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How do I buy a car from an insurance company?
I'm a budding car mechanic and I've heard that insurance companies often sell totaled cars for cheap. I'm looking to buy a car I can fix up and work on, so this is great news—I'm just not sure where to start. How do I buy a car from an insurance company?
Ben Guess · Updated on
Reviewed by Shannon Martin, Licensed Insurance Agent.
“Kudos to you for taking on a challenging project!
You’re right—insurance companies do often sell totaled cars for affordable prices, which can mean getting a great deal on the car itself, if you can either afford the repairs or make them yourself.
Insurance companies don’t usually sell them directly, however—instead, they tend to put them up for auto auctions, with the car going to the highest bidder. Keeping an eye out for auctions near you can be a good way to get a great deal.
A word of caution, though—even after it’s repaired, a totaled car will still have a
salvage title
attached to it, which can be a huge headache to try to insure. (And what’s the point of having a car if you can’t drive it?) A good solution to this is to use free tools like
Jerry
, which can be a big help here. We’ll do the work of comparing quotes from different providers to find you the best deal, so you can focus on repairing your car.”View full answer
- Gregory R.
WHY YOU CAN TRUST JERRY
Jerry partners with more than 50 insurance companies, but our content is independently researched, written, and fact-checked by our team of editors and agents. We aren’t paid for reviews or other content.
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