A wreck turns a car into a pile of decisions: what the insurer will pay, what the body shop will charge, and whether the car is worth fixing at all. When the answer is “not worth fixing,” we’re the next call.
Wrecks we buy
Front-end collisions where the radiator and headlights are pushed back. Side impacts with doors that won’t open. Rear hits that crumpled the trunk floor. Cars that rolled. Cars that were stripped for parts after the accident and left with no wheels. If it was a car once, we’ll price it.
What matters for the offer is what survived: the engine and transmission if the hit didn’t reach them, the catalytic converter, aluminum wheels, and the plain weight of the metal. A rear-end hit on a car with a healthy engine prices differently from a head-on that pushed the engine into the firewall, so we’ll ask where the damage is.
Where a wrecked car tends to end up
Most wrecked cars aren’t in a driveway. They’re at:
- A body shop or repair garage, waiting for a decision after the estimate.
- A private tow lot, where storage fees grow every day the car stays.
- A city auto pound, if police had it towed from the crash scene.
- The curb outside your place, if a friend’s truck brought it home.
We pick up from all of these once the car is released to you. For a pound, that means paying what the city requires to release it first; the City of Chicago explains its process on its towed vehicle information page. For a private lot, call them, settle the bill, and tell them our driver is coming with your authorization.
Totaled by insurance
When an insurer declares a car a total loss, one of two things happens. Either the insurer pays you and takes the car (then it’s theirs to sell, not yours), or you keep the car and take a smaller payout. If you kept it, the title may need to change before the car can be registered again, which doesn’t matter to us because we’re not putting it back on the road. Tell us what paperwork you have and we’ll confirm on the call what the sale needs.
The pickup
The driver photographs the car, checks that it matches what you described, and loads it. Loose parts like a bumper cover in the back seat or a hood on the ground can go with it. You’re paid at pickup, in cash, Zelle or Cash App, and the tow costs you nothing.
Not sure if parting out the good pieces first is worth it? Our part-out or sell-whole guide is honest about when it pays. Otherwise, get your offer.