. Mileage goes down for model year 2011 or later; anything 2010 or older is exempt.

Oahu buyers get 30 days to finish the transfer: $10, or $50 extra once late. Kauai charges the same, but stretches the window to 60 days if the lender keeps no office in the state.

Plates: what the counties say

Plates come up in two places on the county sites. Junking a car means handing them back; Honolulu's checklist says "Remove the vehicle license plates." Veteran sets get swapped for regular ones, $5.50, before Honolulu will record a sale. Personalized plates have a separate process.

For ordinary plates on an ordinary sale, we found no county rule in writing. Call your county office before pickup day.

The Notice of Transfer protects you

Form CS-L(MVR)53 is the strip printed across the top of a Hawaii title. Detach it, complete it, and deliver it to the county of last registration within 10 days. Maui, Kauai and Big Island follow that same deadline.

HRS 286-52 backs it with a fine as high as $100 for anyone but a dealer. In return, the filed form works as "a complete defense" if trouble follows the car after you let it go. Hold on to a copy: it names the car, the buyer and the sale date.

Lost the title?

Start with a duplicate. Only the owner of record can get one, unless a lender holds a lien, in which case only the lender can.

Oahu's version is form CS-L(MVR)10, priced at $10. Everyone named as owner signs. Hand it in at an AlohaQ appointment, or post it with a notarized signature; emailed copies are refused. Send a torn or damaged original along with it. The neighbor islands each pick their own fee.

On a transfer between counties where the prior owner never released the title, Honolulu wants a notarized bill of sale. None of the county pages we read describes a no-title route for scrap. See selling with no title.

Salvage and rebuilt titles

Under HRS 286-2, an insurer's total-loss call makes a car a "rebuilt vehicle". The test: serious harm to wiring and electronics, frame, unibody or suspension, with repairs costing more than market value. Water damage counts in that math. Hawaii prints no separate flood brand.

That car loses its normal title and registration. What it carries is a salvage certificate, good for keeping, moving and selling the car, never for driving it. Whoever buys it has ten days to send the county the title, registration, plates and an application for that certificate.

Buyers are limited by statute. Licensed repair dealers, dismantlers and scrap dealers qualify; anyone else signs an affidavit about whether they plan to rebuild.

Getting back on the road takes a certified Salvage Repair Dealer plus a county VIN and safety inspection. Afterward, its papers carry the words "Rebuilt Vehicle". More in our salvage title guide.

Junking a car through the county

Most of Hawaii's junk rules sit in HRS chapter 290 and in what each county offers.

Honolulu Junk Vehicle Program. For residents, a tow truck hauls the dead car off at no charge, and old registration fees are forgiven. Fill out the junk form, unbolt the plates, then bring form, plates and title papers to an AlohaQ appointment. Clear out the junk inside first. The car must sit on your land or be parked legally on a street, with room for the truck, and two tires holding air at the end it hooks. Loans, tickets and criminal cases survive the junking.

Hawaii County uses an "Application for JUNK Status" when a car is retired for good. All owners endorse the original title, and the plates go in with it.

Derelicts. HRS 290-8 lets a county agency head label a car derelict when it is missing parts or too damaged to run, and one listed condition is met.

Towed or abandoned cars

HRS 290-1 lets each county define "abandoned" by ordinance. Absent one, it means a car left alone more than 24 hours while parked illegally on public land, a road shoulder, setback or easement. Counties then have ten business days to impound it.

• Owner letter (HRS 290-2): certified or registered mail goes to the legal and registered owners. Ten days after mailing, the county may dispose of the car; owners with mainland addresses get 20 business days.
• Sale (HRS 290-3): one newspaper notice, then a public auction. No bidders? It can be sold privately or junked.
• Private lots (HRS 290-11): where a no-parking sign is posted, the landowner may call a tow at your expense. The tower must mail you a notice within fifteen days. If you have not claimed the car thirty days after that letter goes out, it counts as abandoned.

Private tows have price caps in the statute: $75 per hook-up ($85 if a dolly is used), $7.50 per mile, and storage of $25 daily for the first week, $20 after that.

Safety inspection, not smog

There is no emissions program in Hawaii. Instead, each car gets a state safety inspection every year; brand-new ones start with a two-year sticker.

For a car that sits dead, this is the snag. Honolulu will not finish a transfer until both the registration and the safety check are current. Who pays the arrears is between you and the buyer. On Oahu, renewing a car late adds a flat $16.00, and the online and kiosk options shut off 10 months past expiry.

Selling in Hawaii, in order

1. Find the title, or order a county duplicate.
2. Get an offer from us, noting where the car sits and what is wrong.
3. Fill in Section A, mileage included.
4. Give the buyer the title, registration slip and safety certificate.
5. Send in CS-L(MVR)53 inside 10 days, and keep your copy.

Hawaii's largest places

Every Hawaii town page

Local rules and pickup notes for each: Urban Honolulu, East Honolulu, Pearl City, Hilo, Waipahu, Kailua, Kaneohe, Kahului, Mililani Town, Ewa Gentry, Kihei, Kapolei and Mililani Mauka.

You sell the whole car as it sits. Questions first? Call (877) 421-6008.

Cities and towns in Hawaii

• East Honolulu
• Ewa Gentry
• Hilo
• Kahului
• Kailua
• Kaneohe
• Kapolei
• Kihei
• Mililani Mauka
• Mililani Town
• Pearl City
• Urban Honolulu
• Waipahu