How to sell a vehicle for salvage in California?

October 4, 2023 3:39 PM

My beloved Silver Lady is a total loss due to a complete failure of the entire system. Since the total loss is not due to an accident, our insurance company is not involved. Since this is in California, we want to make sure we don’t miss a legal requirement that could come back to bite us later. Details below the fold.

So if we wanted to have her sold for salvage, what would we need to do in California? The DMV site has a plethora of different processes and titles available for “salvage” “unrepairable” etc. of which I cannot make heads or tails.

So what do I do with the state- which forms do I file, etc.?

Also, any recommendations for a salvage company to buy the car?

This is in Concord California (Northern California, Far East Bay).

posted by susiswimmer to Law & Government (9 answers total)

If you can't sell it, you can donate it to the Kidney Foundation. They will come and take it away. Google cars for kidneys.
posted by Enid Lareg at 4:13 PM on October 4, 2023 [1 favorite]

I'm thinking CarMax might give you a small amount for the scrap value of the car. Give them a call. (I suppose you'd have to have it towed there, however.). AFAIK, CarMax is competent to handle the formalities.
posted by JimN2TAW at 4:34 PM on October 4, 2023 [1 favorite]

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District has a “Clean Cars For All” program which might earn you a grant for a replacement vehicle worth a lot more than you’d get than if you sold the old car for salvage on your own. Grants are in the $5000-9500 range; more here.
posted by mdonley at 4:51 PM on October 4, 2023 [2 favorites]

What make/model/year is it, what is wrong with it, and how interested are you in actually getting money for it versus just trying to get rid of it?
posted by Slinga at 4:59 PM on October 4, 2023 [1 favorite]

I don't think you're obligated to do anything to the title aside from transferring it to someone else when you sell the car or give it away, just as you would any other car. After that your obligation is satisfied; file the paperwork and the car is no longer your property or your responsibility.

You 'sell' the car; the buyer determines that it will be 'for salvage' and does the paperwork that takes it out of service. (Or they're a hobbyist who desperately wants a nonfunctional yellow 2003 Ford Fiesta in their collection, but that's all on them.)
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 5:00 PM on October 4, 2023 [1 favorite]

Companies like Cash Auto Salvage have local participating yards, & will tow. FAQ for CAS, with online quote form.
posted by Iris Gambol at 5:07 PM on October 4, 2023

Best answer: If your title is currently clean, and there's no insurance company declaring your car to be a loss, you don't need to do anything to sell the car. You sign the title to release your interest in the vehicle, send back the "I don't own this car anymore" card to DMV, and it becomes not-your-problem. This assumes that your buyer wants to buy a car.

Some junkyards and pick-and-pull type places, which are in the business of dismantling cars and selling the parts may require you to get a "Junk Certificate" from DMV. This marks your car's VIN number as permanently destroyed and unrepairable. Legally, you'd be selling a pile of parts to the dismantler, not a car. It is theoretically possible to rebuild and retitle a car that was once junked, but it is quite a lot of work and it's incredibly rare. To a dismantler, purchasing a pile of parts is significantly easier than purchasing a car, so if they know they're going to strip it and maybe sell parts instead of the whole vehicle, they'll want the Junk Certificate.

Salvage is something different, and unless insurance is involved, it won't come into play here.

A "salvage certificate" is issued when an insurance company declares a car to be a total loss -- possibly repairable, but in the insurer's opinion, not worth repairing. It's similar to a junk certificate, except that implies that it's possible to repair the car. A car with a salvage certificate can be restored to road-worthiness and can be re-titled once that work has been done and inspected. (This will result in a car with a "salvage title", which is a registerable vehicle that once had a salvage certificate -- the title of the re-registered/re-titled car will say SALVAGE on it, so any future owner is warned of its history).

Branding a title as salvage (or restored junk) significantly reduces the value of the car forever, and it's something that everyone avoids unless they have to. Just because a car isn't running, does not make it a "salvage vehicle", and you are under no obligation to voluntarily declare it so.
posted by toxic at 5:12 PM on October 4, 2023 [3 favorites]

Best answer: You really only need to give a receipt and the title

In California, the SELLER is responsible for providing a recent smog check. If a car isn't running, that's not possible, obviously. If you're selling it to someone in-state, it's worth putting in writing an agreement that the buyer and seller both are aware that the car is not in running condition, and thus, the seller is unable to provide a smog certificate, and that if the buyer wishes to register the car in the future after repairing it, THEY are responsible for it.

Plenty of parts-cars and future race cars, and the occasional car-going-out-of-state titles are transferred without smog... it's not that big a deal, but if the buyer tries to register it and decides to be difficult about it, it may come back to bite you.
posted by toxic at 5:21 PM on October 4, 2023 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: You are all the best! Thank you!
posted by susiswimmer at 5:25 PM on October 4, 2023