About Junk Car Worth

Junk Car Worth (junkcarworth.com) is a free guide to what a junk car is worth and how to sell one without getting ripped off. I’m Steve. I worked in scrap metal, moved into salvaging cars, and studied mechanics at university. I built this site so you can learn the process before you call a junkyard or book a pickup.

I’m not a junkyard, a tow company, a dealer, or a buyer. I never touch your car, and I never make you an offer.

Why I built this junk car value guide

I’ve owned a lot of cars. Every time I took one to the junkyard, I walked away feeling ripped off. The offers were low, and I never felt like anyone was being straight with me.

When I went looking for help online, most sites were just pushing their own junking service. A lot of them were there to make money, and nobody was really helping the person with the car. So I made a free resource. You can learn what makes your car valuable, what to do to prepare it, and how to get the most out of it before anyone makes you an offer.

Who I am: scrap metal, salvage and mechanics

I started in scrap metal, then got into salvaging cars. I went to university for mechanics, so I understand how cars work and how they end up in the junkyard. That background is why the guides here talk about weight, missing parts and what a yard actually pays for, not just what a form says.

Junk car offers I collected by hand

For a data study, I spent months, from June to October 2026, typing different cars into the quote forms for Peddle, CarBrain, Carvana and a few others. I checked different parts of the country too. I came away with real quotes for 411 junk cars, and I open-sourced the data because I wanted to share it with the community. The results are on the average junk car offer page, and the methodology page shows how I run the numbers.

Junk car myths I want people to drop

Two come up the most:

• Selling the catalytic converter on its own. Plenty of people try it. They don’t realize the car is worth more together. See the catalytic converter price guide before you pull one.
• “Scrap steel is $400 a ton, so my car is worth $400.” That’s a headline price for shredded steel, not what a yard pays for your car. The scrap car prices page shows the real math.

What’s broken when you sell a junk car

There isn’t enough transparency. Everyone is trying to make money off each other, and at the end of the day it’s usually the person selling the car who loses out on money that should have stayed in their pocket. That’s the gap I’m trying to close.

Who uses Junk Car Worth

Thousands of people read this site to learn about junking a car. Many inherited a car, or received one after a loved one passed away. Others were gifted a car, wrecked theirs, have no title, or need cash fast.

One reader, Suzanne, emailed me about her sale. She followed the junk car guide, realized the buyers she was dealing with were trying to lowball her, and ended up with $500 more in her pocket. That email is the reason I do this.

What I publish

All of it is free to read:

• Guides on the questions people search before they sell: what a junk car brings, what to do without a title, and whether a totaled or non-running car still has value.
• A calculator that estimates scrap value by weight. Start with the junk car value calculator and treat the result as a starting point, not an offer.
• Buyer reviews of Peddle and CarBrain that show the star ratings and the complaints side by side, in our Peddle review and our roundup of CarBrain reviews.

How I make money

The site is free. When you request an offer or complete a sale through my links to Peddle or CarBrain, that company may pay me a commission. I also carry partner offers for insurance quotes (Quote.com), self-storage (Storage.com) and credit scores (Credit Karma). I don’t take money for rankings, and I don’t hide complaints about the companies I link to. The full affiliate disclosure has the details, and my list of junk car buyers includes buyers I earn nothing from.

How I check the numbers

Prices and company policies come from pages I open and read, and every price and rating carries the date I checked. I recheck scrap prices monthly and company policies quarterly. I describe what Peddle and CarBrain publish and what customers report on BBB and Trustpilot.

What I don’t do

• I don’t buy cars or give quotes. For an offer, use the partner links on any page.
• I don’t give legal, tax or financial advice. Title and sale rules change by state, so confirm with your state DMV.
• I don’t run accounts, and I have no forms that send your details to me. The privacy policy covers what Cloudflare logs and what partners receive when you click.

Found a mistake?

Tell me at hello@junkcarworth.com and include the page and the number you think is wrong. More on the contact page. You can also browse every page on the sitemap.