It has not moved in months, it will not start, and every buyer you have found wants you to deliver it. That is the wrong kind of buyer.
You do not need a diagnosis, but a rough idea changes the number substantially. There is an enormous difference between a car that needs a battery and one that needs an engine.
| Symptom | Usually means |
|---|---|
| Will not turn over at all, no lights | Battery or electrical — often cheap |
| Turns over, will not fire | Fuel, spark or sensors — moderate |
| Knocking, then stopped | Serious engine damage |
| Runs but will not move | Transmission or driveline |
| Sat unused for a year or more | Often just battery, fuel and tyres |
Cars that have simply sat are routinely undervalued by their owners. A car parked for two years with a flat battery is not a broken car; it is a car that needs a morning's attention, and buyers know it.
A non-running car cannot be test driven, which eliminates most private buyers. The ones who remain often expect you to arrange transport, and towing can eat a meaningful share of what the car is worth.
Free collection should be part of the offer, not an extra. Any buyer who routinely handles non-running cars already has that arranged. If someone expects you to deliver it, they are not that buyer — get another number.
Tempting, and almost always wrong. You pay retail for the repair, the buyer values the running car at trade, and the gap comes out of your pocket.
The one genuine exception is a cheap fix on an otherwise sound car — a battery on a car that is fine apart from that. If the quote runs into the hundreds, stop. Sell it as it sits and let the buyer absorb the repair at their cost, not yours.
Non-running cars often come with paperwork problems because they have been sitting: registration lapsed, title misplaced in a move, or the owner has died and nobody has dealt with the estate.
None of these stop a sale, but all of them slow it down, so start them early:
Yes, routinely. Buyers who handle non-running cars have collection arranged as standard. What they want to know is roughly why it stopped, because a flat battery and a seized engine are very different cars.
You should not. Free collection is normal when selling a non-running car to the right buyer. If someone expects you to deliver it, get another offer.
Only if the fix is genuinely cheap and the car is otherwise sound — a battery, for example. Anything running into the hundreds, stop. You pay retail and the buyer values it at trade.
Very often not. A car that has simply sat usually needs a battery, fresh fuel and tyres rather than real repairs, and buyers know the difference. Owners undervalue these more than any other category.
Why it stopped matters most. Our value check asks condition upfront, so a non-runner is routed to a buyer who collects rather than one expecting a test drive.
No title to hand? A car that has sat for years often has a title that went missing years ago too. Here is which of the four routes fits.