Your car used to be your pride and joy, but then the unthinkable happened—it got mangled in a car accident. After the accident, your car doesn’t look as good or work as well as it used to, and now you want to get rid of it. But can you sell a car that got damaged in an accident? Or is it doomed to the scrapyard? We cover the answer here.
Can You Sell a Damaged Car?
Can you sell a car that got damaged in an accident? Yes! So long as you disclose its accident history to interested buyers, it’s perfectly legal to sell an accident-damaged car. That said, private buyers may be hesitant to purchase a vehicle with a recent accident report. If your car is badly damaged or you can’t seem to find any takers, you may want to look into selling your car to a reputable local junkyard instead, as they’ll accept vehicles of any condition and history.
Can You Sell a Car With an Unsettled Claim?
Has your insurance not yet determined culpability for the accident, but you want your damaged car off your hands? You can still sell your car while your insurance works on settling your claim, but this isn’t necessarily the best idea. It can affect your eventual reimbursement (assuming you weren’t the one liable for the incident) and how much your car will sell for.
How Does an Accident Affect a Car’s Value?
The biggest question is: how much can you get for a damaged car? The answer: It depends on the extent of damage to the vehicle and whether you’ve tried to repair it. Minor cosmetic problems you can barely see won’t put much of a dent in your car’s value, but more substantial damage can lower the value of your vehicle dramatically, sometimes by as much as 90 percent. Repairing your car before you sell it can help you recoup some of its lost value. Damaged and subsequently repaired cars typically sell for 70 percent of their pre-accident value.
Selling your car after an accident may be more challenging than selling a pristine, never-damaged car, but it’s possible—you just have to stay determined and keep at it until you find the right buyer.
