Sell my broken car in Edinburgh

If your car will not start, has a warning light the garage wants a fortune to fix, or has just failed its MOT, you can sell it to us exactly as it is. Send the registration and a plain description of the fault, and we reply with a firm price. There is nothing to repair first and no charge for collection.

The car is collected from Edinburgh on a recovery vehicle, so it never needs to move under its own power. Payment is by bank transfer to an account in your name. As a rule, the cars we buy go to a licensed Authorised Treatment Facility, which issues the Certificate of Destruction and notifies the DVLA when a car is scrapped.

Edinburgh is around 145 miles from our Fort William base, and jobs in the city and the Lothians are grouped into scheduled runs rather than sent one at a time. We agree the date when you accept the price. In the centre's permit zones and tenement streets, we need the exact street before a truck is sent. Postcodes, districts and how collection runs in Edinburgh are on our Edinburgh collection page.

What to tell us about the fault

The price for a broken car depends on what is wrong, so the description matters more than it does for a plain scrap car. Start with the basics: does the engine turn over, does it start and cut out, or is it completely dead? List the warning lights on the dashboard. If a garage has looked at it, pass on what they found, whether that is fault codes, an MOT failure sheet or a repair estimate. Tell us whether the car rolls, steers and brakes, because that affects loading. Mention anything already replaced or removed. With that information we can give you one firm figure, and it is the figure you are paid if the car matches your description.

Weighing a repair bill against a sale

Start with two numbers: the repair estimate, and what the car would realistically sell for once fixed. If the first is close to the second, the repair is hard to justify, especially on an older car where another fault may follow. Add the cost of an MOT retest and the time spent advertising a car that has just been repaired. Then compare that with selling it as it is: one firm price, no outlay and a free collection from Edinburgh. There is no right answer for every car. A low-mileage car with a single, well-understood fault may be worth fixing. A tired car with a failed gearbox and rust on the sills usually is not.

Getting a non-runner ready for collection

Once you accept the price and a date is agreed, there is little to do. Make sure someone can meet the driver with photo ID, any keys you have and the V5C if you have it, or tell us in advance if that is a problem. Empty the car, including the boot and any spare wheel well. If the battery is flat and the car has an electric handbrake or an automatic gearbox, say so, because those cars can be harder to move without power. The driver compares the car with your description, sees your ID, then loads it on the recovery vehicle with any keys and paperwork. Payment is by bank transfer to an account in your name once those checks are done, and as a rule, cars we buy go on to a licensed treatment facility.

Read our full guide to selling a broken car, see the three steps from reg to payment, or ask for a firm price.