Cars that do not run, and salvage titles: questions and answers

Yes. The person pricing it needs three answers: does it roll, does it steer, and do the brakes work. "It doesn't start" is only the first sentence. A car with a dead engine and good tires is a winch job on many car carriers. A car that will not roll, or whose steering is locked, may need a flatbed or a yard that will load it, and some carriers will not take it. Those are different prices. It can show a range only if the running question is answered honestly.

Tell the company the three facts before you ask for a price. Rolls or not. Steers or not. Brakes or not. In dispatch terms, operable means the car starts, steers, brakes, and rolls. Fail one test and it is inoperable. Say where the car sits and whether a truck can reach it. The extra charge is a carrier rule. If you request quotes, licensed companies that serve the route contact you.

Say so before anyone quotes. A winch can pull a car that rolls. A car that will not roll, or whose steering is locked, often needs a different truck or a yard that loads it for you. Some carriers refuse that job. Do not describe it as a normal non-runner and hope the driver sorts it out at the curb. That is how a pickup fails and a fee appears. Ask, in writing, whether that carrier accepts a car that does not roll. If the answer is no, you need a different plan, not a bigger deposit.

The carrier that accepts the load sets any extra fee. A comparison range can mark that the car does not run. It cannot see the exact winch, the yard, or the truck that company will use. There is no federal schedule that prints one inoperable dollar amount. Ask the company to name the fee in the contract before you pay a deposit. Alaska Marine Lines, for its own barge service, says it accepts inoperable gas-powered vehicles with an extra loading charge. That is one operator's rule, not a national rate.

A damaged traction battery is a different job from a winch onto a car carrier. An electric car that runs, steers, and brakes can move on a car-hauling trailer if you follow that model's own transport instructions. Those instructions are not a universal charge percent. A battery that is damaged, leaking, or likely to heat or short is shipped under hazardous-materials rules, and a standard car carrier may refuse it. On a vessel, a vehicle showing leakage or an electrical fault may not be transported under 49 CFR 176.905. Follow the manual and tell the carrier the truth.

The truck and the title answer different questions. Carriers price whether the car rolls, steers, and brakes, and whether they can load it. A salvage brand is about what the title says and what a state may require before you register or insure the car later. Shipping the car does not clear a salvage brand and does not make it road-legal. Ask the motor vehicle agency in the state where you will title it what a salvage or rebuilt brand requires. Ask the carrier only about loading. Do not assume one yes covers both.

If it starts, steers, brakes, and rolls, many carriers treat it as operable and still want the title brand disclosed. Say it is salvage when you request the quote, because the paperwork at delivery can stall if the receiver did not expect that brand. The state that will register it may require an inspection or a rebuilt title before plates. That process is the state's, and the deadlines are on that agency's site. The carrier delivers the car. It does not inspect it for the state and it does not issue the title.

Selling locally avoids the winch fee and the wait for a truck that will take a non-runner. Shipping is possible when a carrier agrees and the car can be loaded. Compare those two on the facts you have: what a local buyer will pay, and what a carrier wants, in writing, to move it. If the car will not roll, get that refusal or that fee before you promise the car to someone in another state. A quote on this site is not an offer to purchase.

No. Local dismantlers, rebuilders, and private buyers are a sale, not a shipment. If you do sell to someone out of the area, you are back to the shipping question: will a carrier load it, and who signs the title. Ask the buyer who arranges the truck and who holds the title until it is paid. Do not pay a stranger a deposit to "come get it" before you have their company name and a contract.