Junk Car Removal in San Diego County

Most junk cars have been sitting long enough that nothing works. Flat or rotted tires, a battery long past dead, seized brakes, and sometimes a steering lock that won't release. None of that stops a removal — our drivers carry dollies for wheels that won't turn and plan the pull before touching the vehicle. What we do need to know in advance is how the car is positioned: nose-in against a garage wall, behind a fence, blocked in by another vehicle, or on a slope all change the approach.

Paperwork is the part people get stuck on, so here's the honest version. You generally need to prove the vehicle is yours before anyone can legally remove it — normally the title. If the title is lost, the California DMV has a duplicate title process, and there are separate procedures for vehicles you've acquired without paperwork. Registration doesn't need to be current for a removal, but ownership does need to be established. If you're not the registered owner, tell us up front and we'll explain what's needed rather than turning up and being unable to load.

There's a related step people forget: after the vehicle leaves, file a release of liability with the DMV. It's what formally ends your responsibility for the vehicle, and skipping it is how people end up receiving notices about a car they got rid of months earlier. It's quick and it's worth doing the same day.

Before the truck arrives, empty the car. Glovebox, centre console, boot, under the seats, the spare wheel well. Remove the licence plates. Take out any personal items, paperwork and aftermarket electronics you want to keep. Once the vehicle is loaded and gone, retrieving something from it is difficult and sometimes impossible.

The situations we handle look like this: a car that failed smog and isn't worth repairing, a vehicle written off after a collision, an inherited car nobody wants, a project that was never finished, a car abandoned on a property by a former tenant, or an HOA or city notice about an inoperative vehicle on a driveway or street. All of them are normal calls.

We remove vehicles throughout San Diego County — city driveways in North Park and City Heights, apartment lots in Chula Vista and El Cajon, rural properties out toward Lakeside and Alpine, and everywhere between. Heavy Hitt tows light-duty passenger vehicles with wheel-lift equipment: cars, SUVs, crossovers, minivans and light trucks. Commercial vehicles, heavy equipment and anything beyond light-duty are outside what we do, and we'll tell you that on the phone.

Call and describe the vehicle — make, model, year, whether the wheels roll, whether the steering is locked, and exactly where and how it's parked. Our dispatcher will tell you what paperwork to have ready and quote the job before anything is scheduled.