Search for junk car buyers in Chicago and you’ll find a lot of names, some Reddit threads asking who’s honest, and directory pages that list the same phone number under different names. Here’s how to sort them out in about ten minutes.
Seven checks
- Find the business on Google Maps. A real buyer has a Google Business Profile with a street address, a phone number and hours. Ours is at 11616 S Yale Ave on Google Maps. A listing with no address and a phone number that’s on five other “companies” is a lead seller, not a buyer.
- Ask who does the towing and what it costs. The answer you want is “we do, and it’s free, nothing comes off the offer.” A buyer who hands your car to a third-party tow company may not control when the truck arrives.
- Ask what papers they need. A real buyer asks about the title. If you don’t have one, they ask what you do have and tell you whether it works. “Title doesn’t matter” is a red flag, for legal reasons and because it often means the buyer is cutting other corners too.
- Ask how and when you’re paid. At pickup, in a form you agree to, such as cash, Zelle or Cash App. Not “a check in the mail next week.”
- Ask what could change the price. The fair answer is “only if the car isn’t what you described.” If they won’t say, expect a surprise at the curb.
- Ask how long the offer holds. Pressure to decide in the next hour is a sales tactic. Our offers don’t expire.
- Check that the phone gets answered. A buyer that’s hard to reach before the sale will be harder to reach if something goes wrong.
Red flags at the curb
- The driver “finds” a problem you never heard about and quotes half the price.
- A towing, fuel or “environmental” fee appears that wasn’t mentioned on the phone.
- Nobody checks your ID or papers at all.
- The driver wants the signed title before paying you.
Any one of these is a fair reason to walk away. The car stays with you until you’re paid and satisfied.
What a straight phone call sounds like
You give the year, make and model and say what’s wrong with it. The buyer asks a few follow-ups: does it start, is the converter there, where is it parked, do you have the title. You get a number. You’re told the tow is free and how you’ll be paid. That’s it. If the call turns into a sales pitch, hang up and call the next one.
Where we fit
We’re a Far South Side business, listed on Google at our S Yale Ave address in West Pullman, and our trucks start from there. We’ll answer every question above on the first call, and if your papers raise a question, we’ll say so before we send a truck. Read about selling without a title, or compare the options in junkyard vs junk car buyer.
Then ask us for a number and hold us to the same checklist.