Retire your car through BAR, or sell it? A Riverside County comparison

The three CAP payments and the test behind each

As of November 8, 2026, BAR's retirement page lists three amounts, each with its own test:

• $1,350: no income test. The most recent Smog Check was a fail.
• $1,500: your household passes the income test, and the car has a Smog Check, pass or fail, from the 180 days before you apply (a car outside the Smog Check Program needs none).
• $2,000: the income test plus a failed most recent Smog Check.

The income test is gross household income at or below 225% of the federal poverty level. On BAR's chart that means up to $35,910 a year for one person, $48,690 for two and $74,250 for four. Proof can be a recent benefits notice, a Social Security award letter, a tax return with a current pay stub, or an EDD wage history report.

A fail counts only if it was not caused solely by ignition timing, the gas cap test or tampering; aborted, manual-mode and training-mode tests do not count. BAR's February 9, 2026 report says the $2,000 and $1,350 amounts began January 1, 2025, and that the $1,500 option is a separate program run with the California Air Resources Board. Every payment depends on each fiscal year's funding (July 1 to June 30).

Source: BAR: apply for vehicle retirement; BAR: CAP income eligibility; BAR: CAP supplemental report, February 9, 2026; BAR: Consumer Assistance Program.

Rules BAR checks before it approves a car

The three options share a core list. You must be the registered owner with the title in your name, and BAR matches the name on your application to the title exactly. A lienholder on the title is a common reason for denial, so have it removed from the title first. You also cannot have retired another car through CAP in the past 12 months as a sole owner, or more than two as a joint owner.

• Registration. Current, or fees paid with the sticker expired no more than 120 days, and no lapse over 120 days in the two years before the current expiration date. For $1,500 only, BAR also takes two years of California insurance, or repair invoices from two calendar years, showing the car was mainly driven here and not registered in another state.
• Status. Not registered to a business, agency or non-profit; not junked; not a salvage-retention car; not being registered into California.
• Type. A car, truck, SUV or van rated 10,000 pounds GVWR or less. The $1,500 option excludes battery-electric and fuel-cell cars.
• No sale in progress. BAR checks DMV records for a pending change of ownership.

That last rule is where the two paths split. Sign the title over to a buyer and retirement is closed to that car, so choose first.

Source: BAR: apply for vehicle retirement.

The drive test at the dismantler

BAR puts the condition rule first: "To qualify, your vehicle must be drivable and you must meet eligibility requirements." The dismantler checks on arrival. The car must get there under its own power, start without starting fluid or a booster battery, drive forward at least 10 yards and have working pedals, with no body, steering or suspension damage that affects driving.

It must also arrive whole: all doors, the hood, dashboard, windshield, one side window, the driver's seat, one bumper, the exhaust, all side and quarter panels, and one headlight, tail light and brake light. A car that has sat for years can fail here if it needs a jump start or is missing a panel. Asked if a dismantler takes a car that cannot be driven, BAR says no.

Source: BAR: apply for vehicle retirement.

From the application to the dismantler's check

1. Apply online, or by mail on BAR's form BAR-107 (revised 01/22/2025), with the registration or title in hand. Save the confirmation notice; it holds your CAP ID.
2. For $1,500 or $2,000, upload income documents. Missing income proof is the reason BAR names most often for an incomplete application.
3. Wait for approval. BAR: "Do not retire your vehicle until you receive your letter of eligibility." A car scrapped early is not paid for.
4. Book a BAR-contracted dismantler and retire the car by the expiration date on the letter, or apply again under the rules and funding in place then.
5. Bring the original letter, the title and a photo ID whose name matches the letter. A stand-in needs a DMV Power of Attorney (REG 260) from each absent owner, a copy of the owner's ID and their own ID.
6. After the inspection the dismantler writes a check to the registered owners on the letter. It gives no ride home.

Source: BAR: apply for vehicle retirement; BAR: CAP application form BAR-107.

