An online car offer is built from what you typed into a form. Nobody has seen the car yet, so the question that matters more than the number is what happens when somebody does. A few buyers say in plain words that the quote is what they pay. Most of the big names say, just as plainly, that the quote depends on an inspection. Here is the wording each service uses on its own site, as recorded in our verified comparison data.
What each buyer says about the number holding
| Service | What the site states |
|---|---|
| Wheelzy | 'Your offer is always guaranteed' and will not decrease at pickup |
| Cash Auto Salvage | 'The number you see in the offer is what we pay.' No 'surprise lowballs at pickup' |
| Cash for Junk Cars Online (junkcarmedics.com) | Firm 'flat-line' offer, paid on the spot before the tow |
| CarBuyerUSA | Guarantees purchase at its projected value, but payment waits on an inspection that can take up to 48 hours |
| Carvana | Final payment only at the appointment, after an inspection confirms the car matches the appraisal info |
| CarMax | Contingent on accurate info: 'Most qualify. Some we'll ask to verify in-person' |
| AutoNation | In-store inspection confirms the car matches the details provided |
| EchoPark | Store confirms the quote matches the car, which must be in the same condition as at time of offer |
| GiveMeTheVin | Bids are based on your description; the affiliate dealer re-inspects on arrival |
| Peddle | Check handed over only after the pickup partner inspects the car |
| webuyanycar.com | Valuations 'may be adjusted at our discretion at any time, including prior to or during our in-branch vehicle inspection' |
The firm offers all come from the same corner of the market
Look at who makes the unconditional promises: Wheelzy, Cash Auto Salvage and Cash for Junk Cars Online. All three skew to junk, wrecked or non-running vehicles. The logic is simple: when a car is bought for what it is rather than how nice it is, a scratch you forgot to mention barely moves the price. Cash for Junk Cars Online states typical payouts of $200 to $700, up to around $1,500 for late models. A firm promise on a number that size is a different commitment from a firm promise on a clean daily driver, and the buyers most likely to want that car sit in the conditional rows.
Conditional does not mean bait and switch
Read the conditional wording closely and most of it says the same thing: the car has to match what you told them. That puts much of the outcome in your hands, because the appraisal info is yours. AutoNation and EchoPark add a mileage condition on top of the clock: both hold the offer for 7 days or 500 miles, whichever comes first, so a road trip between quote and appointment can end the offer by itself. The outlier is webuyanycar.com, whose wording reserves the right to adjust a valuation at its discretion at any time, including before you arrive. That is the broadest language in our data.
A guarantee is only as good as what it guarantees
Not every guarantee on these sites is a price guarantee. GiveMeTheVin promises to beat CarMax and Carvana 'or we'll mail you a $100 check', which tells you about the size of the bid, not whether it survives the re-inspection. WhipFlip guarantees payment before the keys transfer, which protects you from handing over an unpaid car and says nothing about price changes. And Driveway, Kelley Blue Book Instant Cash Offer and CarBrain state no policy on the pages we verified, so we will not state one for them.
How to keep a conditional offer intact
- Answer the condition questions as if the inspector were reading over your shoulder. Every conditional offer depends on the car matching your description.
- Watch the odometer with AutoNation and EchoPark: 500 miles ends the offer even inside the 7 days.
- Move fast where the window is short. GiveMeTheVin's bids last 12 hours, and EchoPark adds $500 if you sell within 48 hours of the offer.
- If the car is damaged or non-running, quote a price-guaranteed buyer first, so you hold one number that will not move.