Where Sell My Car SoCali buys: all of San Diego County, and Perris south to Temecula

All of San Diego County first, then Perris to Temecula

Christian John owns Sell My Car SoCali, a family owned and operated business that buys cars across both areas below.

San Diego County comes first. The County's housing department counts "18 incorporated cities and all unincorporated areas" inside the county, and its list of city housing programs names each of the 18: Carlsbad, Chula Vista, Coronado, Del Mar, El Cajon, Encinitas, Escondido, Imperial Beach, La Mesa, Lemon Grove, National City, Oceanside, Poway, San Diego, San Marcos, Santee, Solana Beach and Vista. Any address outside those city limits is unincorporated county land, Spring Valley and Julian among them.

Riverside County comes second. Riverside LAFCO counts 28 cities in that county, and the County of Riverside's city directory lists the seven inside this area as cities of their own: Perris, Menifee, Canyon Lake, Lake Elsinore, Wildomar, Murrieta and Temecula. The unincorporated land around them is in the area too.

Source: County of San Diego HCDS: Areas Served; County of Riverside: Cities; Riverside LAFCO: Cities.

North County, East County, the South Bay and the back country

This guide sorts the county into parts of the map, a grouping of its own:

• The City of San Diego. One city, whose planning department counts 49 community plans covering 52 community planning areas, among them La Jolla, Pacific Beach, Rancho Bernardo, Mission Valley, Clairemont Mesa, Otay Mesa and San Ysidro. A City of San Diego rule reaches each of them.
• North County coastal. Oceanside, Carlsbad, Encinitas, Solana Beach and Del Mar, plus unincorporated Rancho Santa Fe.
• North County inland. Vista, San Marcos, Escondido and Poway, plus unincorporated Fallbrook, Bonsall, Valley Center and Ramona.
• East County. El Cajon, La Mesa, Santee and Lemon Grove, plus unincorporated Lakeside, Spring Valley, Rancho San Diego, Casa De Oro, La Presa, Alpine and Jamul.
• The South Bay. Chula Vista, National City, Imperial Beach and Coronado, plus unincorporated Bonita.
• The back country and the desert. Unincorporated communities such as Julian, Warner Springs, Pine Valley, Descanso, Campo and Borrego Springs.

Every unincorporated name above appears on the County's table of unincorporated areas. Rancho San Diego is on that County table, so it is not part of the City of San Diego. Del Mar Mesa is a City of San Diego planning area, not the City of Del Mar.

Source: City of San Diego: General Plan and Community Plans; County of San Diego HCDS: DCCA jurisdiction, unincorporated areas.

The DMV field offices in each part of the area

Every counter below is a California DMV field office, and DMV's own office list puts eight public ones in San Diego County:

• North County: Oceanside at 4005 Plaza Drive, San Marcos at 590 Rancheros Dr, and Poway at 13461 Community Road.
• The City of San Diego: 3960 Normal Street, and Clairemont at 4375 Derrick Drive. A DMV release says a water leak shut Clairemont at 5 p.m. on November 3, 2026, and it gives no reopening date.
• East County: El Cajon at 1450 Graves Avenue.
• The South Bay: Chula Vista at 30 N Glover Avenue, and San Ysidro at 6111 Business Center Court, inside the City of San Diego.

The list has no office in Escondido, Vista, Carlsbad, Encinitas, La Mesa, Santee, National City, Coronado, Ramona, Fallbrook, Julian or Borrego Springs. Southwest Riverside County has two. Temecula, at 27851 Diaz Road, lists title transfers among its services. Murrieta Express, at 27890 Clinton Keith Road, Suite F, offers fewer services: its list carries no title transfers. Perris, Menifee, Canyon Lake, Lake Elsinore and Wildomar have no office on the list. What a seller signs before any of these counters is in the paperwork guide.

Source: DMV: Field office locations; DMV: San Diego Clairemont DMV to Close Temporarily (November 3, 2026); DMV: San Diego field office (Normal Street); DMV: San Diego Clairemont field office; DMV: Oceanside field office; DMV: San Marcos field office; DMV: Poway field office; DMV: El Cajon field office; DMV: Chula Vista field office; DMV: San Ysidro field office; DMV: Temecula field office; DMV: Murrieta Express field office.

Who signs a tow release, city by city

A release comes from the agency that ordered the tow, and in this area the police agency changes at city lines. Each fee below is the figure its agency page showed when read on November 8, 2026.

