I need help from any one (Californians would be best) who knows how to go about buying a salvaged car for purposes of parting it out. I bought a salvaged car, and i want to use it for parts, however i need help from those who have experience as to what to do. I've gotten two stories from DMV personnel...

Story 1:
I went into the DMV and tried to register the car in my name, however long story short, she wouldn't let me transfer the title because i need to smog it and get a tallight and headlight checkup (precautions to get the car legal to run on streets again). of course, i told her i wanted to use it as a parts car, but she said i still need to do these things. This doesn't make sense, b/c i want to part it out, not repair it for highway use. She continued to shrug and tell me i'm in a catch 22 situation. so currently the car is not in my name.

Story 2:
I called the DMV "hotline" in an attempt to get info on what to do. He said that i need to "Junk" the car by bringing the car into a Licensed Dismantler and then they will take the parts off of the car that i want, and i can get the paperwork there as well, saying that the car will be junked afterward, therefore i won't need to get the title. This seems like an awkward approach, one i've never heard of before.


So, currently I'm stuck on what to do. All i want to do is take the motor out, but the car isn't even in my name right now. I paid $230 in fees/taxes so far, only to have the lady tell me that the car still isn't in my name. I though it was easier than this?! can anyone lend a helping hand?

 

wtf??

i remember i bought a junk integ off some guy and it was listed as "junked" on the title... i think it was $27 to put it under my name, but i just got rid of it...
ask the damn DMV how to register a car as Junked or somthing like that, i sure theres a way to do it..

no wait.. now i remember, it was listed as "NON-Operational" or somethin, not junked

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RE- v8killa121 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">wtf??

i remember i bought a junk integ off some guy and it was listed as "junked" on the title... i think it was $27 to put it under my name, but i just got rid of it...
ask the damn DMV how to register a car as Junked or somthing like that, i sure theres a way to do it..

no wait.. now i remember, it was listed as "NON-Operational" or somethin, not junked </TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes, register it as non-operational. You can change title to your name and register it that way without a smog cert. Its much cheaper to keep it registered that way as well. You shouldn't have paid anything, considering its only like $15 (or some small value not worth me remembering exactly) to register a non-operational car. With the car non-op, you do not get tags, nor can you drive the car or park it on public streets.

Don't forget that you'll have to take the car receiving the engine swap in to a state ref to smog it with the swap. There's more to it than that, but they'll be able to tell you more when you call them to make the appointment.

 

i think maybe the lady was screwed up in the head or something. I asked her about registering the car as non-operational, and i think she said something a long the lines of, i can only do that if the car is in my name. =? she kept shrugging at me and telling me to get the things done on the list then i can get the car registered....anyway, i'll try it again, and here is the list of fees i paid as stated on my receipt:

transfer: $15
use tax: $171
PR HIST SF: $2
REV JNK/SALV: $50

Total: $238

I'm wondering if i can get a refund for some of the fees i paid?

As for taking it to the state ref, I wasn't planning on letting the state know about my swap. Its an older motor that is going in, so its technically not a legal swap. =/