Where a retired Riverside County car goes

BAR's dismantler finder, read November 8, 2026, lists 14 Southern California sites. One is inside Riverside County: 29250 Rio Del Sol Road, Thousand Palms, CA 92276. A County of Riverside Board of Supervisors item from April 15, 2025 names Thousand Palms among the unincorporated County areas, along Interstate 10 at Ramon Road. The other 13 are in other cities, among them Bloomington, Ontario, San Bernardino and Hesperia. BAR sends its own list of authorized dismantlers with each approval.

Since the car must make the trip under its own power, pick the site with care. From Corona, Riverside, Moreno Valley or Temecula, compare every listed site before you book. BAR adds: "We encourage you to contact the dismantler prior to arriving at the site to ensure they are able to accept CAP vehicles." Arrive at least 30 minutes before closing so the car can be processed.

Source: BAR: BAR-contracted auto dismantlers; County of Riverside Board of Supervisors, Item 23.1, April 15, 2025; BAR: CAP supplemental report, February 9, 2026.

Retirement against a sale, with the arithmetic

Retirement pays a fixed sum. The car must drive, pass the dismantler's inspection, carry a title in your name with no lienholder and wait for BAR's approval; then you deliver it and it is scrapped. A sale runs the other way: the price is whatever a buyer agrees to, the car does not have to run, and nothing waits on a letter from the state. BAR's own program page names other ways out besides retirement: "Sell your vehicle directly to a local dismantler" or donate it to a charity.

Because a sale transfers ownership, the seller's California steps apply. BAR requires a Smog Check before you sell most cars, and a passing certificate is good for 90 days (see the Smog Check before a sale). The DMV expects your Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability within 5 days (see the release of liability). If you are weighing a CAP payment against selling to Sell My Car Riverside County, send a request on the sell page with the latest Smog Check result, whether the car drives and what the pink slip says, or call (951) 404-1640. A person calls you back about the request, and what you hear can sit beside BAR's amount before you apply.

Worked example. The offers below are invented for the arithmetic; they are not estimates of any car's value.

• Failed Smog Check, income within BAR's limit: CAP pays $2,000. An offer of $1,200 is $800 less, so retirement pays more if the car drives and meets BAR's other rules.
• Same car, income over the limit: CAP pays $1,350. An offer of $1,600 is $250 more, and no letter of eligibility is needed to take it.
• Passed its last check, income over the limit: no CAP option applies, so compare a private sale, a dealer and a dismantler.
• Will not start: no CAP option applies, because the dismantler will not take it under the program.

Source: BAR: apply for vehicle retirement; BAR: Consumer Assistance Program; BAR: Smog Check; DMV: title transfers and changes.

CAP repair assistance, if you would keep the car

CAP also helps pay for emissions repairs when you would rather keep driving. You must meet the same income test, and the car must have failed its biennial Smog Check. BAR lists up to $1,450 toward emissions-related repairs for model year 1996 or newer and up to $1,100 for model years 1976 to 1995. The work is done at a STAR test-and-repair station, you pay a co-payment based on the model year and the total cost, and the registration sticker cannot be expired more than 365 days. As with retirement, no repair may start until the letter of eligibility arrives.

Source: BAR: apply for repair assistance; BAR: CAP application form BAR-107.

Where to go from here

If the car drives and you meet BAR's rules, set the CAP payment beside any price you have been quoted before you apply. If it does not drive, or you would rather sell, compare your selling options in Riverside County or describe the car in a request to Sell My Car Riverside County. To talk it through first, call (951) 404-1640.

Retire or sell: check your car against BAR's rules

Answer four questions about the car. The tool shows which CAP retirement payment fits, lists each published BAR rule your answers do not meet, and, if you type an offer, shows how far it sits above or below that payment. BAR makes the final decision when it reviews your application.

Source: BAR: apply for vehicle retirement; BAR: CAP income eligibility; BAR: CAP supplemental report, February 9, 2026. Amounts and rules read on November 8, 2026. Payments depend on each fiscal year's funding.