Tips on Buying Cars: No Title, motor vehicle department, paint engine

Question
I have a car that I failed to pay the loan.  The loan was written off but I started paying again and they accepted payments.  It has been about 10 years.  The lenders are in NJ.  The car is in California.  The car is pretty run down in every way, paint, engine, suspension everything.  I am guessing it could be considered salvage perhaps.  How do I get rid of the car since I do not have title.  I do not even think that I could drive it to the east coast.  I don't know what to do with it.

Answer
If its only value is for salvage, you should be able to take the car to a junkyard where they will disassemble it and sell off the parts.  Laws vary from state to state, but you should be able to dispose of the car this way, even without a title.  Contact local junkyards in CA and see what they have to say- they'll be familiar with the legal ins and outs.  Without a title, there's little else you can do at this point but to junk it.  If you need to sell it for more money (junkyards will be offering you little if anything; "...yeah, we'll tow it away and won't charge you for the service..."), you could contact the motor-vehicle department in the last state the car was registered and see if they can produce a duplicate title.