Weight sets the floor
Underneath everything, a junk car is a quantity of steel, and scrap prices move week to week like any commodity. A compact sedan is somewhere near 2,700 pounds; a full-size pickup can be almost double. That gap alone explains most of the difference between two offers on two different vehicles.
Completeness is the biggest swing
A whole car — engine, transmission, wheels, doors and converter still attached — is worth considerably more than the same car with pieces gone. People often pull parts hoping to sell them separately, then find the shell is worth a fraction of what the whole car would have brought. If you have not started, get a figure first.
The catalytic converter
The single most valuable small component on most junk cars. If yours has already been cut off, say so on the call. It changes the number, and we would far rather know than have the driver discover it at your kerb.
Running and driving beats scrap
A car that starts, moves and steers may be resold or parted rather than crushed, and that is worth more. Even 'runs badly' beats 'does not run'.
Some models hold value longer
Parts demand outlives the vehicle for common trucks and popular models. An orphaned model nobody stocks parts for is worth its weight and little else.
Distance and difficulty
A driveway ten minutes away costs less to collect than a locked garage in Portage. It is a smaller factor than the others, but it is not nothing.
What to do with this
Describe the car honestly. Overstating condition does not help, because the driver confirms the vehicle before money changes hands — an inflated phone quote only costs you an afternoon.
Want a figure on your car?
We are at 3916 S Lake Park Ave and the phone is answered 24 hours: (224) 591-5855. Free tow across Chicago, the south suburbs and northwest Indiana.
Get a cash figure
A few details and a phone number. We come back with a figure.
Tell us what you have
One call, one figure, one truck. We are on Lake Park at 39th and we run around the clock.