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.
Bring us a written junkyard quote and we will beat it. The number we give you does not change at pickup. No fee, no obligation, free pickup.
We beat itA written junkyard quote on the same car
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
What is your car worth?
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.
Payment changes hands before the vehicle is loaded. One company, one visit, and the number on the paperwork is the number you were given.
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
This site is run by TrackWala, which is the trading name of Blue Ribbon Auto
Sales LLC. These are Google reviews of TrackWala, the company that buys the vehicles, quoted
exactly as they were written.
★★★★★
Wonderful experience from the very beginning to the very end. Offered me more money than any other place. Whole experience was painless. I will definitely be recommending them to others and will plan on using them again in the future.
These guys were so easy to deal with. They
made me an offer, I accepted the offer, and they called me with pick up time. Then they showed up right on time with my check for the agreed on amount. Thank you so much Trackwala.
I had got a quote from a different company that Court horse me into signing the title and the wrong spot before they give me a price once I signed it they give me a price that was real low so I moved on to a different company and when they came to pick the vehicle up since I signed it there it blocked them from selling the car to me so I reach out to this company and he was able to coach me in the right spot to get the title fixed and my girlfriend entered in the wrong mileage which made the car worth more and he quoted the higher price and still honored the higher price even though the mileage was incorrect he's a good man good company I recommend them highly
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.
Our two promises
We will beat a junkyard quote, and the number will not move
Two commitments, and one question we want you to ask every buyer you call,
including us.
1
Bring us the junkyard’s number and we will beat it
Show us a written quote from a junkyard or scrap yard on the same vehicle and we will
beat it. Not match it. Beat it.
That is not a stunt, it is arithmetic. A yard prices your car by what it weighs. We
price it by what it is: year, make, model, trim, mileage, and where the damage sits. On
anything late-model those two numbers are not close. A 2016 Sonata was quoted $475 as
scrap. We paid $1,350.
2
The price we quote is the price you are paid
Your offer is issued in writing before a truck is dispatched. It does not change when
the driver arrives, it does not get revised once the car is on the deck, and there is no
discovery of a problem on pickup day that costs you a few hundred.
The only thing that can move the number is discovering the vehicle is materially
different from how you described it. Describe it honestly and the number you accepted is
the number you are handed.
Ask every buyer this before you accept
“Will this price change when the driver gets here?”
Ask us. Then ask everyone else you call, and listen closely to the answer. A buyer who
will not commit to the number on the phone has told you what happens next. The most common
complaint we hear from sellers is not that an offer was low. It is that the offer was
lowered in the driveway, after the car was already loaded and saying no had become
difficult.
What counts, so you know before you call.
The quote is in writing. A number someone said on the phone is not something either of us can hold the other to.
It is for the same vehicle, in the condition it is in now. Not a similar year and model, and not the car before the damage.
It is from a junkyard, scrap yard or parts yard. This is a comparison against weight-based pricing, which is the thing we are saying we beat.
You show it to us before you accept our offer. Once a number is accepted, that is the number we pay, which is the other promise on this page.
The one exception, said up front. On a very old, high-mileage shell,
scrap weight may genuinely be close to what the vehicle is worth, and there may be little
room to beat. If that is your car, we will tell you on the phone rather than waste your
afternoon. We would rather lose the sale than talk you into a bad one.
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 salvage paperwork. We buy it and handle the forms 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.
The first two columns describe how those business models generally work and what sellers
tell us happened to them. Individual buyers vary, and some are better than this. The last column is what
we commit to, and the rest of this page is the detail behind it.
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
A common complaint we hear
A common complaint we hear
Not if the car matches your description
Late-model vehicles
Priced by weight, so usually well under
Depends who bids
Priced as a vehicle, which is the whole point
REG 138 release of liability
Often left to you
Often left to you
Filed the same day
Your contact details
Varies
May be shared with the bidders quoting you
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 on an ordinary title. If yours is missing, see the note below, because the replacement form is different.
A photo ID matching the name on the title
If the car was already declared a total loss, the Salvage Certificate the DMV issued, instead of the title. That is the certificate itself. REG 488C is the application it came from, and it is not what you hand over at pickup.
Lender payoff information, or the lien release, if there is a loan
REG 227, the Application for Replacement or Transfer of Title, if the title is lost. It has to be notarized when it is the proof of ownership for a Nonrepairable Vehicle Certificate. Call before you start it, because we can often run the sale in parallel.
The salvage side on owner-retained total loss vehicles.
Plates, and the total-loss exception.
On an ordinary California sale, standard plates stay with the vehicle. Personalised and special-interest plates belong to you, so take those off before pickup and you can retain or transfer them through the DMV. A total loss is different. The REG 488C has a section for the plates, and they are normally surrendered with the application. If you have personalised plates you want to keep, that same section is where you say you are retaining them for reassignment. The application is on the DMV site.
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.
Yes. Show us a written quote from a junkyard or scrap yard on the same vehicle and we will beat it, not match it. A yard prices your car by what it weighs. We price it by year, make, model, trim, mileage and where the damage sits, and on anything late-model those two numbers are not close. The one honest exception is a very old, high-mileage shell, where scrap weight may genuinely be close to what the vehicle is worth. If that is your car, we will tell you on the phone rather than waste your afternoon.
What should I ask other buyers before I accept an offer?
Ask them one question: will this price change when the driver gets here? Ask us too. Then ask everyone else you call, and listen closely to the answer. A buyer who will not commit to the number on the phone has told you what happens next. The most common complaint we hear from sellers is not that an offer was low. It is that the offer was lowered in the driveway, after the car was already loaded and saying no had become difficult.
How much is my wrecked or totaled car worth?
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?
No. Your offer is issued in writing before a truck is dispatched, and that is the number you are paid. We do not renegotiate in the driveway. The only thing that can move it is discovering the vehicle is materially different from how you described it, so describe the damage, any missing parts and whether it runs honestly, and the number holds.
