Sell your wrecked car in California without watching the price drop when the truck shows up
One buyer, start to finish. TrackWala puts the offer in writing before anyone is dispatched, collects the car free, and pays you before the truck leaves.
No fee to get an offer. No obligation. Free pickup everywhere we buy.
In writingOffer issued before dispatch
24 to 48 hrsTypical pickup after acceptance
At pickupPaid in full before the truck leaves
Same dayREG 138 filed with the DMV
How the sale actually runs
Three steps, in this order, every time
No step is skipped and no number moves between them.
1
Tell us what happened to the car
Year, make, model, trim, rough mileage, what the damage is and where it sits, whether it runs, your title status, and the ZIP where it is parked. Photos speed this up more than anything else.
2
An offer in writing, before anyone is dispatched
We price the vehicle as a vehicle, not by weight. The offer states the car, the amount, and what the amount includes. Nothing is dispatched until you accept it.
3
Free pickup. One company, one visit.
TrackWala quotes you, TrackWala collects the car, and TrackWala is named on the paperwork. Pickup is free, including for cars that do not run. You are paid before the vehicle is loaded.
What the gap looks like
A scrap quote and a real offer are not the same number
A 2016 Hyundai Sonata had been quoted $475 as scrap. Weight-based pricing had nothing else to say about it. We paid $1,350, and the seller had the money ten hours after the first phone call.
On a 2020 Toyota Highlander XLE that an owner had been told was finished, we paid $12,500.
$475Scrap quote on the Sonata
$1,350What we paid
10 hoursFirst call to payment
$12,500Paid on a 2020 Highlander XLE
Figures are from purchases we completed. Every vehicle is different and your offer depends on your car.
Reviews
What sellers say
California Wrecked Cars is a TrackWala affiliate. These are Google reviews of
TrackWala, the company that buys the vehicles, quoted exactly as they were written.
★★★★★
I have had the best experience with trackwala Sam has been so awesome in preparing everything that was needed he was right on with everything and quick to respond and everything was just a really great experience I would recommend them to anybody
Three things California sellers tell us happened last time
“They cut the price when the driver arrived”
A quote that was never a commitment, revised in your driveway once the car is already loaded and you have nowhere to go.
Our offer is issued in writing before dispatch. If the car matches your description, that number is what you are paid.
“The company that quoted me was not the company that showed up”
National quote sites broker your vehicle to whichever local yard bids highest, so a stranger arrives with a different number and no record of your conversation.
TrackWala quotes you, TrackWala collects the car, and TrackWala is named on the paperwork. You know who that is before you commit.
“Tolls and tickets came back to me a month later”
The transfer was never filed, so the DMV still had the vehicle in your name long after it left your driveway.
We file your Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability, form REG 138, the same day.
What we buy
If it is damaged, we are interested
Accident-damaged cars
Front-end, rear, side, rollover, flood, fire. Whether or not an insurer was ever involved, and whether or not a claim was denied.
Totaled cars you kept
Owner-retained salvage is one of our most common purchases. Your settlement was reduced by the salvage value and the car moved onto a salvage certificate. We buy it and handle the paperwork with you.
Damaged SUVs, trucks & EVs
California has the highest EV concentration in the country, and electric vehicles reach total loss from moderate collisions because battery-adjacent repairs outrun the car's value fast. Wrecked Teslas and hybrids are a specialty.
Non-running is not a problem. No keys, will not start, flat tires, sitting since last year. Our trucks are equipped for it and the tow is on us.
Compare before you decide
Junkyard, national offer site, or direct buyer
The three options are not variations on the same thing. They price your car by completely different logic.
Junkyard / parts yard
National offer site
This site → TrackWala
How your car is priced
Scrap metal weight and parts demand
An estimate, then brokered to the highest local bidder
Year, make, model, trim, mileage, and where the damage sits
Who actually shows up
The yard, or a contracted tow
A third-party yard you have not spoken to
TrackWala, named up front and the same company throughout
Can the price change on arrival
Frequently
Frequently
Not if the car matches your description
Late-model vehicles
Badly underpriced
Depends who bids
Priced as a vehicle, which is the whole point
REG 138 release of liability
Usually left to you
Usually left to you
Filed the same day
Your contact details
Varies
Often the actual product being sold
Go to TrackWala and nobody else. Never auctioned to a pool of bidders.
California paperwork
The DMV side, and who handles what
What you bring
Your California Certificate of Title, the pink slip, signed where indicated. No notarisation is required in California.
A photo ID matching the name on the title
If the car was already declared a total loss, the salvage certificate (REG 488C) instead of the title
Lender payoff information, or the lien release, if there is a loan
What we handle
REG 138, the Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability, filed the same day. This is the step that actually ends your responsibility for tolls and citations.
REG 227, the duplicate title application, if the title is lost. Call before you start it, because we can often run the sale in parallel.
The salvage side on owner-retained total loss vehicles.
Two California details worth knowing. Standard plates stay with the vehicle here, so only personalised and special-interest plates come off before pickup. And smog certification is generally not part of a salvage or total-loss sale, because those move through salvage paperwork rather than a standard transfer. We are not attorneys and we are not the DMV, so if your situation is unusual we will point you to the specific form rather than guess.
Where we buy
Wrecked cars across California
Pickup is free everywhere we buy. Pick your city for local detail, freeways and neighbourhood pickup.
A wrecked car's value is set by what it is, not what it weighs. Year, make, model, trim, mileage, and where the damage sits determine the number. A late-model vehicle with collision damage typically carries value that scrap-weight pricing misses entirely, often by thousands of dollars. A 2016 Hyundai Sonata we bought in California had been quoted $475 as scrap. We paid $1,350.
Why is your offer different from a junkyard's offer?
Junkyards and self-service parts yards price by scrap metal weight and parts demand. That model works for a twenty-year-old shell. It badly underprices a 2020 SUV with front-end damage. We price the vehicle as a vehicle, which is why the two numbers separate so sharply on anything late-model.
Will the offer change when the driver shows up?
Not if the car matches what you told us. Describe the vehicle honestly, including the damage, any missing parts, and whether it runs, and the number you accepted is the number you are paid. We do not renegotiate in the driveway.
What makes a car a total loss in California?
California does not use a fixed percentage. Insurers apply a total loss formula, and when the cost of repairs plus the vehicle's salvage value meets or exceeds its actual value, the car is declared a total loss. Different carriers reach that line at different points, which is why two similar cars can be treated differently.
My insurer totaled the car and I kept it. Can you still buy it?
Yes. Owner-retained salvage is one of the most common purchases we make. When you keep a totaled car, your settlement is reduced by the vehicle's salvage value and the car moves onto salvage paperwork. We buy it as it sits and walk you through the forms.