Selling a dead or junk car in Pearl City

Catching up a lapsed registration

Honolulu's own pages answer the questions that come up with a car that fell behind:

• The penalty. Renewing a passenger vehicle late costs a flat $16.00, half for the county weight tax and half for the state weight tax ($8 each).
• The online cutoff. The website and kiosks stop accepting a renewal 10 months past expiry, so an older lapse needs another route.
• Who pays. Honolulu leaves it to the two parties to agree who brings the registration and inspection current. Either way, the title stays put until that is done.
• The buyer's exposure. Whoever takes ownership of a delinquent car is billed for every past year it went unregistered.

A long-parked car may also have a lapsed safety check. Hawaii skips emissions tests, but every sale needs a current safety certificate. See car sitting for years and failed inspection or rust.

The city's junk program clears the back fees

There is another way out for a car that will never pass. Residents who junk a car through Honolulu's program owe nothing on old registration or fees, since the city drops them, and the tow costs nothing. The process is a junk form, the plates taken off, and an AlohaQ booking at a satellite city hall to drop off those plates with the form and title paperwork. Loans, tickets and criminal charges survive it.

Leaving it on the street

Hawaii has no incorporated cities, so Honolulu's county code is the local code in Pearl City. Section 15-13.8 covers abandoned vehicles on streets or highways. It says "No person may abandon any vehicle, including a trailer, on a public street or highway."

The clock is one day. The section says "Leaving vehicles unattended for more than 24 hours constitutes abandonment within the meaning of this section." A car that died at the curb and sat past that point fits the rule. A trailer counts the same as a car.

Two officials can order the tow: the police chief and the head of customer services. The cost then lands on the owner: "the person abandoning such vehicle shall be liable for all reasonable expenses incurred by the city due to such removal."

The section speaks only to public streets and highways. The state's HRS 290-1 also counts a car as abandoned after it has gone untended beyond 24 hours in an unlawful public spot. Custody is due within ten business days.

Title office

For Pearl City we checked the Honolulu office at 1041 Nuuanu Ave., Suite A, phone (808) 768-4325. It is roughly 9 miles to the southeast, in a straight line, from the center of Pearl City. Title work on Oahu is done at satellite city halls by AlohaQ appointment.

The sale itself

Section A sits on the face of the title. Put in the mileage for a 2011-or-later model, add the date, then print and sign. A second owner signs too, and Section B is the lender's. No notary is needed. Pass along the title, your latest registration and the safety certificate. Within 10 days, return the "Notice of Transfer" (CS-L(MVR)53), the slip that tears off the top of the title, or risk a fine of up to $100. Your buyer then has 30 days to transfer for $10, and a $50 penalty is added after that.

Nearby towns

Waipahu is about 3.7 miles away, Mililani Town 4.8, Mililani Mauka 5.6, Ewa Gentry 6.5 and Urban Honolulu 8.9. Statewide rules are on Hawaii.

Getting an offer

Start online or at (877) 421-6008. Let us know the vehicle's year, make, model and mileage, if it will start, and how many months the registration has been expired. The truck drives out to the car in Pearl City, whether it is in a carport, a condo stall or a mechanic's bay.