A car that won't start is worth considerably more than most people assume, and considerably less than a repair shop's estimate suggests you should spend on it. The gap between those two facts is where a lot of Edmonton money gets wasted.
We buy non-running vehicles in any condition, tow them free, and pay cash on pickup. Before you sell, though, this page will help you work out whether you should — because sometimes the answer is that a $340 repair brings the thing back to life, and we'd rather tell you that than take it.
Describe the symptoms: (780) 202-2274
Some no-start conditions are cheap. Before writing off a vehicle, rule these out.
The most common cause by an enormous margin, particularly after an Edmonton cold snap. Lead-acid batteries lose a significant portion of their cranking capacity at -30 °C, and a battery that was marginal in October is finished by January. If the dash lights are dim or you hear rapid clicking, this may be a $200 fix.
Costs almost nothing and produces symptoms identical to a dead battery.
A single click, or nothing at all with a healthy battery. Not cheap, but not catastrophic.
Gasoline left sitting for two or three years degrades and gums up injectors. Diesel gels below about -20 °C without proper winter fuel or an additive, which is why plenty of Alberta diesels won't crank in February.
Extremely common on vehicles parked outside through Edmonton winters. Calipers rust to the rotors and the car won't roll — but the engine may be perfectly fine. This is a “won't move,” not a “won't run,” and the distinction matters.
If any of these describe your vehicle and the rest of it is sound, get it looked at before you sell. A car that runs is worth more than one that doesn't, both to us and to anyone else.
These are the failures that usually end a vehicle's life in this market:
No rotation at all. Usually the end result of oil starvation or a coolant leak into the cylinders. On anything over ten years old, replacement rarely makes financial sense.
White exhaust smoke, coolant loss with no visible leak, milky oil, chronic overheating. Repair runs into the thousands because of the labour involved, and on a high-kilometre engine you're rebuilding around other worn components.
Slipping, harsh or absent engagement, or no movement at all. Frequently the single most expensive repair on a mid-life vehicle and the most common reason a mechanically sound car gets scrapped.
On an interference engine, this bends valves and the repair approaches the cost of a replacement engine.
Underappreciated and very Alberta. A decade of road brine off the Whitemud, Yellowhead Trail and Anthony Henday corrodes lines to the point where they can't be safely repaired piecemeal. A vehicle that fails on this alone can be genuinely uneconomical to fix even with a healthy drivetrain.
Rot through the frame rails, subframe mounts or floor pans. This isn't repairable in any practical sense and it's a safety issue.
A vehicle brought into Alberta that fails inspection can require a repair list exceeding its value before it can be registered here at all.
The question is not “does the repair cost less than the car is worth.” It's:
Repair cost + probable next failure within a year versus what the car brings as-is + the real cost of replacing it.
A worked example. A 2013 Equinox with 265,000 km needs a transmission. The quote is $3,600. As a non-running vehicle it's worth a few hundred dollars. Fixing it means putting $3,600 into a twelve-year-old vehicle that still has the original struts, a rusting rear subframe, an aging timing chain and brake lines that have seen twelve Alberta winters. The transmission will be new. Nothing else will be.
Against that: a comparable running vehicle at a similar age costs somewhere in the same range as the repair, and starts its life with you having none of the deferred maintenance.
Sell when: the vehicle is over ten years old, the repair exceeds roughly a third of its working value, there's structural rust, or two or more major systems have failed.
Repair when: the vehicle is newer, has documented maintenance, the failure is a single discrete component, and the body and frame are solid.
Call us with the details either way. If your car is worth fixing, we'll say so.
None of it requires the vehicle to move under its own power. Our flatbeds winch, so a car that hasn't rolled since 2019 loads the same as one that drives on. Details on free towing.
More than most people expect, because the failure is usually confined to one system while the rest of the vehicle remains intact and saleable.
A car with a dead transmission still has a good engine, straight doors, working glass, usable wheels, an alternator, a starter, seats, lighting and — critically — a catalytic converter containing platinum, palladium and rhodium. A seized engine leaves the transmission and everything else. That's why a non-running vehicle typically beats pure scrap value.
What drives the number: which system failed, how complete the vehicle is, whether the converter is present, its weight, and how well parts for that specific model sell in Alberta. Half-tons, Grand Caravans, Escapes, Civics and Corollas move fastest here because there are so many of them still on the road.
The parts side of the valuation is on cash for junk cars; the metal side is on cash for scrap cars.
Tell us honestly what's wrong. An accurate description gets you a firm quote that doesn't change when the driver arrives.
We collect non-running vehicles from anywhere in Edmonton and the surrounding communities, including Sherwood Park, St. Albert, Leduc, Spruce Grove, Fort Saskatchewan, Beaumont, Devon and the full service area.
Plates off before pickup, registration and ID ready, belongings cleared — the Alberta paperwork guide has the rest.
Yes. Non-running vehicles are a large share of what we buy, and it doesn't need to crank, move or steer.
Usually more than scrap value, because most of the vehicle is still intact. It depends on which system failed, what's complete, and whether the catalytic converter is present.
Yes. Seized brakes, failed transmissions and broken axles are all routine.
No. It doesn't affect the tow and rarely affects the offer on a non-running vehicle.
Yes. Long-parked vehicles are common for us, including ones that have settled into the ground.
It helps you decide whether to repair, but it isn't required to sell. A rough description of the symptoms is enough for a quote.
Often, though any storage or repair charges owing need to be resolved. Call and describe the situation.
Call (780) 202-2274 with the year, make, model, kilometres and what it's doing — or not doing. Firm number in minutes, free tow, cash on pickup.
Call (780) 202-2274