• City of San Diego. San Diego Police tows are traced through AutoReturn at 619-527-4392, a lookup for City tows only.
• Port of San Diego Harbor Police areas. A Harbor Police tow carries the Port's release fee, $232 on its towing page, paid at the yard.
• Escondido and La Mesa. Each police department releases its own tows. Escondido charges a $180 impound processing fee at the department; La Mesa's records page lists $308 to release an impounded vehicle. Neither page shows a date.
• The Sheriff's area. A County planning report calls the Sheriff's Office "the law enforcement agency for the unincorporated area of San Diego County" and names nine contract cities: Vista, San Marcos, Santee, Lemon Grove, Imperial Beach, Poway, Encinitas, Del Mar and Solana Beach. For a Sheriff tow, ask the Sheriff's Office at sdsheriff.gov; this guide prints no Sheriff fee.
• Chula Vista, Oceanside, Carlsbad, El Cajon, National City and Coronado. Not on that list, and their tow pages could not be read here: ask the department that ordered the tow.
• A CHP tow on a freeway or a county road follows the CHP's split: a stored car comes straight from the tow company, while an impounded one needs a release from the CHP office that impounded it.

Southwest Riverside County splits the same way. The Riverside County Sheriff lists Canyon Lake, Lake Elsinore, Perris, Temecula and Wildomar among its contract cities, and its two Temecula substations print a $175.75 release fee. Murrieta and Menifee release their own: Murrieta's police release costs $75.30, or $245.85 once a 30-day impound is over, and Menifee's Records unit at (951) 723-1500 handles releases. Papers, yards and lien sales are in the towing guide.

Source: San Diego Police: Vehicle Impounds and Towing; Port of San Diego: Vehicle Towing and Impound; Escondido Police: Tow Information; La Mesa Police: Records; County of San Diego: Final EIR 2.15, Public Services; CHP: Rotation Tow Program; Riverside County Sheriff: Sheriff-Contracted Agencies; Riverside County Sheriff: Temecula Substations; Murrieta Police: Release a Vehicle from Impound; Menifee Police: FAQ.

The buyer's tax rate runs from 7.75% to 8.75%

When a buyer registers the car with the DMV at an address inside a tax district, CDTFA says that district's tax is generally part of the total collected, so the buyer's address sets the rate, not yours. CDTFA's table effective October 1, 2026 puts every place in this area at one of four rates:

• 7.75%: the City of San Diego, Carlsbad, Coronado, Encinitas, Poway, Santee, unincorporated San Diego County, Canyon Lake and unincorporated Riverside County.
• 8.25%: El Cajon, Oceanside and Vista.
• 8.50%: La Mesa.
• 8.75%: Chula Vista, Del Mar, Escondido, Imperial Beach, Lemon Grove, National City, San Marcos and Solana Beach, and in Riverside County Perris, Menifee, Lake Elsinore, Wildomar, Murrieta and Temecula.

Unincorporated communities get no row of their own. Outside a city, CDTFA says "the county unincorporated area rate or county rate for that location will apply", and it warns that a mailing address or ZIP code alone does not always settle the rate, so check the street address. For example, a $5,000 price carries $387.50 at 7.75% and $437.50 at 8.75%. The selling options guide sets that next to the DMV fees.

Source: CDTFA: City and County Sales and Use Tax Rates (effective October 1, 2026); CDTFA: Know Your Sales and Use Tax Rate; CDTFA Publication 44: Sales Across District Lines.

Local rules for a car that has stopped moving

Who acts on a car that has stopped moving, and after how long, depends on where it sits:

• City of San Diego: a car may not stay parked on a public street more than 72 consecutive hours without being driven at least 1/10th of a mile, and SDPD lists that as a reason to impound.
• La Mesa: its Municipal Code bars parking in one place more than 72 hours without moving, and the police RSVP Unit takes those complaints.
• Unincorporated San Diego County: the County's Code Compliance office investigates abandoned and inoperable vehicles on private property.
• Menifee: 72 consecutive hours on a street, after which the car has to move at least 500 feet.
• Temecula: the Riverside County Sheriff takes abandoned vehicles on city streets.

For a car that no longer runs, the junk car guide covers the City, County and Riverside County rules in more depth.

Source: City of San Diego: Abandoned Vehicles; San Diego Police: Vehicle Impounds and Towing; City of La Mesa: impounded car FAQ; County of San Diego PDS: What Code Compliance investigates; Menifee Police: Municipal code FAQ; City of Temecula: Report Vehicle Parking Issues.

One request, from Oceanside to Temecula

Wherever the car is parked in this area, a sale starts the same way: send the form on the request page with the town, what is wrong with the car and what the title shows, or call (657) 699-0008. A person calls back after a request. The seller paperwork guide lists what to have in hand before that call.

Look up your town: DMV office, tow release and tax rate

Pick the city or community where the car is registered or parked. The finder shows which county it is in, who releases a car towed there, the DMV field office in that place or in its part of the area, and the tax rate a buyer registering there would pay on CDTFA's table effective October 1, 2026.

Sources: County of San Diego HCDS, Areas Served; County unincorporated areas table; City of San Diego community plans; County of Riverside, Cities; SDPD impounds and towing; Escondido Police; La Mesa Police; County Final EIR 2.15; Port of San Diego towing; CHP Rotation Tow Program; Riverside County Sheriff contract cities; Murrieta Police; Menifee Police; DMV Clairemont closure and each DMV office page; CDTFA rate table, effective October 1, 2026; CDTFA on rates and ZIP codes. All read November 8, 2026.