What factors affect how much a damaged car is worth?

Buying a car is hard to come by especially with the current economic times. New cars are usually great especially because they have high efficiency and possess great engine power. Such cars are also economical as their fuel consumption is usually low as compared to that of old cars. Within a spun of 5-6 years of continued use, the car becomes a junk/damaged. In this stage, the car’s great efficiency and power fade away and hence the car becomes a liability rather than a utility. At this stage, you are faced with the problem of disposing off your junk car that sits idle in your backyard. A car may also be damaged especially after a road accident that cuts the car’s use. In the latter case, it is usually possible to get compensation from the insurance company. However in the event that you do not get compensation, you are left to take care of your damaged car. The next step is usually disposing off your car to a junk car dealer.

Factors that affect the price of a damaged car
It’s quite obvious that a damaged car is not bound to fetch a good price in the market. This is due to the fact that in most cases, the car’s use is negligible and hence it is dismantled for the salvageable parts. There are factors that determine the value of your damaged car in the automobile aftermarket:

The car’s condition
This is the main price determinant of the value of a junk car. Even though the car is categorized as a junk, your damaged car’s condition will still have an effect on the price of the car. Cars that are extensively damaged and those that are poorly maintained fetch an extremely low price in the market. It is important that even though your damaged car is useless, you should maintain it at a fairly clean state. In this case, the car despite being damaged will create an appealing appearance and as such can fetch a good amount. Give your car a nice polishing both in the interior and in the exterior. Having an appealing appearance for the car is imperative and as such the dealer is most likely going to value your car highly.

The functionality of the car
Despite junk cars being rendered useless, there are those that are still functional only that the cost of maintaining the cars is usually very high. If your damaged car can still be put back on the road with a few repairs, you should expect it to fetch a higher amount of money.The reverse is true as dysfunctional cars are towed away for dismantling. In this case, the damaged car can only be used to extract salvageable parts and as such it is not possible to fetch a high amount of money. Functional damaged cars go for up to $500 while the grounded ones go for as low as $250.

Legal possession papers
While disposing off your junk car to a car dealer, it is important to ensure that you are in possession of the legal ownership papers. This eases the sale procedures and also cuts on the expenses incurred while acquiring the ownership papers. In the absence of the ownership papers, the dealers organize for their acquisition but at a cost. Other factors such as the car’s model and year of manufacture are usually not considered by the dealers. Therefore these factors do not affect the price of your damaged car.

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