Kihei: selling a car that no longer runs

The form that ends your liability

Every Hawaii title has a perforated strip at the top. On Maui, a Kihei title calls this piece the "Notice of Transfer", and its form number is CS-L(MVR)53. Get it to the office that last registered the car no later than 10 days after the sale. On Maui that office is the County of Maui's Division of Motor Vehicles & Licensing, and Maui, Kauai and Hawaii County all follow the same 10-day rule.

Every seller other than a dealer owes this notice, and leaving it undone can draw a fine of as much as $100. Make a copy before you send it. Honolulu's transfer page points out that the copy shows which car changed hands, to whom and on what date, and the statute treats it as proof of filing. Together, the filed notice and the signed-over title release you from liability as the registered owner.

Signing the title over

Your signature goes in Section A on the title's front side, along with the date, your printed name and, for 2011 and later model years, the odometer. Co-owners sign too, and a lender completes Section B. A notary is optional in Hawaii, though recommended.

Along with the title, pass over the latest registration and an unexpired safety inspection certificate. The county will not complete a transfer for a car that is behind on registration or inspection, so clear up any lapse with your buyer first. After you sell covers the rest.

If the car is left on a public street

No Kihei-specific or Maui County junk-car rule showed up online. Here is the state framework, which county rules may add to. The fallback test in HRS 290-1 is a car parked unlawfully on public ground and left alone longer than 24 hours. After that, the county must collect it within ten business days.

Two more sections set out what happens next:

• HRS 290-2, the letter. A registered or certified letter goes from the county to the legal and registered owner, and it counts as delivered five days on. Ten days after mailing, a car nobody has reclaimed can be disposed of. The window stretches to 20 business days if the owner lives out of state.
• HRS 290-3, the auction. One newspaper ad must run at least five days ahead of a public auction. If no one bids, the car can be sold by negotiation, or sold or disposed of as junk.

Where Maui titles are handled

Title work for Maui, Molokai and Lanai runs through the County of Maui's Department of Finance, Division of Motor Vehicles & Licensing. We checked a single title office address, a Honolulu location at 1041 Nuuanu Ave. Ste. A; its number is (808) 768-4325. It lies roughly 99 miles to the west of Kihei's center, as the crow flies. That office is on Oahu, so start with the Maui DMVL.

Nearby towns

Kahului is about 7.3 miles away. On Oahu, East Honolulu is about 90.3 miles off and Kailua about 94.5. Statewide rules are on the Hawaii page.

Getting an offer

Reach us through the form or at (877) 421-6008. Start a Kihei offer with our short form. Also say if it can be driven and what the title says. A truck will come out to Kihei for it, at a condo lot, a house or a garage. For cars that will not start at all, read car doesn't run.