Paste any 17-character VIN. The verdict, profit zones, and recon estimate appear instantly: free, no account. Sign in to save the lot and unlock verified vehicle history.
AuctionMate runs the verdict, the profit math, and the federal title check on Copart and IAAI lots — in the side panel, before you bid.
If you buy salvage cars for resale or rebuild, you’re sourcing from auctions that publish photos, a damage label, and not much else. The estimating tools that exist were built for someone else.
Copart and IAAI listings give you photos and a damage label. They don’t tell you what the car is worth, what the repair will cost, or whether the title brand will tank resale.
Most estimating software is designed for insurance carriers paying for repairs. It doesn’t price salvage exits, doesn’t flag relisting patterns, and starts at four figures per seat.
A repair estimate from a body-shop guide doesn’t help if the car is salvage and resells well below clean retail. The math has to start from the floor.
A salvage-title Lexus and a salvage-title Audi don’t lose value at the same rate. We adjust title discounts by parts-ecosystem and vehicle class, not by body style.
Severity tiers calibrated against historical auction outcomes. Repair estimates are anchored to real-vehicle market value, not generic shop rates.
Strong Margin / Thin Margin / Below Cost / Parts Only — thresholds are transparent and editable. Every line of the math is visible in the profit-and-decision card.
When reconditioning gets too expensive relative to resale, the verdict drops to Parts Only automatically. The auction floor is built into the model from day one.