Kapolei: selling a car that no longer runs

The 10-day notice, filed from 13 miles out

The notice is form CS-L(MVR)53, the detachable section at the top of the title. Detach it and complete it. Within 10 days, it goes by mail or in person to the county office that holds the car's last registration. HRS 286-52 says every person other than a dealer must give this notice on the official form, and a violator is fined no more than $100.

The payoff is protection. Filing the notice is a complete defense against claims over the buyer's later use, operation or abandonment of the car, and a copy of the form is your proof. If you would rather go in person, the office at 1041 Nuuanu Ave. Ste. A, phone (808) 768-4325, works by AlohaQ appointment. The county may have others.

Signing over a Kapolei car's title

Fill in Section A on the front: odometer reading, date, printed name and signature, with every joint owner signing. Cars from model year 2010 and older skip the odometer line. A lienholder signs off in Section B. A notary is optional. The buyer then gets the signed title, the latest registration and the safety certificate. Expect the county to hold the transfer if either the registration or the safety check has lapsed.

When a lot owner has the car towed

HRS 290-11 covers a car left on someone else's property in Kapolei. When a notice against unauthorized parking is posted, the property owner can have the car towed at the car owner's expense. The tower must then write to the legal owner and the last registered owner, sending the letter registered or certified "within fifteen days". If the car is not recovered within thirty days after that mailing, it is deemed abandoned and can be sold or junked after one public advertisement.

The statute caps those charges: $75 a tow ($85 with a dolly) plus $7.50 a mile, and storage at $25 per day for a week, dropping to $20 per day after that. See towed or impounded for a car sitting in a tow yard now.

Public roads and derelict cars

We found no Kapolei junk-car code online; the City and County of Honolulu may have its own rules. State law sets the default. Under HRS 290-1, the default test is a car left alone for more than a day while illegally parked on public ground or along a highway's shoulder; the county then has ten business days to take it. HRS 290-8 lets the county call a car derelict when a part is gone or damage has made it inoperable and a listed condition exists. Honolulu auctions unclaimed towed cars after the time stated in its unclaimed-vehicle letter. Active-duty service members get 60 days.

Totaled or sold as salvage

An insurer's total loss, or a car its owner sold as salvage, cannot get a standard Hawaii title or registration. A salvage certificate lets the holder possess, transport and transfer the car, but not drive it, and it says "salvage" on its face. Under HRS 286-48, such a car may be resold only to a licensed repair dealer, dismantler or scrap dealer, or to someone who signs an affidavit saying whether it will be rebuilt. A rebuilt car needs a certified Salvage Repair Dealer and a VIN and safety inspection, and its new papers read "Rebuilt Vehicle". More in salvage title.

Towns next to Kapolei

Ewa Gentry is 2.7 miles away and Waipahu 4.8. Mililani Town is 8.1 miles off and Pearl City 8.3. Statewide rules live on the Hawaii page.

Getting an offer

Selling a car in Kapolei? Call (877) 421-6008 or send the form. Our truck comes to it, in a Kapolei driveway, a parking lot, or a repair bay.