Selling a wrecked or totaled car

Either way, we can take it off your hands. We buy whole non-running and junk cars, wrecked, burned and hail-damaged ones included, and pickup is free from home, from work, or from the shop where the car is stuck.

How an insurer decides it's a total loss

Insurers compare the cost to repair the car with its actual cash value just before the damage. Texas's Office of Public Insurance Counsel says insurers often add costs such as a rental car, and deduct what they would get by selling the car as salvage. Maryland's Insurance Administration says an insurer may also count potential hidden damage.

Some states write a percentage into law and others leave the call to the insurer. Of the 50 states, 28 set a percentage. Oklahoma's 60% is the lowest; Colorado, Texas and Utah use 100%. In several of them the number applies only when no insurer is involved. The other 22 set no percentage.

Percentages compare the repair cost with the car's value before the damage. "No percentage" means the law relies on the insurer's total-loss decision or an "uneconomical to repair" test. Each law link goes to the statute, or to the state agency page that quotes it. Checked in October 2026. Laws change, so confirm with your state's motor vehicle agency before you act.

If you think the payout is low

• Ask how the insurer valued the car, and check the options, mileage and condition it used (Texas OPIC).
• Collect prices for similar cars from dealers and online listings. Asking prices usually run higher than selling prices, so say which is which.
• In Maryland you can ask in writing for the valuation method and every deduction, and the insurer must answer within seven business days (Maryland Insurance Administration).
• If you still disagree, ask for a claims supervisor or an appraisal, or file a complaint with your state's insurance department.

Keeping the car after a total loss

Some insurers let you keep the car. Texas calls this owner-retained salvage: the insurer subtracts what it would have gotten for the car as salvage from your payment, and it tells the state the car was totaled and kept. Texas OPIC warns that a car with a salvage title is worth less and may be harder to sell and insure. It adds that a repair estimate is only an estimate, more damage often turns up once work starts, and you pay anything beyond what the insurer paid you.

In Maryland, you send your original title to the insurer before it pays, and the Motor Vehicle Administration issues a salvage certificate. The Maryland Insurance Administration says the car then needs a State Police inspection, gets a branded title, and your insurer may not let you keep comprehensive and collision coverage on it. For how salvage titles work, see selling a car with a salvage title.

No insurance money: fix or sell

Fire, hail and airbags

The same damage can brand a title in one state and not in another.

• Fire. California's DMV treats a completely burned car as nonrepairable, which means it can never be titled or registered again (DMV definitions). Other states mark fire on the title: Georgia's Department of Revenue lists a "Fire Damage" legend, South Carolina issues "salvage fire" titles, and Iowa records "fire" as a title designation.
• Hail. Colorado's salvage definition excludes hail damage, Kansas leaves out cosmetic windstorm or hail damage, and Louisiana handles cosmetic hail separately from its total-loss rule.
• Airbags. Kentucky's 75% test doesn't count what it costs to reinstall a deployed airbag system.

Storage fees keep running

If the car went to a tow or storage lot after the crash, it costs money every day it stays. Texas is one example. The state's licensing agency, TDLR, caps a storage facility's daily fee at $22.85 for a vehicle 25 feet long or less, under its 2023 adjustment. It also allows a one-time $50 notification fee and an impoundment fee of no more than $22.85.

At those caps, 30 days of storage comes to $685.50 (30 × $22.85), or $758.35 with the notification and impound fees. TDLR adds that if a lot doesn't send the required notice to the owner of a Texas-registered car, it may charge only five days of storage. Other states set their own rules.

If the car sits at a tow or storage yard, include that in your offer request.

What to tell us

• What's damaged, and whether the airbags went off.
• Whether it rolls and steers, and whether all four wheels are on.
• Where it is: home, work, a body shop, or a tow or storage yard.
• Where the title stands: in your name, a loan on it, already branded salvage, or signed over to an insurer.

The offer is built on your description, so mention everything, airbags included. Water damage has its own rules, so see selling a flood-damaged car. For what drives the number, read the junk car value guide, and for plates and insurance after the sale, see after the truck leaves.