Cash for Cars: Used, Damaged and Junk in Orange County, CA
Across Orange County, each city runs its own clock on a dead car: 72 hours on Anaheim streets, a 50-foot move in Garden Grove, and a code enforcement notice when the car sits on private property. Describe yours once and the screened local buyer Reap My Ride partners with across Orange County, from Anaheim and Santa Ana to Irvine and San Clemente, makes you a firm offer. Accept it, and the buyer tows it free, often the same day, and pays you at pickup.
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Junk Car Pickup Around Orange County
Reap My Ride's screened local buyer covers Orange County. If your town isn't listed, enter your ZIP and the form confirms whether it's covered.
- Santa Ana
- Irvine
- Anaheim
- Garden Grove
- Costa Mesa
- Fountain Valley
- Aliso Viejo
- Orange
- San Clemente
- Yorba Linda
Most common locations in Orange County-area quote requests, May 2025–Aug 2026.
What Orange County Junk Cars Sold For
- 2001 Ford F-150 · Santa Ana$395
- 2003 BMW Z4 · Irvine$765
- 2003 Honda Accord · Santa Ana$325
- 2007 Ford F-150 · Anaheim$465
- 2007 Toyota Camry · Anaheim$505
- 2007 Toyota Camry · Santa Ana$510
- 2007 Toyota RAV4 · Garden Grove$1,020
- 2007 Toyota RAV4 · Tustin$1,020
- 2008 Honda Civic · Anaheim$455
- 2008 Mercedes-Benz M-Class · Irvine$530
- 2008 Toyota Prius · Irvine$260
- 2009 Honda Civic · Garden Grove$600
- 2009 Smart fortwo · Tustin$365
- 2009 Toyota Camry · Orange$765
- 2010 Ford Fusion · Irvine$350
- 2010 Nissan Altima · Fullerton$350
- 2010 Nissan Altima · Garden Grove$345
- 2010 Toyota Camry · Anaheim$900
- 2010 Toyota Prius · Anaheim$1,220
- 2011 Hyundai Sonata · Anaheim$525
- 2011 Hyundai Sonata · Santa Ana$520
- 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee · Fullerton$985
- 2012 NULL NULL · Irvine$1,360
- 2012 Toyota Camry · Orange$1,330
- 2013 Chevrolet Equinox · Garden Grove$485
- 2013 Chevrolet Equinox · Anaheim$485
- 2013 Chevrolet Malibu · Orange$510
- 2013 Ford Escape · Tustin$650
- 2013 Ford F-150 · Santa Ana$1,190
- 2013 Toyota Prius · Anaheim$2,255
- 2014 Ford Fusion · Anaheim$640
- 2014 Ford Fusion · Lake Forest$575
- 2014 Ford Fusion · Santa Ana$635
- 2015 Chevrolet Equinox · Fullerton$725
- 2015 Ford Focus · Anaheim$1,885
- 2017 Ford Escape · Orange$1,455
- 2017 Ford Escape · Santa Ana$1,470
Individual completed sales through Reap My Ride in the Orange County area. Recent sales; dates not recorded.
Street-parking limits in Anaheim, Garden Grove and Santa Ana
Anaheim generally allows a car to stay on a public street for up to 72 hours, and cars without current registration are the ones most likely to be cited or towed. When a car is reported, police first try to reach the owner. If they can't, they mark it for a 72-hour violation under the Anaheim Municipal Code, and if it still hasn't moved when they come back, it may be impounded. Reports go to 311 from a landline, Anaheim Police Dispatch at (714) 765-1900, Anaheim Anytime online or the My Anaheim app.
In Garden Grove, it is illegal to leave a car parked more than 72 consecutive hours without driving it at least 50 feet on a public street; police take reports at (714) 741-5704. Santa Ana splits the job: Parking Enforcement removes abandoned cars from public streets, alleys and city lots, and Code Enforcement, at (714) 667-2780, handles cars on private streets, private property and yards. A car that won't start can't be moved to reset any of these clocks, so selling it before a mark turns into a tow saves the impound bill.
Sources: City of Anaheim: abandoned or non-operational vehicle · Garden Grove Police: abandoned vehicles · City of Santa Ana: parking enforcement
Dead cars on private property in Orange County cities
Orange County cities also go after inoperable cars on private land. Anaheim's municipal code requires owners, tenants and occupants to keep their property free of abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or inoperative vehicles and parts. The Chief of Police can order them removed within no more than ten days by written notice mailed to the owner on the county assessment roll or to the occupant; when the owner is unknown or lives outside California, the notice is posted on the car instead. The notice warns that if the car stays, a public hearing will decide on its removal and on charging the administrative and removal costs to the property.
