Copart Review: Buy, Auction or Sell a Car (2024 Guide) (2024)

Copart Pros and Cons

Copart is an online vehicle auction platform headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Members can bid on vehicles ranging from exotic cars to used vehicles. Copart features clean and salvage cars, SUVs, motorcycles and ATVs.

Copart members, whether individuals or businesses, can also sell a car through the company. Those looking to sell a car will go through CashForCars.com, a subsidiary of Copart. Copart will accept cars in any condition, including total loss and salvage vehicles, making it one of the best places to sell a junk car.

Is Copart Legit?

Yes, Copart is a legitimate online auction and car sales site. Copart launched the industry’s first mobile auction app in 2013. It currently has a presence across North America as well as the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Brazil, Spain and Germany.

There are a few methods for selling a car through Copart for both individuals and businesses. We’ll go through each in the sections below.

Selling a Car With Copart as an Individual

To sell your car as an individual, you can choose one of two options. You can use the online instant offer tool on the Copart website, or you can call (800) 381-6219 and speak to a CashForCars representative to get an offer. The steps are similar no matter which method you choose.

Add Basic Information

Like other online car sales platforms, you’ll need to provide some basic information about your vehicle. To use the instant offer tool on www.copart.com, you’ll enter your vehicle identification number (VIN). Copart will be able to access some details about your vehicle, which you’ll confirm. These details include:

• Your ZIP code
• Trim
• Year, make and model
• Engine
• Current mileage
• Condition
• Number of keys available

You’ll also provide your contact information. Once you’ve provided these specifics, either over the phone or online, you’ll receive an instant offer.

Accept the Offer and Schedule a Pickup

If you choose to accept Copart’s offer, you can schedule a pickup with a CashForCars representative. There are over 200 Copart locations across North America, so most pickups can occur within 24 to 48 hours.

Complete the Sale

You’ll receive your payment once the tow truck arrives to pick up your vehicle. You’ll hand over the title, and Copart will handle the rest of the paperwork for you.

Selling a Car With Copart as a Business

Copart sells vehicles on behalf of insurance companies, banks, financial institutions and fleet operators. The process of selling a car with Copart as a business is slightly different than selling as an individual.

First, you’ll need to enter your name, contact information and business details on the Sell for Business section of the website. After you enter the information, a Copart representative will contact you to provide an offer and get the selling process started.

Alternatively, you can create a Copart Seller account and use the company’s Sales portal to track listings.

Copart Fees

To sell as a business, you’ll need to pay a few fees to Copart. It’s $85 to list a vehicle, and upon selling, you’ll need to pay 2% of the selling price to Copart.

Selling a Car With Copart as a Dealer

If you’re a car dealer looking to sell with Copart, the company claims it can help you reach over 750,000 potential customers. As a dealer, you’ll have access to Copart’s virtual bidding technology, allowing you to increase your reach even further.

Like selling as a business, car dealers will either need to fill out the online application or call 888-616-1237 and speak to a Copart representative.

Copart Fees

Selling as a dealer requires the same set of fees as selling as a business. The listing fee is $85 and the selling fee is 2% with a $150 cap. Copart doesn’t collect any fees until the car is sold.

Buying a Car With Copart

To buy a car on the Copart site, you’ll first need to register as a member. You’ll need to upload a government-issued photo ID. Depending on what state you live in, you may have to upload a business license in order to purchase a vehicle at an online auction.

Once you’re a member, you can browse the inventory and join an auction. If you don’t want to bid on a vehicle, you can browse the Buy It Now inventory. After you’ve purchased a vehicle either from the instant sales section or a Copart auto auction, you can have it delivered to you via a car shipping company or pick it up at a Copart location.

Copart Fees

If you’ve won an auction, you’ll see the following on your invoice:

• Lot price (the final price paid at auction)
• Taxes (these vary by state and vehicle type)
• Auction fees (bid fee, storage fees, processing fees, gate fees and buyer fees may all apply)

We didn’t include the Kelley Blue Book (KBB) value of these vehicles for comparison because for older vehicles, the KBB value includes too wide of a range to be useful. We also found that Peddle tends to offer more for older vehicles in various conditions than Copart offered us.

If you’re looking to sell a newer vehicle in good condition through Copart, you’ll likely need to call the company. When our team used the instant quote tool for newer vehicles, we didn’t receive an offer and instead received a notice saying to reach out to the company directly to sell the vehicle.

Copart has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau (BBB) but isn’t accredited by the organization. It has an average rating of 1.9 out of 5 stars from about 120 customer reviews. Copart’s average customer rating is slightly higher on Trustpilot, but only marginally. Over 650 customers give the company an average of 2.7 out of 5 stars.

Positive Copart Reviews

Customers with positive Copart experiences typically mention excellent customer service and the easy process for buying and selling cars. Those who have sold vehicles appreciate that the company handles all the paperwork to make the sales process a smooth one.

Negative Copart Reviews

Negative Copart reviews frequently mention misleading vehicle listings and unexpected fees after purchasing a vehicle. Some complaints refer to long wait times for towing vehicles sold through the website.

Our review team reached out to Copart for a comment on its low scores and negative reviews but did not receive a response.

Copart App Reviews

Copart’s mobile app for online auto auctions is highly rated by customers. The app has over 18,700 reviews on the App Store, giving it an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars. Its Google Play score is similarly strong, earning an average of 4.6 out of 5 stars from over 24,600 customer reviews.

Copart Competitors

Besides Copart, our top picks for selling a car include CarMax and Cars.com.

Cars.com: Editor’s Choice

Cars.com is our top pick for online car sales. Since its founding in 1998, Cars.com has become one of the most popular online platforms to sell a vehicle. It works with a large network of dealers throughout the nation. The company also includes a private-party sales platform if you’d rather sell to an individual than a dealership.

Read more: Cars.com review

CarMax: Great Value

CarMax is an excellent choice for selling your car. The company has an instant offer tool on its website, but you can also take it to one of the 244 CarMax locations across the country. There, you can complete the sales process from start to finish. CarMax offers are often comparable to KBB value.

Read more: CarMax review

Because consumers rely on us to provide objective and accurate information, we created a comprehensive rating system to formulate our rankings of the best platforms to sell your car. We collected data on several providers to grade each company in five key areas. The end result was an overall rating for each provider, with the car selling platforms that scored the most points topping the list.

Here are the factors our ratings take into account:

• Industry Standing: Our research team considers ratings from industry experts and years in business when determining this score.
• Platform: Platforms that offer a variety of features, including instant offers and multiple sales options, are more likely to meet consumers’ needs.
• Cost: To compare providers’ average offer prices, our team conducted a secret shopper analysis for a variety of vehicle types. We also considered the fees companies charge to use their platforms.
• Support: Car selling companies that offer strong transaction support received the highest scores in this category. This includes offerings like free pickup service as well as how quickly you receive your payment.
• Customer Experience: This score is based on customer satisfaction ratings on the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and Trustpilot as well as our team’s experience reaching out to each platform.

*Data accurate at time of publication.