How Can I Get The Most for My Totaled Car?

Buying Back Your Car

What many drivers don’t learn until they get into an accident themselves is that “totaled” isn’t just a catch all term meaning “badly damaged.” Instead, it’s an insurance designation that refers to a car that has damages exceeding a certain percentage of the car’s value. While this percentage varies company to company, it’s usually somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 to 70 percent of the car’s market value. Sometimes, all it takes is your airbags inflating for your car to be called totaled. So what happens to your car next?

First, your insurance company will fulfill one of its primary responsibilities to you — “making you whole.” This refers to the payment you receive from your insurer for the value of your car minus your deductible. Most drivers accept this payment, having sold their car to the insurance company, and move on to buy their next vehicle. In the meantime, the insurance company will sell the totaled vehicle at auction.

What these drivers fail to realize is they could be making a lot more money for their vehicle by selling it to someone who knows its value. When your car is totaled, you have the option to buy your car back from your insurer with a salvage title. A salvage title typically means you can’t sell your car to be driven again in its current condition, but you can sell it to a licensed salvage purchaser.

When you buy back your car, you’ll instead receive payment for the value of the car minus the deductible as well as the amount the insurer predicts they would’ve made for it at auction. This means less money up front, but more money later if you know where to look. Cars sold at auction don’t sell for much, meaning you can maximize your profit by selling your car to a junk car buyer who can pay you fairly for its salvage value on top of the check you received from your insurance company.

Selling for Salvage

You may be wondering how a totaled car still has any value, or how you would find a better buyer than your insurance company. Think of it this way: insurance companies receive thousands of totaled cars, but are not car sellers themselves. Selling the totaled cars at auction is a financially motivated move, sure, but more than that, it’s one of convenience.

Finding recyclers to give the accurate value of each individual car once it’s been parted out would simply be too time-consuming. Luckily, you just have your one car, and finding its junk value will be quick and easy.

When a junk car is sold to an auto recycling facility, professionals assess your car’s value before stripping it down. 80 percent of the average car being recycled is still usable — that’s a lot of material! All parts that can be resold are separated and moved onto the used car part market.

Recyclable components like metal, glass, plastic, and rubber are separated to be melted down. Fluids are drained and disposed of properly, and the remaining non-recyclable portions are crushed down into an object you could hold in your hand. This process does a huge favor to the environment, as well as other drivers looking to save on their auto repairs.

Where to Sell?

When it’s time to sell your totaled car, you’ll want to find a reputable junk car buyer in your area. You could take the time to call every junkyard in town, describe your car, and ask for a quote. Or, you could save the time and effort and head over to WeBuyTotaledCars.com!

WeBuyTotaledCars.com is a website that helps you find junk car buyers near you. We do all the work for you - screening our buyers to make sure your sale is safe, comparing quotes to get you the best rate, and taking care of towing and title transfer!

All you have to do is upload pictures of your car and its Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) to get a free quote in just 90 seconds. Our quotes are always guaranteed for seven days, giving you whatever time you need. For those looking to sell in a hurry, we can schedule your free pickup in 24-48 hours. Just pick a time and date that are convenient for you!

If you’ve got any questions, your buyer can be contacted via phone, text, email, or our on-site messaging system.

When the driver arrives, you’ll sign over your title, hand over your keys, and take your payment. Accidents can be hard — make moving forward easier with WeBuyTotaledCars.com.