Sell my car in Riverside County

How a sale with Sell My Car Riverside County starts

1. Send a request or callFill in the form on the request page with the year, make and model, whether the car runs, what the title shows and your ZIP code. Or call (951) 404-1640 and give the same details out loud.
2. A person calls you backAfter a request on the form, someone from the business rings the number you left to talk the car through and to ask about anything the request did not cover.
3. Finish the California paperworkWhoever buys the car, the seller's part is set by the state: sign the title (the seller paperwork), hand over a smog certificate when one is due (smog check rules) and tell the DMV about the sale within 5 days (release of liability).

If the car has a mechanical problem, a lost title or a lender's name on the title, write that into the request in plain words, so the person who calls back starts from the facts instead of from guesses.

Source: California DMV: title transfers; BAR: Smog Check; California DMV: release of liability.

What to have ready before the car changes hands

• The California title. The DMV's own summary of a private sale or loan payoff is "Seller/lienholder signs title. Buyer submits to DMV." Owners joined by AND or a slash all sign; with OR, one can sign alone. Title lost? A REG 227 comes first; see title problems.
• A plan for a loan that is still open. A lender named on the title signs it too, and the DMV lists a Lien Satisfied/Title Holder Release (REG 166) among its title forms. On a car two model years old or less with a lienholder, a REG 227 cannot be used; the replacement title has to come through the lender.
• A REG 262 when the title cannot carry the sale. The DMV wants one from each seller if the car is sold more than once on the same title. It is not a download: the automated line at 1-800-777-0133 mails it to you.
• Every key and fob, plus the owner's manual if it is still in the glovebox.
• A smog certificate for most cars over four model years old (rule below).
• The odometer reading and the new owner's name and address. With the plate and the VIN's last five digits, they go on the release of liability.

Source: California DMV: title transfers; California DMV: how to change vehicle ownership; California DMV: release of liability.

Three California rules Riverside County sellers miss

• The DMV must hear about the sale within 5 days. California law gives you 5 calendar days from the sale or transfer to file the notice. File online and keep the confirmation, or mail a REG 138 and keep a photocopy. Once the DMV has the notice, parking and traffic violations dated after the sale fall to the buyer. Read the release of liability guide.
• The seller buys the smog certificate. BAR requires the Smog Check before the sale in all three of the state's program areas, so your address in the county does not change the rule. Gas, hybrid and alternative-fuel cars four model years old or newer are excused, and the new owner pays the DMV an $8 smog transfer fee instead (as of November 8, 2026). Diesels get no such pass. See the smog check guide.
• Ordinary plates stay on the car. Personalized, special interest and disabled person plates belong to the plate owner, so unscrew those before the car leaves your hands. More in after you sell.

Source: California DMV: release of liability; BAR: Smog Check; BAR: Smog Check Reference Guide 2025; California DMV: smog inspections; California DMV: registration fees; California DMV: license plates on a sale.

Getting the car out of a Riverside County driveway, cul-de-sac or gated street

However the car leaves, driven away, towed or loaded onto a flatbed, it needs a clear path. Move the other cars, make sure a truck can reach one that will not roll, and warn whoever collects it about a steep driveway, a low garage or flat tires.

Keep a car that does not run off the street. Moreno Valley may cite or tow a street-parked car that does not run or is not registered, and the City of Riverside's 72-hour yellow tag warns of a tow. Menifee goes further: its code FAQ makes it an infraction to leave an inoperative car on private or public property for more than 72 hours unless it sits inside a building out of view, and adds "Vehicles for sale can be displayed ONLY on private property."

Behind a gate, tell the guard when the car is due to leave, or wait at the entrance for whoever collects it. In a Riverside County summer, an early-morning handover is easier on everyone standing in the driveway.

Empty the car before it goes: the glovebox, the trunk, the garage remote and any parking permit. If the car carries a FasTrak sticker for the 91 or 15 Express Lanes, remove the car from your account and deactivate the sticker; it cannot move to another car.

Source: Menifee Police: Code Enforcement FAQs; Moreno Valley: parking rules; City of Riverside: parking FAQ; 91 Express Lanes: FAQs; 15 Express Lanes: FAQs.

Stuck on a title, a failed smog test or a tow yard?

Call (951) 404-1640 and say what is holding up the sale, or spell it out on the request form. The state's side is in the California seller paperwork and getting a towed car back.