State law sets the floor for every city's version of this rule. A car kept completely inside a building and out of view, or lawfully stored by a licensed dismantler, dealer or junkyard, is exempt. The owner of the land or the car can ask for a hearing within 10 days of the notice, and if someone left the car there without the landowner's consent, the city can't charge the removal costs to that landowner. A car removed this way can never be rebuilt or made operable, and its owner isn't paid for it, so it's worth getting an offer from Reap My Ride's local buyer as soon as a notice arrives.
Sources: Anaheim Municipal Code Chapter 6.80: abandoned, wrecked, dismantled or inoperative vehicles · California Vehicle Code §22661
Selling a junk car in California: the paperwork
Sign the title over
Sign the California Certificate of Title (pink slip) as the seller and hand it to the buyer at pickup, with the odometer reading filled in — federal rules require odometer disclosure for most transfers. If a lender is still listed, it has to release its interest first.
File your release of liability within 5 days
California law requires you to notify the DMV within 5 calendar days of the sale with a Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability (NRL, form REG 138). File it online and keep the confirmation — the record updates within one business day, and you're no longer liable for parking or traffic violations after the date of sale.
Leave standard plates on the car
Standard California plates generally stay with the vehicle; a licensed dismantler turns them in to the DMV or reports their destruction. Personalized, special interest and disabled person plates belong to you — take them off before pickup.
No smog certificate for a junk sale
A seller normally has to provide a smog certification, but that requirement doesn't apply when the car is sold to be legally wrecked or dismantled (CVC § 24007(b)). A car that failed its Smog Check can be sold as it is.
No title?
California has no true no-title sale for scrap. Apply for a replacement title with form REG 227 ($28), or sign a REG 227 and give it to a licensed dismantler in place of the lost title; a lienholder's release on it must be notarized. If the car was never transferred into your name, the buyer will need bills of sale showing the chain of ownership.
Sources: California DMV: Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability · California DMV: how to change vehicle ownership · California DMV Dismantlers Handbook 6.010: California-titled vehicles · California DMV: registration and title fees · California Vehicle Code §24007
What Is a Junk Car Worth in Orange County?
Recent Orange County-area sales through Reap My Ride ranged from $260 to $2,255, with a median of $600. Where your car lands depends on its weight, whether it runs, and whether the engine, transmission and catalytic converter are still on it.
The metal floor follows the national scrap rate — $195 a ton in October 2026. Check yours with the scrap value calculator, or see how junk car prices work.
Selling a Junk Car in Orange County
Call (877) 451-4417Police marked my car for a 72-hour violation in Anaheim. What happens next?
If the car hasn't moved when officers check again, it may be impounded. A car that won't run can't be moved to clear the mark, so the simplest fix is to accept an offer and agree a pickup with the buyer before then. Offers on Reap My Ride are typically valid for 5 days.
I got a notice to remove a dead car from my property. Do I have to pay for the city to tow it?
Not if you deal with it first. Under Anaheim's code, the notice gives you up to ten days before a hearing on removal and on charging the costs to the property. Selling the car in that window means a buyer tows it free and pays you instead. See how junk car prices work.
Can I sell a junk car in Orange County with no title?
Not with nothing at all, but a lost title is fixable. You can order a replacement from the DMV on form REG 227 ($28), or sign a REG 227 and hand it to a licensed dismantler instead of the title. If the car was never transferred to you, the buyer will need the bills of sale that show how it reached you. See selling without a title.
What happens to my plates and my liability after the sale?
Standard California plates stay on the car, and the dismantler turns them in or reports them destroyed. Keep any personalized, special interest or disabled person plates. File your Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability with the DMV within 5 calendar days; online, the record updates within one business day.
Which Orange County cities does the local buyer cover?
Reap My Ride has a screened local buyer covering Orange County, including Santa Ana, Anaheim, Irvine, Garden Grove, Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, Orange, Aliso Viejo, San Clemente and Yorba Linda. Your offer comes from the local buyer who serves your address, and that buyer arranges the pickup with you.
Sell Your Junk Car in Orange County
Describe it once and get a firm offer from a screened local buyer. Free towing, same day in most areas, paid at pickup.
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