Selling An Older Damaged Car

July 1, 2023 4:58 PM

My car is undrivable due to a car accident where I was designated at-fault. I want to offload my car and need help figuring out how to do this in a sensible way. Car-savvy folks of MetaFilter, what do I do? More snowflakes inside.

The car is older (2007 Infiniti) and dealing with this situation is all on me as I didn’t have collision insurance. The insurance company’s estimated value for this car in working condition is $12,000 while the estimated repair work is $10,000 (and possibly more). The risk-to-reward ratio for repairing the car is higher than I’m comfortable with.

Through my car insurance I received a quote from Copart to buy the car for $2,000. I’m happy with this amount but now Copart can’t find the quote in their system, the car insurance is not motivated to help me, and I have zero experience with how to navigate any of this.

Maximizing what I get for the car is not important but I will appreciate getting something without requiring a ton of effort or risk. For this reason, I prefer alternatives to donating the vehicle (it never makes sense to itemize my deductions) or a Craigslist private sale.

It would be amazing if I could make a few phone calls to an auction or parts house or similar, fill out some paperwork, and someone shows up to hand me $$ and tows away my car. Is this a thing? Can you ELI5 what the steps are to make this happen or what my other options are?

Given how opaque this whole process is, I also have no idea what to do with the car’s expiring registration. Does the registration need to be renewed to sell to a car auction or salvage yard? A SMOG certification is required and that’s not happening. Do I file for Planned Nonoperation? Technically a car that is PNO is not allowed to be towed. What about a Salvage Certificate, which is confusing because I doubt the insurance company will consider the car a loss because it wasn’t covered by them?

This is all happening in the state of California.

posted by Goblin Barbarian to Work & Money (9 answers total)

Did you have AAA? They may be able to help with many of these questions.
posted by armoir from antproof case at 5:35 PM on July 1, 2023

Call up your mechanic, or a few local mechanics, and ask if they can give you the numbers for anyone who buys cars for scrap. Then call up those numbers and get a quote. They will come tow away the car for you. That’s how I got rid of my last car which was unrepairable. (I got $500 for it, to give you a ballpark.)
posted by mekily at 5:37 PM on July 1, 2023 [3 favorites]

In the past, I've done similar by calling salvage yards, sometimes also known as U-pull-its. You don't get much money - highest I ever got was 200 dollars, but it's so easy. They come get the car, you give them the title and take your tag off and return to the DMV.

Mine were much older cars though - you might get more cash.
posted by Vigilant at 5:41 PM on July 1, 2023 [2 favorites]

Renew the registration PNO. California offers one-day vehicle moving permits for non-op vehicles being taken for repair, inspection, or dismantling/wrecking, whether they're being driven or towed.
posted by hanov3r at 7:10 PM on July 1, 2023 [1 favorite]

When my brother and I decided we were done paying to fix our Neon, the garage that we'd taken it into did everything for us. I only had to show up at the garage to sign over the ownership and collect the check from the salvage yard.
posted by Stuka at 9:54 PM on July 1, 2023

Call local scrapyards. They’ll generally pay a small amount — in my area, $200-300 minus pickup costs — and haul it away for you. If you want to maximize, call a few — prices can vary a bit. Your mechanic will likely also have local leads — yours isn’t the first car in this situation. I’m not sure of the California laws around this, but in my area, I called the local DMV and got very clear instructions from them.
posted by ourobouros at 4:40 AM on July 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

If your finances are suitable to take advantage, some charities accept cars as donations and write you the maximum allowable tax receipt.
posted by fairmettle at 5:44 AM on July 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

We just sold an undrivable car for just under $250. I googled "we buy junk cars" in my area and found a couple options that were close enough. They gave us a day and time that worked for us, came to our house and handed us a check, and towed the car away. I've never heard of anyone getting more than maybe $300~ but if you just want it gone, it's the easiest way.
posted by Saucy Possum at 9:01 AM on July 2, 2023

I used Peddle a few years ago. I got over $500 for an undriveable 14-year-old Nissan Sentra. I imagine an Infiniti would fetch more. They seem to be the middlemen between seller of junk car and junk yards. Very easy and seamless. I don’t think you have to worry at all about the expiring registration.
posted by SomethinsWrong at 9:34 AM on July 2, 2023 [1 favorite]