Sell your car in Kahului: running or not, wrecked or fire-damaged
Cars shipped to Maui come in through Kahului Harbor, the island's only deep-draft commercial harbor, and many are driven straight off roll-on/roll-off ships. If yours is already here and you're ready to sell it, ask for an instant cash offer, and pickup comes to wherever it sits on Maui.
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Maui County forms for the seller
- Send the Notice of Transfer to the right county. It goes to the motor vehicle office in the county where the car was last registered. For a car registered on Maui, that's the Kahului Service Center address above, which is printed on the county's own form.
- Tear-off section already gone? The notice normally comes off the top of the title. If yours was detached earlier, fill in the county's own Notice of Transfer form and mail that instead.
- Car registered to a business? The county's seller checklist requires a Letter of Authorization on file. It names the people who are allowed to sign motor vehicle transactions for the company.
Where we pick up around Kahului
From Kahului (96732), pickup reaches Wailuku (96793) next door, Kihei and Wailea in South Maui, Upcountry towns such as Pukalani and Kula, the north shore, and the west side around Lahaina (96761). You can sell your car anywhere on Maui without driving it in.
Upcountry grades and long ranch driveways are normal territory for pickup. If a flatbed can reach the driveway, the offer stands. Say in the form if the access is unusual, so the right equipment comes the first time.
Maui County's DMV offices
Maui County's Division of Motor Vehicles & Licensing, the county DMV, has its main counter at the Kahului Service Center, 110 Alaihi Street, Suite 101, open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. For most sellers, the one filing is the Notice of Transfer, and it goes by mail.
If you do need a counter, the county also has offices in Kihei at 303 East Lipoa Street, in Pukalani at the Hannibal Tavares Community Center and in Lahaina at the Lahaina Gateway Center, all on the same weekday hours. Kahului, Kihei and Lahaina also take online appointments, one per person, for people doing their own transaction.
Cash for your car in Kahului
Maui County's Tow & Scrap program hauls a junk car away at no cost, but until further notice it only accepts vehicles with lead-acid batteries. Hybrids and electric cars are out. For any other car, the county wants the title “Permanently Junked” at the DMV before you book the tow.
If you'd rather be paid, or the car is a hybrid or electric, ask for an offer before you take the title to the DMV, whether or not the car starts. Disclosed fire or smoke damage still gets a real offer, and you can sell your junk car on Maui without booking the county tow at all.
Fire damage has its own section in selling a fire- or accident-damaged car, including what you have to tell a buyer, and a car that quit with an overheated or seized engine is covered in selling a car with engine problems. If the insurer declared it a total loss after a fire or a crash, selling a totaled car covers the payout, the buyback and the salvage title.
What Maui's free tow requires
- •The car's most recent registration must be from Maui County. It doesn't have to be current (Maui County)
- •The registered owner must be there when the tow driver arrives, with photo ID and the program's Vehicle Surrender Form (Maui County)
- •Residential passenger vehicles up to 3 tons only, no commercial vehicles, with camper shells and other removable add-ons taken off (Maui County)
- •Book only the towing contractor the county lists for your part of the island. Use any other company and the towing fee is yours (Maui County)
Asked by Kahului sellers
My car's registration lapsed years ago. What will the buyer owe Maui County?
More than the standard transfer fee. The county adds the cost of a registration renewal if the registration has expired or will expire within 45 days, and it charges delinquent taxes for the prior years the car wasn't registered. A county service representative works out the renewal cost.
Should I junk the title or put the car in storage?
Maui County's own advice: if there's any chance you'll register the car again, choose storage, because junking declares it will never be registered again. Storage exempts you from future registration fees and taxes. You turn in a Statement for Storage form, the current plates and emblem, and the current registration, which gets stamped "Storage." Without storage status, you're still responsible for the car's annual taxes and fees, even while it sits.
Where do I permanently junk a title on Maui, and what do I bring?
The Maui County DMV office nearest you. Bring the Statement for Junking form, the title with the odometer reading filled in and signed off by the registered owners (and the lienholder, if there is one), the last registration and the license plates. Once the title is junked, you don't have to follow the car to the disposal facility when it goes through the county's free tow.
I'm selling a pickup truck. Does Maui County want anything extra?
The county's seller checklist has no truck-specific step. The extra form is on the buyer's side: when the buyer transfers a pickup truck or cargo van into their name on Maui, the county asks for a Non-Commercial Vehicle Certification where it applies.
Before you mail anything to Alaihi Street, sign the title over the way our Hawaii selling guide shows.