DamagedCars.com vs PrivateAuto
Quick summary
DamagedCars.com has a verified free tier; PrivateAuto does not.
Verdict
Which one should you pick?
Choose DamagedCars.com when you want damaged & totaled vehicles — it has a verified free tier.
Worth knowing: Focused on damaged/less-than-perfect vehicles; requires keys, signed title, and vehicle access — lien-held titles add delay
Choose PrivateAuto when you want safer private-party sales — verified pricing: $29 listing + $150 closing.
Worth knowing: Not an instant-offer buyer — seller must find their own buyer and pay listing + closing fees; 'does not hold funds in the manner of an escrow service' and title transfer must happen in person
No universal winner — both entries are human-verified (dates in the Verification row below); weigh the limitations against your own setup.
Field by field
The verified fields
What it is
DamagedCars.com
PrivateAuto
Pricing
DamagedCars.com
No fees + free towing
- No fees stated
- Free nationwide towing and pickup
PrivateAuto
$29 listing + $150 closing
- $29 per listing (one-time)
- $150 per deal closing fee (or $75 each if split with buyer)
Free access
DamagedCars.com
PrivateAuto
Platforms
DamagedCars.com
PrivateAuto
Standout feature
DamagedCars.com
'Get your offer in 90 seconds' on damage/salvage cars others reject; most cars purchased and picked up in 24-48 hours
PrivateAuto
Facial-recognition identity verification plus 'Verified Funds' confirmation before meeting, built to kill common private-sale scams; buyers use it free
Limitations
DamagedCars.com
Focused on damaged/less-than-perfect vehicles; requires keys, signed title, and vehicle access — lien-held titles add delay
PrivateAuto
Not an instant-offer buyer — seller must find their own buyer and pay listing + closing fees; 'does not hold funds in the manner of an escrow service' and title transfer must happen in person
Verification
DamagedCars.com
PrivateAuto
“—” means the official site does not state it — we leave it blank instead of guessing.
Straight answers
Common questions
Do DamagedCars.com or PrivateAuto have a free tier?
DamagedCars.com does, and PrivateAuto does not. A free tier can mean the whole product or a heavily capped version, so check the pricing detail on each card rather than the yes or no alone.
How much does DamagedCars.com cost?
DamagedCars.com has a free tier, and its paid pricing starts at No fees + free towing as listed on its own pricing page. Tiers change — the card above shows every tier we verified, with the date we checked.
How much does PrivateAuto cost?
$29 listing + $150 closing, as listed on PrivateAuto's own pricing page on the verification date shown above. We record the tiers a site publishes and leave anything it does not publish blank.
What does DamagedCars.com support?
DamagedCars.com's own site lists Web, US nationwide partner network, Free towing. We only record platforms a site names explicitly — a generic "100+ games" claim is not counted as support for any particular title.
What does PrivateAuto support?
PrivateAuto's own site lists Web, iOS, Android, US nationwide private listings. We only record platforms a site names explicitly — a generic "100+ games" claim is not counted as support for any particular title.
What are the drawbacks of DamagedCars.com and PrivateAuto?
DamagedCars.com — Focused on damaged/less-than-perfect vehicles; requires keys, signed title, and vehicle access — lien-held titles add delay. PrivateAuto — Not an instant-offer buyer — seller must find their own buyer and pay listing + closing fees; 'does not hold funds in the manner of an escrow service' and title transfer must happen in person. These are the limitations each product's own materials made plain, not a verdict on quality.
Is DamagedCars.com or PrivateAuto better?
Neither is better in the abstract, and this page does not name a winner. They differ on the verified fields above — price, free tier, platform support and stated limitations — and which of those matters is a question about your setup, not about the products.
