If your car has just failed its warrant of fitness, or the WOF ran out and you are not going to renew it, you do not have to fix anything before you sell. We buy the car as is where is, in whatever state the inspection left it in.
Send the plate, your suburb and a line about what it failed on through the quote form and we will come back with a cash figure.
You do not have to pass a WOF to sell your car to us
This is the thing most people get wrong. A warrant of fitness exists so a car can be legally driven on the road. Selling a car to a wrecker is not driving it on the road, so the warrant is not the gate everyone assumes it is.
We collect the vehicle ourselves. That means the WOF is not our problem and it does not need to be yours either. There is no inspection to pass, no re-test fee, and no repair bill to clear first.
Plenty of sellers get a repair quote, decide it is more than the car is worth to them, then assume they are stuck with a vehicle they cannot legally drive or legally sell. They are not.
What a failed WOF is really telling you
A WOF failure is a repair quote in disguise. The inspection hands you a list, the garage prices the list, and you find out what it costs to keep the car on the road for another twelve months.
The question is never really "can this be fixed". Almost anything can be fixed. The question is whether the repair bill is worth paying on a car of that age and value, and for a lot of cars the honest answer is no.
If the repairs come to more than the car is worth, or more than you want to spend on it, the car has quietly reached the end of its useful life for you. At that point selling it is the rational move, not a defeat.
WOF failures we buy every week
These are the failures that come up again and again in the enquiries we receive:
- Suspension and steering. Worn ball joints, tie rod ends, bushes, wheel bearings, broken springs. Often expensive because of the labour.
- Rust. Structural rust in sills, floors or chassis rails. Usually the one that ends a car, because the repair is open ended.
- Brakes. Seized calipers, worn discs, failed lines.
- Tyres. Below the tread limit, perished, or uneven wear pointing at something else.
- Windscreen. A crack in the driver's line of sight. Small cause, instant fail.
- Engine mounts, exhaust and emissions.
- Lights, wipers and seatbelts. Cheap on their own, but they stack up on top of everything else.
If your list looks like several of those at once, that is the classic point where the sums stop working.
No WOF and no rego at the same time
The two usually lapse together, because once the warrant has gone there is not much point paying for registration on a car you cannot drive.
That is completely normal and it does not reduce what we pay. We buy cars with no WOF, no current registration, registration on hold, or plates already handed in. None of it changes the offer, and none of it needs sorting out before you contact us.
What matters is that the vehicle is complete. A car that still has its engine, gearbox, panels, wheels and interior in it is worth real money however rough it looks. A shell that has already been stripped for parts is not, which is why we always ask for the plate first.
Is it worth fixing the WOF or selling the car?
Work out three numbers and the answer usually becomes obvious.
- The repair quote. The full list, parts and labour, not the optimistic version.
- What the car is worth to you after the repair. A twenty year old hatchback with a fresh WOF is still a twenty year old hatchback.
- What we will pay for it right now, as is.
If the repair quote is close to or above the second number, spending the money buys you very little. You are paying full price for a car you already own.
Where it gets worse is when the first repair is not the last. Rust and worn suspension tend to arrive together on a tired car, and passing this year's inspection does not stop next year's list being just as long.
We are not going to pretend a wrecker's offer beats what a tidy, warranted car fetches. It does not. But that is not the choice in front of you. The choice is between a repair bill on a car you have already decided you are done with, and a clean exit with cash in your hand today.
Selling a car with no WOF across Christchurch and Canterbury
We cover Christchurch city and the wider Canterbury region, including Riccarton, Hornby, Papanui, Halswell, Shirley, New Brighton, Woolston and Sumner, and out to Rolleston, Rangiora, Kaiapoi, Lincoln, Prebbleton, Ashburton and Amberley.
Pickup is free everywhere we cover, and we come to the car. It can be on your driveway, on the street, at a garage, or sitting where it was parked up when the warrant expired. If it has not moved in years and the tyres are flat, that is fine, we deal with that constantly.
Questions people ask about selling a car with no WOF
Do I need to get a WOF before I sell it? No. We collect the car, so it never has to be driven on the road by you.
It failed on rust. Will you still take it? Yes. Rust is one of the most common reasons a car reaches us, and it does not stop the engine, gearbox and other parts being worth something.
My WOF expired years ago and the car has not moved since. That is a very normal enquiry. A car that has sat for years is still worth buying as long as it is complete.
Do I need to tell NZTA anything? Once we buy the vehicle we complete the notice of disposal, so the change of ownership is recorded properly and the vehicle is no longer your responsibility.
The car still drives fine, it just will not pass. Tell us that. A car that runs and drives is worth more than one that does not, even with a failed inspection against it, and it affects the offer.
How fast can you collect it? Usually same day or next day in Christchurch, and by arrangement further out in Canterbury.
Get a cash offer on a car with no WOF
Send us the number plate, the suburb the car is in, and a line about what it failed on or how long the warrant has been expired. We will come back with a no obligation cash offer, and if you accept it we collect the car and pay you on the spot.