Guides
Salvage auctions, explained
Short, practical answers to the questions every Copart and IAA buyer asks — written from the data of a few hundred thousand archived lots, not from theory.
12 guides · about 60 minutes cover to cover
Start here
How to buy from Copart without a dealer license
What Copart lets the public bid on, where a broker is required, and what registration, deposits and fees actually look like for a non-licensed buyer.
Read the guide6 min
Getting started
2How salvage auction bidding actually works
Pre-bids, the live lane, minimum bids and "on approval" — the mechanics of a Copart or IAA sale, and why the hammer is not always the end of it.
5 min read
Why clean-title cars end up at salvage auctions
Theft recoveries, fleet disposals, donations and low-damage claims: where the clean-title inventory comes from, and what "clean" does and does not promise.
4 min read
Fees & costs
3Copart and IAA fees explained
Every fee category the two big salvage auctions charge buyers — buyer fees, gate fees, internet bid fees, late and storage charges — and how to compute the real all-in cost.
5 min read
What it really costs to ship an auction car
Open vs enclosed, running vs forklift, broker vs auction transport — how salvage vehicle shipping is priced and how to book it before storage fees start.
5 min read
Importing a salvage car from the US to Canada
Admissibility, the RIV program, duties and taxes, and the provincial inspection path that turns a US salvage title into a Canadian rebuilt registration.
6 min read
Condition & inspection
4What "Run & Drive" actually means at Copart and IAA
Run & Drive is a check-in observation, not a roadworthiness promise. What each auction verifies, what "Starts" means, and how to read the absence of a badge.
4 min read
How to inspect a salvage lot before bidding (from the photos)
Most salvage buyers never see the car before winning it. How to extract a real condition assessment from auction photos, the VIN, and the listing fields.
6 min read
Should you ever buy a flood-damaged car?
Fresh water vs salt, how deep is too deep, the electronics problem that surfaces months later — and the narrow case where a flood lot is genuinely good value.
5 min read
ACV, repair estimates and the other numbers on a lot
What actual cash value, estimated retail and repair cost figures mean on a Copart or IAA listing, where they come from, and how far to trust each one.
5 min read
Titles & paperwork
2Salvage title vs rebuilt title: what actually changes
How a car earns a salvage brand, what a rebuilt/reconstructed brand restores (and what it never does), and how the brands follow the vehicle across states and insurers.
5 min read
Cat S vs Cat N: UK salvage categories explained
The four UK insurance write-off categories, what replaced Cat C and Cat D, and what S and N mean for repair, registration and resale.
4 min read
Do the math before you bid
Every guide comes back to the same discipline: know the all-in cost and the real market price. Both tools are free.