Ask the Mayor: Disposing a Junk, Unregistered Vehicle

Debra Lordan photo.

Mayor Michael Victorino answers some of the most-asked questions submitted to his office staff. 

Q: If someone wants to dispose a junk vehicle that hasn’t been registered in a long time, do they have to pay a large amount of back taxes to the County?

A: Let me guess, you’re asking for a friend? Regardless, you can tell them that back taxes, fees or penalties are not charged when a vehicle owner permanently junks their vehicle with the Division of Motor Vehicles & Licensing.

The County of Maui’s Metals and Abandoned Vehicles Section works hard every day to encourage and help our residents to dispose of their nonfunctioning vehicles for free. Under the Junk Vehicle Disposal Assistance Program, each resident may dispose one vehicle per calendar year at no charge.

All you have to do is register the vehicle as “Permanently Junked” with the Department of Motor Vehicles and Licensing, complete an Intake form and arrange to have your vehicle delivered to Hammerhead Metals Recycling on Maui Veterans (Mokulele) Highway in Puunene.

Instructions and forms can be found here.

We are in the process of streamlining the disposal assistance program to make it easier for the public to dispose of their vehicle. As a reminder, though, it is a crime to dump a vehicle anywhere in the county, whether it’s along the road or in a field. The owner will be fined and will be required to pay all charges for removing and disposing of the vehicle.

To report an abandoned vehicle, call the Maui Police Department non-emergency line at 244-6400 and select “0.” Make sure to have the address or location, vehicle color, make, model, and license plate (if there is one) available when you call. If you have other questions, please call the County’s Abandoned Vehicles hotline at 270-6102.

Want to Ask the Mayor?

Submit your Maui County related questions to Mayor Michael Victorino by email at [email protected], by phone at 270-7855 or by mail at 200 S. High St., ninth floor, Wailuku 96793. Questions submitted will be considered for inclusion in the “Ask the Mayor” column; to request a personal response to a concern, email [email protected].