Selling a wrecked or crash-damaged car in NWI

What counts as wrecked

Anything a crash left behind. A front end folded back into the engine bay. A rear hit that pushed the trunk into the back seat. A side impact that jammed both doors. Airbags that went off and never got replaced. A frame that’s bent enough that no shop wants to straighten it.

You don’t need to know the damage in shop terms. “Hit on the passenger side, won’t open, airbags out” tells us plenty. The year, make and model on the form tell us the rest.

Why people sell a wrecked car instead of fixing it

The repair estimate comes back and it’s more than the car was worth before the crash. Or the insurance payout didn’t cover the fix. Or the car was already old and the crash just settled the question. Whatever the reason, a wrecked car sitting in a driveway doesn’t get more valuable, and it can keep costing you in insurance and registration until it’s gone.

Selling it as it is means no more estimates and no parts hunting. We make an offer on the car in front of us, with the damage it has.

What happens after you send the form

1. We call you back and ask a few questions about the damage and the title.
2. We make an offer. There’s no obligation to take it.
3. Accept it and we book the truck. Same-day pickup is often possible.
4. The truck comes to the car: your driveway, a street, a parking lot or a shop lot anywhere in North, Calumet, Ross or Hobart township.
5. You sign the title over, hand it to the driver, and you’re paid at pickup. The tow costs you nothing.

The paperwork on a wrecked car

The paperwork doesn’t change because the car is wrecked. In Indiana you sell a car by signing the title over to the buyer, and every owner on the title signs. If there’s a loan on the car, the lender has to release the lien first. Our guide to signing over an Indiana title walks through each line on the back of the title.

Lost the title in the mess after the crash? The sale can still go ahead. In Indiana a junk car changes hands on one of two papers. One is the title; if yours is lost, the BMV issues a duplicate for $15. The other is a BMV certificate of authority, which costs $4 and is applied for with proof the car belongs to you, your current registration for example. If the car is less than 15 model years old, Indiana law requires one of the two. Let us know which papers you do have, whether that’s a bill of sale, a registration or an insurance card, and on the call we’ll work out which route suits your car.

And take the license plate off before the car is towed. Indiana’s BMV says the seller should remove it at the time of the sale.

Other damage we buy

Crash damage is the common one, but it’s not the only one. We also buy fire-damaged cars, from a scorched engine bay to a burned-out shell, and cars left sitting at a repair shop after the estimate came back too high. For the rest of what we do, see junk car offers in NWI.