Salvage value calculator
A car’s salvage value is what it would sell for at auction after it’s been damaged or totaled. Enter your car below for a market value estimate built from comparable sales, then read on for how salvage value is determined.
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How salvage value is determined
Damaged cars sell at salvage auctions to rebuilders, dismantlers and exporters. The winning bid is the car’s salvage value. Insurers estimate it for every total loss, and if you keep the car, they typically subtract it from your payout.
A common rule of thumb treats salvage value as a share of what the car would sell for undamaged. We measured that share on real sales instead.
What damaged cars actually sold for
Across 488,511 salvage auction sales, damaged cars typically sold for about 24.5% of the dealer retail price for the same year, make, model and mileage. The middle half sold for between 16.1% and 35.1%.
Measured on salvage sales from May 18 to October 14, 2026, against dealer retail sales from July 9 to October 6, 2026. It covers roughly 2015-and-newer cars under about 120,000 miles, 42% of salvage sales. Older and high-mileage cars mostly have too few matching dealer retail sales to measure, so they aren’t included. Among the cars covered, the share falls with age (see By age).
By damage type
| Damage | Typical share of dealer retail | Middle half | Sales | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Front end | 22.5% | 14.7–32.2% | 256,163 | Value yours → | |
| Rear end | 27.4% | 19.3–37.2% | 84,329 | Value yours → | |
| Side | 26.1% | 18.1–36.0% | 70,435 | Value yours → | |
| Hail | 38.5% | 27.4–49.0% | 15,930 | Value yours → | |
| Minor dents and scratches | 34.2% | 21.5–51.8% | 9,438 | Value yours → | |
| Normal wear* | 26.8% | 12.7–47.8% | 7,797 | Value yours → | |
| Water or flood | 25.7% | 15.7–37.4% | 7,273 | Value yours → | |
| Mechanical | 23.8% | 13.9–37.9% | 6,169 | Value yours → | |
| Rollover | 13.0% | 7.6–20.5% | 5,582 | Value yours → | |
| All over | 16.3% | 9.1–26.8% | 5,153 | Value yours → | |
| Undercarriage | 28.9% | 19.4–39.7% | 5,128 | Value yours → | |
| Vandalism | 25.9% | 16.7–43.2% | 4,051 | Value yours → | |
| Top or roof | 26.2% | 17.4–36.5% | 3,938 | Value yours → | |
| Front and rear | 19.9% | 12.5–28.8% | 2,633 | Value yours → |
Damage type overlaps with title and other factors. Cars with minor dents, for example, are mostly clean-title, so these shares describe the cars that sold, not the effect of the damage alone.
*Normal wear: mostly clean-title cars with no reported accident damage.
By title
| Title | Typical share | Middle half | Sales | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clean | 31.2% | 18.7–46.9% | 59,948 | Value yours → | |
| Salvage | 24.3% | 16.1–34.1% | 387,927 | Value yours → | |
| Non-repairable | 18.2% | 12.1–25.9% | 17,899 | Value yours → |
By whether it runs
| Condition | Typical share | Middle half | Sales | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runs and drives | 26.2% | 17.9–36.8% | 356,545 | Value yours → | |
| Starts | 22.2% | 14.3–31.7% | 42,169 | Value yours → | |
| Does not start | 16.0% | 8.4–26.3% | 13,140 | Value yours → |
By age
| Age | Typical share | Middle half | Sales | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0–3 years | 32.3% | 23.5–43.1% | 155,275 | |
| 4–7 years | 25.0% | 17.4–34.6% | 175,007 | |
| 8 years and older | 17.5% | 11.0–25.3% | 158,229 |
The 8-and-older row covers mostly 2015–2018 cars under about 120,000 miles.
All tables: salvage sales May 18 – October 14, 2026; dealer retail sales July 9 – October 6, 2026.
A worked example
A 2020 Toyota Camry with front-end damage, a salvage title, 60,000 miles, runs and drives, with keys. Our market value estimates, as of October 28, 2026:
- At salvage auction: $7,538 (9 in 10 sales of a car like this land between $4,582 and $10,695)
- At dealer retail, undamaged: $23,981 (9 in 10 sales of a car like this land between $21,676 and $27,797)
That’s about 31% of the dealer retail price. Actual sales come out close: 2020 Camrys with 50,000–75,000 miles sold at salvage auction for about 29% of their dealer retail price (271 salvage sales May 18 – October 14 and 94 dealer retail sales July 9 – October 6, 2026).
A rule of thumb gives one percentage. Your car’s estimate uses its own damage, title, mileage and condition, and the sales of cars most like it.
Questions
- Is salvage value the same as scrap value?
- No. Scrap value is what a car is worth as metal. Salvage value is what it sells for at auction as a car, to be repaired, rebuilt or parted out.
- Is it the same as the insurer’s actual cash value (ACV)?
- No. ACV is the insurer’s figure for what the car was worth before the damage, and insurers work it out in different ways. This page compares salvage sales with dealer retail prices, not with ACV, so the share of your insurer’s ACV can differ.
- If my car was totaled and I keep it, what’s subtracted?
- Insurers typically subtract their own salvage estimate from your payout. An independent estimate of what your car would bring at auction lets you check that figure before you decide whether to keep it.
- Where do these numbers come from?
- From recorded sales: salvage auction results and dealer retail sales. How we measure.
Salvage values by make and model →
Market value estimates, not appraisals. Not legal, insurance or claims advice.