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Junk car & scrap car value calculator

What’s my junk car worth?

Get a ballpark estimate in 30 seconds, built on real median payouts by make from our purchase ledger — median payout $400, top 10% around $1,090. Works for scrap value and junk value alike: running, non-running, salvage-title, or totaled.

Calculator

Your car’s estimated worth

Heuristic estimate built on real median payouts by make from 5,121 recent purchases in our ledger. The real number from a live offer will be more precise.

Condition
How it works

We estimate using the average payout for your make in our offer ledger, scaled by year and condition. The result is a 25%-wide range — not a guarantee.

For an actual offer with a number we’ll honor at pickup, run the full 90-second flow. It checks the catalytic converter, your local scrap market, and 8 other factors this calculator doesn’t.

Estimates only — not a binding offer. Real offer comes from the full flow.
What we actually buy

The 10 most-bought makes in our ledger

Across our 42,000+ company-wide purchases. Median payouts shown below are what sellers actually received — pulled from the same data the calculator uses, which is what makes the estimate more accurate than a generic web tool.

MakeMedian payout
Ford$390
Chevy$372
Toyota$550
Honda$407
Nissan$400
Hyundai$505
Dodge$380
Kia$530
Chrysler$320
Jeep$415

Median payout is what sellers actually received from our purchase ledger — never commission, never an advertised number. Two cars of the same make can pay very differently — year, mileage, condition, and the catalytic converter all swing the number. Use the calculator above for a make-aware estimate.

What moves the number

Five things that change your offer

The calculator only knows three of these. The full offer flow checks all five — which is why a firm offer through the form is more accurate than this estimate.

Catalytic converter

The single biggest swing on most cars built after 2000. Some cats are worth $150 in scrap; others (older trucks, hybrids) over $800. We can ID yours from year/make/model.

Make and model

Toyotas hold value better than most — median $550. Other makes vary by parts demand and scrap weight. The calculator uses your make's actual median.

Year and mileage

Newer cars carry more residual parts value. Older cars are mostly priced as scrap by weight. Mileage matters most for cars that still run — a 2015 Civic with 80k miles versus 250k miles is a meaningful spread.

Condition

Running, drives, and inspectable cars routinely earn 2-3x their non-running siblings. The calculator captures this with a condition multiplier; the firm offer captures more nuance (won't start vs. starts but won't shift, etc).

Local scrap-metal market

Steel, aluminum, and copper prices set the floor. They move daily. Our offer engine pulls today's prices for your region; the calculator uses national averages, which is why a firm offer can swing 5-15% from the estimate.

Title status

Clean title gets full payout. Salvage or rebuilt titles knock 10-25% off. No title at all is doable in some states but typically the lowest tier. The calculator doesn't ask about title; the offer flow does.

How this calculator works

The model, in plain English

No black box. Here is exactly how the estimate is built, where the numbers come from, and what it cannot see.

1. Start from your make's real median

We look up the median payout for your make across the 5,121 most recent purchases in our ledger (snapshot May 2026). Median, not average — a few high-value trucks would otherwise drag an "average" up and mislead you.

2. Adjust for model year

2018 and newer × 1.10 · 2012–2017 × 1.00 · 2005–2011 × 0.85 · 1998–2004 × 0.70 · older × 0.55. Newer cars keep more parts value; older cars are priced mostly as scrap by weight.

3. Adjust for condition

Runs and drives × 1.55 · starts but doesn't drive × 0.95 · won't start × 0.65. A working drivetrain is the single biggest swing after the catalytic converter.

4. Show a range, not a promise

The estimate is shown as roughly −25% to +40% around that center, rounded to $25. That spread is honest: trim, catalytic converter, rust, mileage, title status, and your local scrap market are not inputs here — the real offer checks all of them.

Limitations, stated plainly: the calculator uses national scrap averages rather than your region’s prices, it doesn’t know your title status or whether the catalytic converter is present, and the underlying ledger is a snapshot, not live. It’s a ballpark to decide whether selling is worth your time — the firm offer is the number we actually pay.

FAQ

Calculator questions, answered

What it does, what it doesn't, and how it compares to the firm offer.

How accurate is this calculator?
It’s a heuristic — useful for a ballpark, but not a binding offer. Actual offers consider your specific year/make/model, the catalytic converter, your local scrap market, mileage, body damage, and 8 other factors. The calculator only knows year, make, and condition. Treat the range as ±25%; the dollar figure on the offer is what we pay.
Why is the range so wide?
Because make + year + condition don’t tell us enough. Two 2010 Honda Civics in the same condition can pay 30% apart depending on the trim, the catalytic converter (some Civic cats are worth $400+, others closer to $150), and how much aluminum is on the wheels and suspension. The range spans those swings honestly.
Where does this data come from?
Our own offer ledger. The medians behind this calculator come from the 5,121 most recent purchases in that ledger (snapshot May 2026) — the make, model, condition, and payout of each one. That’s the analyzed sample; the 42,000+figure elsewhere on the site is the company’s lifetime total. No industry estimates, no third-party guesses. More on what determines a junk car’s value →
Will the actual offer match the calculator?
Usually yes — within the range. The actual offer can come in higher than the calculator (running cars with rich catalytic converters often do) or lower (heavily rusted cars from salt-belt states often do). Either way, the offer you get is the number we pay at pickup, no surprises.
My insurance company totaled my car — is this the right tool?
Use our total loss calculator first to confirm the insurer is likely to total the car (the math: repair cost ÷ actual cash value × 100; most insurers total at 70–80%). Once you’ve settled with the insurer and have the salvage title in hand, come back to this calculator (or skip straight to the offer flow) for what we’ll pay for the car itself. We buy salvage-titled and totaled vehicles routinely.
Is this a scrap car value calculator too?
Yes. “Scrap car value” and “junk car value” are the same estimate from two angles. Scrap value is the floor — what the car is worth by metal weight at current scrap prices (usually a few hundred dollars for a sedan, more for a heavy truck). Junk car value adds what’s sellable on top: the catalytic converter, a running engine or transmission, wheels, and clean body panels. This calculator estimates the whole-car number, which is what a buyer actually pays; see current scrap car prices for the metal-only floor.
How is scrap car value calculated?
Two inputs: the car’s curb weight and the going per-ton price for shred steel in your region (aluminum and copper content nudge it up). A 3,000-lb sedan at a typical scrap steel price lands in the low hundreds; a 5,500-lb truck roughly doubles that. The catalytic converter is priced separately and can exceed the metal value on its own. Buyers then add or subtract for parts demand and condition — which is why this calculator starts from what we actually paid for your make rather than from weight alone.

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