Selling a dead or junk car in East Honolulu

Honolulu's county code on the street

East Honolulu has no city government of its own. Honolulu's county code is the local code, and § 15-13.8 is its rule for abandoned vehicles on streets or highways. The opening line is short: "No person may abandon any vehicle, including a trailer, on a public street or highway."

The section also draws the line between parked and abandoned. "Leaving vehicles unattended for more than 24 hours constitutes abandonment within the meaning of this section." That means a broken car sitting on an East Honolulu street past one day may be treated as abandoned.

Honolulu's police chief or its customer services director can haul it off. The removal bill goes to whoever left it there: "the person abandoning such vehicle shall be liable for all reasonable expenses incurred by the city due to such removal."

This section reaches public streets and highways only. A private lot falls under state law, covered below.

When a dead car is towed from private property

Honolulu's county section covers streets and highways. On a private lot, Hawaii statutes set the rules.

HRS 290-11 lets whoever owns a lot, such as a condo garage or a store's parking area, have an unauthorized car hauled away and bill its owner for it. That power exists only where a sign forbidding unauthorized parking is up. Then the clocks start:

• Fifteen days: the tow operator's deadline to send the legal and last registered owner a registered or certified letter.
• Thirty days from that letter: a car still sitting unclaimed is treated as abandoned, and after a single public ad it may be sold or junked.
• The caps: a tow costs no more than $75, or $85 if a dolly is used, plus $7.50 per mile. Storage runs at most $25 daily for the first week and $20 daily from then on.

If yours is already sitting at a tow yard, see towed or impounded. Honolulu residents can also hand a non-running car to the city's free Junk Vehicle Program, which forgives the back registration.

A lost or damaged title

Buyers need the title, and by law the seller must hand over the signed one. On Oahu, a replacement is $10.00 using form CS-L(MVR)10, the "Application for Duplicate Motor Vehicle Certificate of Title".

• All registered owners put their names on the form. If there's a recorded lien, the lienholder is the one who must ask.
• Go in person on an AlohaQ appointment with the form and the fee, or send it by mail after a notary has signed it. Email is not an option.
• A defaced title has to travel with its application, so include the damaged original.

Every county picks its own duplicate fee, so the $10 figure is Oahu's alone. More on selling without one: junk car with no title.

The title office we checked

We looked up one office: 1041 Nuuanu Ave. Ste. A in Honolulu, reachable at (808) 768-4325. It is about 9 miles west of East Honolulu's center as the crow flies.

Handing the car over

On the face of the title, Section A collects the odometer figure (for models 2011 onward), the sale date and the printed name and signature of every owner. Section B is for the lienholder's signature. You don't have to use a notary. Hand the buyer the title, the latest registration card and a safety certificate that is still valid. Then, inside 10 days, mail the "Notice of Transfer", which is form CS-L(MVR)53 at the head of the title. Letting it slide exposes you to a fine of no more than $100.

Nearby towns

Kailua is about 7.6 miles away, Urban Honolulu 8.7, Kaneohe 9.5 and Pearl City 17.3. See Hawaii for statewide rules.

Getting an offer

Fill in the form or ring (877) 421-6008 with the car's details: year and model, the miles, running or dead, and whether a duplicate title is still in the mail. In East Honolulu we collect from a house, a parking garage or the shop it died at.