Even though the law in most states requires all drivers to have at least some form of basic car insurance, 14 percent of motorists currently drive uninsured. Some people purchase insurance to buy a car and then cancel their policy following registration while others allow fate to decide whether they get caught. Often, there’s little you can do when an uninsured driver causes an accident because claiming through lawyers can be expensive, and there’s no guarantee the driver has any assets to repay you.
Hopefully, you won’t get into any serious accidents, but if a scrape with an uninsured driver totals your car, you might need to salvage some cash to return to the road promptly. Fortunately, there are ways to get cash for junk cars regardless of their condition, so you might still be able to splash out on a family holiday as well as buy another vehicle. Keep reading below to learn about the easiest ways to make money from totaled vehicles.
How to Make Money from a Totaled Car
It may be difficult to recover the full value of your car just before your accident if the at-fault driver was uninsured, but it’s possible to make more money from junk cars that you might expect. In no particular order, here are the simplest ways to make a decent amount of money for your vehicle.
- Check Your Insurance
You should make sure that you can’t recover the full value of your car from your insurance provider before doing anything else. Some comprehensive insurance packages cover accidents with uninsured drivers, and you can include uninsured motorist coverage into your policy for extra protection. If you can make a claim, it’s worth haggling with your provider if you think they’ve unfairly valued your vehicle. Do some research to find out whether they’ve calculated your car’s value accurately by comparing it with an accurate representation of similar vehicles.
- Sell Your Junk Car
You might think there’s zero chance of selling a car that’s beyond repair, but some people see opportunity where others don’t. You might find there’s a local mechanic who could use your car for spare parts, or an aspiring motorist may fancy the challenge of restoring it to its former condition (depending on the severity of the damage). The easiest way to sell your car for a decent price is to contact a company that specializes in buying damaged cars – many of which operate nationwide. They’ll provide a quote within minutes, give you cash in under two days, and retrieve the vehicle from your location.
- Repair Your Car
Because insurance companies write off cars if the repairs cost 70 percent or more than your car’s total value, older cars might still be roadworthy despite being classified as “totaled.” Deep dents and severely damaged paintwork can be enough to total cars in some situations, and if your airbags didn’t deploy and your engine didn’t sustain damage in the accident, repairing your car may be less expensive than you think. Of course, this option will take a long time and potentially cause inconvenience, but it may be the best choice if you can’t recover enough cash to purchase a replacement car.
- Salvage Working Parts or Visit the Scrapyard
If you know your way around a car and think you could salvage the working parts, you might be able to make cash by visiting scrapyards or automotive retail businesses. Even if you know very little about the inner-workings of a car, a scrapyard may offer you a fair price for a totaled vehicle. Some types of scrap metal can fetch a decent profit, and they may be prevalent in your vehicle if you take it to somebody who knows how to extract them. It may not be as easy as selling your car to a dedicated company or letting your insurer deal with it, but it doesn’t hurt to obtain a quote.
Every Car is Worth Something
Most of us try our hardest to prevent car accidents, but crashing into an uninsured driver makes unfortunate scrapes much worse. With one in eight drivers currently uninsured, it’s certainly worth considering adding uninsured motorist coverage to your policy, but at least there are ways to make cash for totaled cars if all else fails. Compare quotes from all the ideas above to find out which option is best for your situation.