Who Gives the Most Cash for Junk Cars?

If you’re looking to sell or scrap your junk car, you can choose to manage the sale online or see what local junk or scrap buyers will offer. Either way, shop around with local and online buyers to find the best price.

After extensive research, our team determined that the best options for selling junk cars include local scrapyards and these national car buying brands:

*Scores are out 10 points each.

Peddle: Good Choice for Older Vehicles

Peddle specializes in buying junk or scrap vehicles, autos with salvage titles and older used cars. With instant cash offers and free pickup services, Peddle makes an excellent first stop for sellers ready to offload a junked or salvaged vehicle. 

With Peddle, you simply complete an online form with your vehicle identification number (VIN), license plate number and other details. Offers from Peddle are good for seven days and are backed by local dealerships.

Keep reading: Peddle review

Copart: Quick Payments

Copart has over 40 years of experience helping people buy and sell cars. Now providing a streamlined online auction service, Copart caters to parts services, salvage buyers, body shops, private buyers and dealerships nationwide.

Use your car’s VIN or make, model and year information to start a free request for an instant offer. If things look good, schedule a pickup time at your convenience. You’ll get a check immediately after the inspection of your vehicle.

Local Scrapyards

Don’t skip local junk car buyers when hunting for the best price for your junk or salvage vehicle. Depending on the current price of scrap metal, some local scrapyards may offer you more than an online car buying service for your car. 

To get the best offer, you may need to provide your car’s VIN, mileage and other details. Often, junkers and salvage yards provide in-house towing services as part of the offer to buy your vehicle. They’ll come to you to pick your old car up, though towing services may be deducted from the overall price they’ll pay for your vehicle.

Local scrapyards will typically take most inoperable vehicles. Photo: Lillian – stock.adobe.com

When selling a junk or salvage vehicle, you should check offers and opportunities at a variety of places before making a final decision. While we’ve listed our team’s recommended places to sell above, your list of options includes:

• Private buyers: Some private buyers will buy your junk car for parts, disassembly, restoration or even artistic use. In these exchanges, both parties negotiate who pays for the tow truck driver. Private buyer markets may not be the most dependable options, but they could be worth exploring if you want your car to go to good use. You may be able to get more for your car in a private sale as well.
• Brick-and-mortar junk buyers: Some brick-and-mortar dealerships specialize in giving cash for cars in used, junk or salvage condition. Often, these places buy and disassemble cars to use for parts or scrap.
• Online junk and salvage buyers: Online junk buyers streamline sales for old or salvage cars, which allows sellers to request offers, handle paperwork and schedule pickup or towing services all from one centralized hub. Many online buyers provide instant quote tools, though we recommend doing your research to make sure it’s a fair price.
• Junkyards: Many junk and salvage yards will pay cash for your old vehicle and will often tow your non-running or damaged car. 
• Charities: If you want your junk car to go to good use, consider donating it to a charity. Some charities take used or junk cars to repair or sell for scrap. While you won’t be paid for your vehicle, you may be able to include it as a tax deduction.

Are you looking to kickstart the process of selling your clunker? Review the steps below to get a sense of what selling your junk car will take.

1. Find Your Junk Car’s Value

For the best experience selling your junk car, the first step is to get a clear picture of your car’s value. Most people get between $100 and $500 for a junk car.

Many online car value calculators can’t tell you what a junk car is worth. Look for tools specially designed to estimate scrap or junk prices, or you may need to court offers from both online and local junk buyers. Fortunately, most of these businesses offer a free quote either instantly or within a few business days.

In some situations, owners find that the vehicle they consider junk has considerable value for a used car dealership or even a private buyer. In others, they may find their car is worth considerably less than they’d hoped. 

2. Prepare Your Car

Next, you need to prepare your car for the sale. Remove any personal belongings, especially documents with identifying information. Inspect the vehicle thoroughly for damages and other details you may need to report as part of the selling process.

3. Gather Documents and Information

You’ll need your car’s title or acceptable proof of ownership and any lease information, if applicable, to make the sale. You may also want to gather your registration and insurance information and any documents related to warranties or extra coverage.

Remember that most buyers won’t accept a car without a valid title, so ensure you have this document before requesting offers.

4. Check Local and State Requirements

If you’ve never sold a vehicle before, visit your local DMV or licensing agency to learn more about the requirements in your city or state. Take special note of any sale declaration or title notarization requirements and time frames for transferring ownership.

5. Compare Offers

If you’re undecided on how to sell your junk car, you might want to start by comparing offers from different potential buyers. Call local scrap buyers and junkyards with your car’s information and request quotes and other information related to the sale process. Do the same with online and brick-and-mortar junk dealers and explore similar vehicles in private seller marketplaces.

6. Choose How To Sell

Once you’ve looked at available offers and examined the sale processes of each prospective buyer, it’s time to choose how you’d like to sell. Remember that online junk buying services typically offer free towing and pickup services, while scrapyards may deduct those services from the overall purchase price.

7. Complete Sale and Paperwork

After finding a buyer, schedule any towing or pickup services and make arrangements to complete the sale. You’ll need to sign the title over and file all necessary paperwork with local agencies.

8. Wrap Up Final Steps

After you sign your title over and complete the sale paperwork, it’s time for some cleanup on your side. Head to your local DMV or licensing agency’s office or website to cancel your car registration. Next, contact your insurance company to remove your car from your policy or cancel it.

A vehicle becomes junk if it’s irreparable or exceeds a certain age. It also becomes junk if the cost of repairing it exceeds the vehicle’s value. Many car owners hesitate to sell a car as junk or scrap, hoping to get a higher price as a used or for-repair sale. However, if you’ve listed your car on online marketplaces and aren’t receiving any offers, selling your car as a junk or scrap car may be your only option.

Preparing to sell your car as junk? These tips can help you keep the process hassle-free:

• Ensure you have a copy of your title
• Don’t disclose any personal information during the sale
• Remove your belongings from inside the car and trunk
• Explore offers from different types of buyers
• Think about selling the car for parts
• Consider your sale options carefully
• Complete private buyer sales in public spaces
• Follow up with the DMV or licensing agency to ensure completion of the sale
• Wrap things up by canceling your insurance and registration

Consider selling your car for parts before passing it over to a junk buyer or scrapyard. Photo: reznik_val – stock.adobe.com

While selling a car as junk might not be anyone’s first choice, it’s often the best way to receive money for an old or inoperable vehicle. Our team found the best junk car buyers to be Peddle, Copart and local junk buying services. This gives you options to explore when considering this type of vehicle sale. 

We recommend taking your time with the sales process and comparing offers from multiple buyers before committing to one.

Below are some frequently asked questions about selling a junk car:

Because consumers rely on us to provide objective and accurate information, we created a comprehensive rating system to formulate our rankings of the best platforms to sell your car. We collected data on several providers to grade each company in five key areas. The end result was an overall rating for each provider, with the car selling platforms that scored the most points topping the list.

Here are the factors our ratings take into account:

• Industry Standing: Our research team considers ratings from industry experts and years in business when determining this score.
• Platform: Platforms that offer a variety of features, including instant offers and multiple sales options, are more likely to meet consumers’ needs.
• Cost: To compare providers’ average offer prices, our team conducted a secret shopper analysis for a variety of vehicle types. We also considered the fees companies charge to use their platforms.
• Support: Car selling companies that offer strong transaction support received the highest scores in this category. This includes offerings like free pickup service as well as how quickly you receive your payment.
• Customer Experience: This score is based on customer satisfaction ratings on the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and Trustpilot as well as our team’s experience reaching out to each platform.

*Data accurate at time of publication.