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If your vehicle has been in a serious accident, you not only want to sell it off for the best cash price, but also get a realistic idea of what your accident-damaged car is really worth. Your friends and family may have thrown around arbitrary numbers based on what their old mate sold their car for. But you prefer to have insight into a more realistic figure. So, what factors are taken into account when determining the value of your car?”

At Sell Your Damaged Car, we are in the business of selling accident-damaged or otherwise non-running or wrecked vehicles. We want to give you a little industry background on how we determine the cash value you’ll receive when you choose to bid farewell to your car with us:

#1 Algorithms

“We use calculations based on historical data collected through the sale of between 3 000 and 3 500 vehicles per month over the last 7 years to help determine the value of your car,” said Sell Your Damaged Car Sales Manager Rikus Booyens.

Numerous successful sales, years of experience and seeing the extent of damage on thousands of vehicles puts Sell Your Damaged Car in the right position to understand what your accident-damaged car is really worth.

“The majority of vehicle accidents are front-end damaged including damage to the engine, airbags and critical structural damage. we buy damaged cars reduces the vehicle’s overall value,” adds Booyens.

We promise to give you a competitive price for your damaged car, plus free towing, instant cash and we handle all the painful paperwork involved in de-registering your car (and there’s plenty more reasons to give us the thumbs up).

#2 Vehicle condition

Accident-damaged cars are given a particular industry status by buyers or insurers which help determine a wrecked car’s value:

Code 2 (used)

These cars (although slightly damaged) are seen as second-hand cars and valued as such. This is because the damage has not compromised the vehicle’s structural integrity, e.g. there was no damage to the chassis. These vehicles can be repaired to meet Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) standards.

Code 3 (rebuilt)

The structure of these vehicles has been compromised and while they are repairable, they would not meet the OEM standards. Banks would not finance such vehicles and insurers would not insure these cars (so there is a serious loss of value). If these cars were insured at the time of the accident, the insurers would see them as uneconomical to repair.

Code 3A (spare parts only)

Damaged cars are only valuable based on their spare parts, which can be stripped and sold off. These types of cars must be removed from the road as they are unroadworthy.

Fact: Code 3A buyers are generally interested in fast-moving parts and 80% of the vehicle’s value is in the car’s engine and drivetrain.

Code 4 (demolished)

These cars have no salvageable value and will be crushed.

#3 Year, model and make

And while the fact that Rowan Atkinson or Daniel Craig were filmed in one particular car (so that vehicle will have some value as a collectible), your accident-damaged car is unlikely to have been driven by a celebrity.

A car that was damaged in a similar way to another may reap very different returns based on the car’s popularity and reputation (you know if your car’s brand is sought after by the public or not).

#4 Cost of repair

Should you sell your damaged car or repair it? (We’ve written a blog to answer that question already).

You’ve probably weighed up the options and decided that selling is your best bet.

But as the buyer, we need to determine what the cost of repair will be and this will factor into the figure we can pay you for your accident-damaged car.

According to Booyens, vehicles that have previously been repaired sell worse than damaged vehicles due to the unknown method of repair (since this is normally cheap and just done in order to sell or hide problematic factors).

“We have a legal obligation to our buyers to declare this information,” said Booyens.

Why Sell Your Damaged Car with us?

If sell non running car are looking to get the best possible price for your accident-damaged car, don’t short change yourself by selling your wheels at a salvage yard (they will only pay you for your car’s scrap metal).

Simply upload your car’s details, take some photos of the vehicle and receive an offer from us (this should take less than an hour and a half) – it’s that easy!