Getting rid of a junk car in Riverside County, from an offer to a Junk Receipt

Four ways to get a junk car off your property

• Sell My Car Riverside County. The business buys cars in Riverside County. For a junk car, a request is most useful when it says plainly whether the car starts, what is broken or missing, and whose name is on the title, or that there is no title at all. You can also call (951) 404-1640; after a request, a person calls back.
• A licensed dismantler. You sign the title over, and the dismantler reports the car to the DMV before taking it apart.
• Free public removal. County Code Enforcement offers free removal from unincorporated properties when a case qualifies, and Lake Elsinore offers free towing and disposal inside the city. On the county form you sign away any interest in the car.
• Junk it yourself. You record the car as junk with the DMV, turn in the plates, and get a Junk Receipt in place of the title.

If the car still drives, check BAR's retirement program first. As of November 8, 2026, BAR lists $1,350 with no income test when the car failed its most recent Smog Check, or $1,500 or $2,000 for owners who meet the income rule. The car must drive to the dismantler on its own and must not already be junked, so decide before you record junk status.

Source: California DMV: junking a vehicle, dismantler; City of Lake Elsinore: inoperable vehicles; Riverside County Code Enforcement: Junk Your Clunker brochure; BAR: retire your vehicle.

Junking the car yourself with the DMV

California lets an owner with no dismantler license junk a car, but the order matters: apply to the DMV to record the car as junk before you pull a single part. The DMV's manual warns: "When an owner dismantles a vehicle prior to doing this, the owner is subject to an investigative service fee."

With the application you turn in the evidence of ownership (usually the title, endorsed to you if needed), the license plates, and any fees and use tax still owed. If the title is lost and the car is worth under $5,000, no bond is needed: you send whatever shows ownership plus a Statement of Facts (REG 256) naming who you got the car from, its value and that no lien exists. At $5,000 or more, the DMV wants a motor vehicle bond.

A car transferred to be wrecked or dismantled needs no smog inspection. Once junk status is recorded, the DMV issues a Junk Receipt instead of a title, and it becomes the ownership document. REG 488C is another form entirely, the application for a salvage or nonrepairable vehicle certificate. A licensed dismantler files a Report of Vehicle to be Dismantled (REG 42) and may dismantle ten days after mailing its notice of acquisition.

Source: California DMV: junking a vehicle, individual; California DMV: Junk Receipt; California DMV: REG 488C; California DMV: junking a vehicle, dismantler.

Ordinance 520: the 10-day limit on unincorporated land

Outside city limits, Riverside County Ordinance 520 covers abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or inoperative vehicles and parts of them. The county's Code Enforcement flyer calls it Riverside County Code Chapter 10.04. Section 15 makes it unlawful to leave such a car, licensed or not, on private or public property other than highways "for a period in excess of 10 days"; Section 3 describes it as regulation within the unincorporated area of the county.

Two exemptions apply: a car kept lawfully inside a building where it cannot be seen from the street or other property, and a car kept on private property for a licensed dismantler, licensed dealer, junk dealer or other lawful business. A tarp in the side yard is not a building.

Each day counts as a separate offense. A first conviction is an infraction with a fine of up to $100 (a first offense may also be charged as a misdemeanor), a second on the same site up to $200, and a third or later a misdemeanor with up to $1,000, six months in jail, or both. When the county moves to abate a car, the landowner or car owner has 10 days after the notice is mailed to ask for a hearing, and removal costs unpaid after 30 days can be assessed against the parcel.

Source: Riverside County Ordinance 520; Riverside County Code Enforcement: abandoned vehicles flyer 43-B.

Free junk car removal from County Code Enforcement

In unincorporated Riverside County, Code Enforcement offers Junk Your Clunker as a public service of the county's Abandoned Vehicle Abatement (AVA) program. The removal costs the property owner nothing.

Call Code Enforcement Administration at (951) 955-2004 or (760) 393-3344 and fill in the form in the brochure (revised July 2023). It asks for the property address, the Assessor's Parcel Number, and the car's plate, VIN, year, make, model and condition. You sign as the property owner, registered owner or legal owner, disclaim any future interest in the car under penalty of perjury, and relieve the agency of liability.

Expect a wait: "Legally mandated process can take approximately 45 - 90 days from start to completion." Not every case qualifies, and boats, watercraft and mobile homes never do. Under Ordinance 520, a car removed as a nuisance may not be rebuilt or made operable later, except one eligible for horseless carriage or historical plates. To keep it instead, store it in a fully enclosed, permitted structure or make it run.

Source: Riverside County Code Enforcement: Junk Your Clunker brochure; Riverside County Ordinance 520.

City rules in Riverside, Moreno Valley, Menifee, Temecula and Lake Elsinore

Inside a city, the city's own code applies.

• Riverside. City Code Enforcement has officers who survey the city for abandoned and inoperative cars. A 72-hour yellow tag on a street means the car must move at least 1,056 feet (.2 miles), and an inoperable car left in place may be towed; if a car was towed for 72-hour storage, call Riverside Police Traffic Division at (951) 826-5700.
• Moreno Valley. A street-parked car gets 72 hours and must be operable and currently registered, or it can be cited or towed. Inoperative cars may not sit in public view, even on private property.
• Menifee. An abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or inoperative car may stay on any property for no more than 72 consecutive hours unless it is enclosed in a building out of sight (code 12.01.150).
• Temecula. City Code Enforcement takes abandoned and inoperable cars on private property at (951) 302-4144. Abandoned cars on city streets go to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department at (951) 696-4357, option 5.
• Lake Elsinore. Inoperative cars must be in an enclosed building or removed, and city Code Enforcement offers free towing and disposal to anyone in the city who junks one. The city's page adds: "No DMV paperwork is required."

On a county highway, the county's Ordinance 413 allows 72 hours, then the vehicle must leave the street or move beyond a 500-foot radius.

Source: City of Lake Elsinore: inoperable vehicles; City of Riverside: parking FAQ; City of Riverside: Code Enforcement teams; City of Moreno Valley: parking code; Menifee Police: Code Enforcement FAQs; City of Temecula: vehicle and parking issues; Riverside County Code Enforcement: Ordinance 413 FAQ.

The release of liability, and planned non-operation if you keep it

Selling a junk car, whether to a business, a dismantler or a neighbor, is still a transfer, so file the Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability within 5 calendar days of selling and handing it over. Once the DMV has it, parking and traffic violations and civil litigation after the sale date fall to the buyer. Save the confirmation. In the City of Riverside, proof of a filed release moves a parking citation to the new registered owner. See the release of liability page.

Keeping the car? File planned non-operation (PNO): the car stays off public roads, not driven, towed, stored or parked there, for the whole registration year. The DMV takes PNO up to 60 days before the registration expires, or up to 90 days after with penalties. A one-day Vehicle Moving Permit (REG 172), issued at a DMV office, covers the trip to its permanent wrecking or dismantling. Ordinance 520 does not list PNO among its exemptions, so the 10 days still apply to a car kept in view.

Source: California DMV: Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability; City of Riverside: parking FAQ; California DMV: planned non-operation; Riverside County Ordinance 520.

Pick a route and keep going

If the car still runs, weigh BAR's retirement payment against selling it on the car retirement page. If the title is what holds you up, read title problems next. To talk through a junk car in Riverside County, call (951) 404-1640.