California Vehicle Code 24020 v2 – (a) No dealer or person holding a retail seller’s permit shall …
(a) No dealer or person holding a retail seller’s permit shall sell a new or used vehicle equipped with a catalytic converter unless the catalytic converter has been permanently marked with the vehicle identification number (VIN) of the vehicle to which it is attached.
(b) This section does not apply to any of the following:
Terms Used In California Vehicle Code 24020 v2
- automobile dismantler: includes a person not otherwise expressly excluded by Section 221 who keeps or maintains on real property owned by the person, or under their possession or control, either of the following vehicles or catalytic converters, whether for the purpose of resale of used parts, for the purpose of reclaiming for use some or all of the materials, whether metal, glass, fabric, or otherwise, or to dispose of them, or for any other purpose:
California Vehicle Code 220
- business: includes a proprietorship, partnership, corporation, and any other form of commercial enterprise. See California Vehicle Code 234
- Collector motor vehicle: means a motor vehicle owned by a collector, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 5051, and the motor vehicle is used primarily in shows, parades, charitable functions, and historical exhibitions for display, maintenance, and preservation, and is not used primarily for transportation. See California Vehicle Code 259
- converter: is a person, other than a vehicle manufacturer, who, prior to the retail sale of a new vehicle, does any of the following to the vehicle:
California Vehicle Code 267
- Dealer: is a person not otherwise expressly excluded by Section 286 who:
California Vehicle Code 285
- motor vehicle: includes a recreational vehicle as that term is defined in subdivision (a) of §. See California Vehicle Code 415
- motorcycle: is a motor vehicle having a seat or saddle for the use of the rider, designed to travel on not more than three wheels in contact with the ground. See California Vehicle Code 400
- nonrepairable vehicle: is a vehicle of a type otherwise subject to registration that meets the criteria specified in subdivision (a), (b), or (c). See California Vehicle Code 431
- Person: includes a natural person, firm, copartnership, association, limited liability company, or corporation. See California Vehicle Code 470
- Salvage pool: means a person engaged exclusively in the business of disposing of total loss salvage vehicles, nonrepairable vehicles, or recovered stolen vehicles sent to it by, or on behalf of, insurance companies, authorized adjusters, leasing companies, self-insured persons, or financial institutions. See California Vehicle Code 543
- used vehicle: is a vehicle that has been sold, or has been registered with the department, or has been sold and operated upon the highways, or has been registered with the appropriate agency of authority, of any other state, District of Columbia, territory or possession of the United States or foreign state, province or country, or unregistered vehicles regularly used or operated as demonstrators in the sales work of a dealer or unregistered vehicles regularly used or operated by a manufacturer in the sales or distribution work of such manufacturer. See California Vehicle Code 665
- vehicle: is a device by which any person or property may be propelled, moved, or drawn upon a highway, excepting a device moved exclusively by human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks. See California Vehicle Code 670
(1) A collector motor vehicle.
(2) A vehicle sold in any of the of the following circumstances:
(A) By a licensed automobile dismantler after being reported for dismantling pursuant to Section 11520.
(B) By or through a salvage pool after obtaining a salvage certificate pursuant to Section 11515, a nonrepairable vehicle certificate pursuant to Section 11515.2, a certificate of title for a vehicle described in subdivision (f) of Section 11515 or subdivision (f) of Section 11515.2, or a similar ownership document issued by another state.
(C) By or through a salvage disposal auction. For purposes of this section, “salvage disposal auction” means an auction where a person or entity, engaged primarily in the business of selling total loss salvage vehicles on behalf of insurance companies and that has more than eight business locations in California, sells total loss salvage vehicles.
(D) By or through a wholesale motor vehicle auction. For purposes of this section, “wholesale motor vehicle auction” means an auction where the dealer conducting the auction does not take ownership of the vehicle and the vehicle is sold to a nonretail buyer for resale.
(3) A vehicle where the buyer declines the seller’s offer to permanently mark the catalytic converter pursuant to subdivision (a) and the dealer discloses the catalytic converter permanent marking as a body part marking product in accordance with Sections 2981 and 2982.2 of the Civil Code.
(4) A motorcycle, as defined in Section 400.
(c) As used in this section, “permanently marked” means prominently engraved, etched, welded, metal stamped, acid marked, or otherwise permanently imprinted using a similarly reliable method of imparting a lasting mark on the exterior case of the catalytic converter.
(d) A dealer or person holding a retail seller’s permit who violates this section shall be guilty of an infraction punishable pursuant to Section 42001.
(e) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2025.
(Repealed (in Sec. 2) and added by Stats. 2023, Ch. 858, Sec. 3. (SB 55) Effective January 1, 2024. Operative January 1, 2025, by its own provisions.)