We Buy Totaled Cars for Cash, Before or After Your Payout
Totaled cars are worth real money, and the amount surprises most people who have just been handed an insurance check. A total loss is an accounting decision, not a verdict on the vehicle — an insurer writes a car off the moment the repair estimate crosses a percentage of its actual cash value, which on an older car can happen after fairly modest damage.
That leaves a vehicle full of good parts and several thousand pounds of recyclable metal, with nobody obvious to sell it to. That is the gap we fill.
- Keep your settlement and sell the car too
- Picked up from home, body shop or impound
- Deployed airbags and frame damage are fine
Free Junk Car Offer
Takes 90 seconds · No obligation
No spam · We never sell your details
What "totaled" actually means
Insurers do not total a car because it is beyond repair. They total it when the estimated cost of repair plus the salvage value exceeds a set percentage of the car's actual cash value — the total loss threshold. That threshold is written into state law in roughly half the country and sits anywhere between 60% and 100%.
The practical effect is that age matters more than severity. A twelve-year-old sedan worth $3,200 can be totaled by a $2,400 repair that would be waved through on a newer car. Plenty of totaled cars still start, drive and look broadly intact.
When the insurer settles, one of two things happens. Either they take the car and pay you its full value, or you retain the salvage — they deduct the salvage value from your payout and you keep the vehicle. If you kept it, that car is now yours to sell, and the sale money is on top of the settlement you already banked. Where that leaves the paperwork is covered in what a branded title does and does not allow.
Advantages of Selling a Totaled Car to a Total Loss Buyer
Once a car has been written off, the ordinary routes to selling it mostly close. A total loss buyer is built for exactly this situation.
Severity stops mattering
Retail buyers price from photographs and fear the worst. We price from parts demand and weight, so the difference between light structural damage and a heavily hit car is far smaller than the difference in how they look.
You are not competing with clean cars
Listing a totaled car privately puts it next to undamaged examples of the same model. There is no comparison to lose here — we are not valuing it as transport.
The insurance paperwork is familiar
Total loss letters, salvage retention forms and lien releases are routine for us. You are not going to hit a wall because a clerk has never seen your paperwork before.
It can be picked up from wherever it sits
Most totaled cars are not at home — they are at a body shop, a tow yard or an impound lot racking up storage. We pick up from all three.
Selling Your Totaled Car
- 1
Settle with your insurer first
Confirm whether you are retaining the salvage. If the insurer is taking the car, there is nothing to sell — if you keep it, the vehicle and its paperwork are yours.
- 2
Send us the details
Year, make, model, ZIP, and what the damage is. If you have the adjuster's estimate handy it helps, but it is not required.
- 3
Get your as-is offer
Priced on recoverable parts and regional scrap value. The number assumes the car is wrecked, which is why it holds when the driver arrives.
- 4
We Pick It Up and Pay You
Tell us where the car is. We arrange release with the shop or lot if needed, winch it on, and pay you before it moves. Collection from a body shop or impound is routine — see how a damaged car gets recovered.
What You Need to Sell a Totaled Car
Slightly different from an ordinary sale, because a claim has already touched the vehicle. Nothing here is difficult to get hold of.
- Proof you own the salvage
- Usually the title, but where the insurer has already processed the write-off the total loss letter or salvage retention paperwork does the job. Either is fine.
- Photo ID matching the paperwork
- The name on your license needs to match the name on the title or settlement letter. If the car was owned jointly, both parties normally sign.
- A lien release if there was finance
- Most insurers pay the lender directly and the lien is cleared during settlement. Ask your insurer for written confirmation — it is a single phone call.
- Release authority if it is being stored
- Body shops and impound lots will not hand a car to anyone without your say-so. Tell them we are picking it up and settle any outstanding storage fee.
- Your plates, kept back
- Take the plates off before pickup. Most states want them returned or transferred, and leaving them on the car creates liability you do not want.
What Totaled Cars Actually Pay
Real ranges from recent pickups. Yours depends on model, damage, completeness and scrap rates where you live.
Ranges reflect vehicles with catalytic converters, wheels and batteries still fitted. Missing those lowers the figure. A newer car with an intact drivetrain sits at the top of its range.
Pickup Day
It takes about fifteen minutes and you do not need to move the car.
A scheduled window, not "sometime"
You pick a slot and the driver calls ahead. Same-day is available in most areas if the paperwork is already sorted.
The driver brings the equipment
Flat tires, seized brakes, no keys, sitting on its roof — the truck arrives able to deal with it. Nothing is needed from you.
Paperwork signed at the vehicle
You sign the title or release, hand over keys if you have them, and take your plates off. That is the whole administrative burden.
Paid before it loads
Cash or same-day transfer, in the amount quoted, before the car goes on the truck. Not after, and not subject to a fresh inspection.
Totaled Car Questions
Can I sell a totaled car and still keep the insurance payout?
Yes, provided you retained the salvage. The insurer already reduced your settlement by an estimated salvage value, so selling the car is simply how you collect that portion. You are not obliged to hand anything back.
Should I sell before or after the claim settles?
After. Until the claim closes, the insurer may still elect to take the vehicle, and selling it first can complicate or reduce your settlement. Wait for confirmation that you are keeping the salvage.
My car was totaled but it still drives. Is it worth more?
Usually yes. An intact, running drivetrain is the single most valuable thing on a written-off car, and hail or cosmetic write-offs sit at the top of our ranges for that reason.
What if the car is racking up storage fees at an impound lot?
Move quickly, because those fees come out of your pocket and can overtake the value of the car within a couple of weeks. Tell us where it is and we will prioritize the pickup.
Do I need the title if the insurer has already written it off?
Frequently not. Once a write-off is processed the total loss letter or salvage retention paperwork usually satisfies the requirement. Requirements are state-specific, so confirm with us before pickup day.
Get a number on your totaled car
Ninety seconds and no obligation. Find out what the write-off is worth before the storage fees eat into it.
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