Sell a non-running car
Get an instant cash offer for a car, running or not
The short answer
An instant cash offer for a car is a figure worked out from what you tell us: the VIN, the mileage, what is wrong with it, the title status and where it is parked. It arrives without a dealer visit, and it stays an estimate until a buyer has stood in front of the vehicle.
When a figure is the thing you need first
You want a number before you decide anything
Repair it, sell it, keep it, scrap it. All four decisions need the same missing number, and none can be made against a repair quote alone.
The car cannot be driven anywhere
It will not start, shift or steer, so taking it to a dealer to be appraised is not an option. The valuation has to come to the car.
A dealer would not take it in trade
Trade-in desks routinely decline non-running vehicles and branded titles, and the number they do give is often a token against a new sale.
The car has to be gone by a date
A move, a house sale, an estate to settle or a notice from the city. Pickup is scheduled work, so knowing the figure early is what makes the date achievable.
What happens between the form and the payment
Four steps. The first two decide how close the estimate lands to the payment.
Tell us what the car is
The VIN if you have it, or the make, model and model year. Then the mileage, the ZIP code where the car is parked, and whether it is in a driveway, a garage or on the street. The VIN settles trim, engine and equipment in one string, which is why it is the most useful thing you can send.Tell us what is wrong with it
Report symptoms rather than a verdict: cranks but will not fire, no reverse, water reached the seats, hail on every panel. Say whether it rolls and steers, whether the keys exist and whether any parts have been pulled. Photographs of each panel, the interior and the engine bay do more than any adjective.Read the figure, and what it includes
A vetted local buyer prices the car and comes back. Check two things before you accept: that the tow is inside the number rather than deducted later, and that it is subject to inspection and to your state title requirements. If anything does not match your car, correct it now rather than at pickup.Accept, then paperwork, pickup and payment
Get the ownership documents in hand, agree a collection window, and have a photo ID matching the name on the title. The buyer inspects the car against your description, confirms the figure and pays at pickup. Take the plates unless your state DMV says otherwise, and file the form that ends your responsibility.
Upfront pricing
What the figure is likely to look like
Published buyer payout ranges for damaged and non-running vehicles, not quotes for your car. They are here to set expectations before you fill anything in: a sound car with one failed system sits toward the top of its band, a stripped or rusted one at the bottom or below. The local buyer confirms the figure against the actual vehicle.
| Service | Typical offer | What is included |
|---|---|---|
| Published range, all body types | $200 – $1,500per vehicle | The headline band published across damaged and non-running vehicles. |
| Mid-size sedan | $400 – $800per vehicle | The most common vehicle in this category, and the middle of the market. |
| Full-size pickup | $500 – $1,200per vehicle | Weight and parts demand keep trucks at the top of the published ranges. |
| Scrap floor, a complete vehicle sold for materials | $100 – $500per vehicle | The indicative end-of-life range used across this site. A repairable car should clear it. |
Estimates only. Final price confirmed by the local operator before dispatch. Offers are subject to inspection and applicable state title requirements.
What moves this price
- What failed and what it would cost to put right, since the buyer works backward from what the car is worth repaired.
- Parts demand for the model. A common vehicle whose doors, glass, wheels and modules other owners buy beats a rare one nobody stocks.
- Title status. Clean, branded or none at all changes the buyer pool before condition is considered at all.
- Distance to the buyer, since the haul is a real cost and it comes out of the offer wherever it is shown.
- How complete the car is. A missing catalytic converter, swapped wheels or an interior stripped for parts all reduce what a buyer recovers.
Where these ranges come from
- Cash Auto Salvage — What Is the Going Rate for Junk Cars?Checked August 30, 2026
An offer, a listing, or a trade-in
Three ways to turn a damaged car into money, and they suit different sellers.
| What matters | Instant offer | Private sale listing | Dealer trade-in |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you have to do | Describe the car once and answer questions about it. | Photograph it, write the listing, field messages, host strangers at your address. | Get the car to the dealer, which a non-running vehicle cannot do on its own. |
| How the price is set | From the fault, the model, the title and the distance, confirmed at inspection. | By whoever turns up, which on a broken car is usually a dismantler anyway. | As a line inside a new-vehicle deal, where discount and allowance move together. |
| What it suits | A damaged or non-running car you want gone with the tow arranged. | A running car with a clean title and time to spend selling it. | A running trade you are replacing at the same dealer on the same day. |
If the car runs, has a clean title and you have weeks to spare, a private sale usually pays more. If it does not run, carries a brand or has to be collected, an offer with the tow arranged is the route that completes. A trade-in only competes when you are buying at the same time, and most desks decline a non-running vehicle.
Where these statements come from
Anything numeric or regulatory on this page carries the document it was read from and the date it was checked against it. A claim with no source is left off the page.
The form that ends your liability, and the deadline for filing it, are set by the state where the vehicle is registered, and the deadlines are not the same from one state to the next. Texas asks a seller to file a Vehicle Transfer Notification, Form VTR-346, within 30 days of the date of sale; filing inside that window means the seller cannot be held responsible for parking tickets and toll violations run up by the purchaser. Ask the agency in your own state which form it uses and by when: one state is an example, not a rule you can apply to another.
TxDMV — Buying or Selling a Vehicle, Form VTR-346Checked August 30, 2026
Frequently asked questions
How instant is an instant offer?
The figure is fast; the sale is not. A number can be produced as soon as we have the vehicle details and an honest description of the fault, because that is arithmetic rather than an appointment. What follows takes as long as your paperwork does: a duplicate title or a lien release regularly takes longer than the tow ever will.
Do I need the VIN?
It helps more than anything else you can send, and you can get a figure without it. The VIN pins down trim, engine and equipment that a make and model alone leave open. Find it at the base of the windshield on the driver side, on the door jamb sticker, or on your registration and insurance documents.
Why can the offer change when someone sees the car?
Because the first figure was priced from your description and the second from the vehicle. What usually moves it is undisclosed rust, a missing catalytic converter, parts already pulled, damage beyond what was described, or a title that does not match the story. If the figure changes you are told why, and you can decline and owe nothing.
Is the tow included in the figure?
Ask, and get the answer before you accept. Collection is a real cost and it is paid for somewhere: either inside the offer or deducted from it, and the difference between two quotes on one car is sometimes only that. It matters most when the vehicle sits a long way from the nearest buyer, or does not roll.
How and when do I get paid?
At pickup, by the method agreed when you accepted, after the buyer has inspected the car and the documents are signed. Do not release the vehicle before payment, and do not let it leave before you hold your copy of everything you signed. Photograph the car on the truck and file your release of liability once it has gone.
Last updated
Describe the car once
The vehicle, the mileage, the fault and the ZIP code. A vetted local buyer comes back with an estimated offer, and nothing is collected until you accept it.
Estimates only. The local operator confirms the final price before dispatch.