Christmas Eve 2024, my (at the time) 20 year old daughter got into a crash that bashed in the driver's side of her 2010 Prius. She was freaked out, but fine.
We called the police, made a report, and managed to limp the car back to her apartment. She replaced a tire that was damaged during the crash, but it continued to run while waited for the police report so she could try to file a claim with the other driver's insurance. Things did not go as we had assumed they would, and by the time she got the report and was able to contact the insurance company they'd already decided it was not their fault, and closed the claim.
That car was a work horse, and, despite the frame being bent, the driver's door bashed in so hard it wouldn't open, and a missing driver's side window, she continued to drive it until about a week and a half ago when she discovered that it was leaking oil so bad that even after she put 10 quarts in it, the dipstick was still dry.
Uggggh. Now what?
Ever feel like Facebook is stalking you, and knows what you need before you do? No? Huh. Me neither. JK. Sometimes I think they live inside my head, but that's a whole other discussion we won't get into here.
Queue the Facebook ads for a company that buys cars that aren't in the best condition. Kind of like those "We Buy Ugly Houses" people, but for cars. Ironically, the ads I saw weren't for Car Brain, but for one of their competitors. I did a little research via Google and decided to let that company give me a quote on the car.
I answered a few questions, and got a quote back that was about what I'd expected. Then, when I got the email from the company confirming my quote, I realized I'd made the classic Google mistake of clicking on an ad instead the website I had originally been looking for. The quote wasn't from the company whose ads I'd seen on Facebook, it was actually from Car Brain! To be clear, up until this point I'd never heard of Car Brain before. Though, tbh, I'd never heard of the other company either before seeing their (ad nauseam) Facebook ads.
Annoyed with myself I went back to the good 'ol internet, found the company I'd been looking for in the first place, made sure I actually went to their website this time, answered most of the same questions I'd answered for Car Brain, and got a quote. Considering the limited value of the car and thus the relatively small amount of the quote from Car Brain, this quote was considerably less. Over $100 less than the offer from Car Brain.
Thus began the process of actually selling the car. I had been missing some details when I completed the initial questionnaire, so I went back and filled those in. I corresponded with the rep from Car Brain that worked with me through the process pretty frequently, since I was kinda needy. We mostly communicated via text, which was nice because it was convenient, but his phone # was listed on all of his communications, and I absolutely felt as though I could have called him at any time. He was very responsive, and his directions were easy to follow.
The process was delayed a couple of days, but that was on me because when I went to get the title out of our safe on Saturday morning, Murphy's Law struck, the batteries that controlled the lock died, and my husband and I were locked out of it for most of the day. I didn't send the pictures of the title until late Saturday afternoon, and since generally people don't work on weekends (totally fair), it was Monday before they looked at and were able to verify the info I'd provided.
Anyhoo, once we were back on track on Monday things moved quickly. They set us up with a tow company who were also incredibly pleasant and easy to deal with, and I met their driver early Tuesday afternoon. He gave a me a check, and I bid adieu to the 2010 Toyota Prius that served first my dad, then my sister, and then my daughter over the course of 15 years.
It turned out those additional details I filled in helped get us a better offer, because in the end we wound up selling it for $1,075, which, given it's age and condition, I felt was a pretty fair deal. Could I have gotten more through a private sale? Maybe. Did I want to hassle with that? Absolutely not.
Overall I would say Car Brain was fast, responsive, easy to deal with, and fair. I hope I never again find myself in the position of having to try and sell a car that is not in good shape (and that's being generous), but if I do, I know who I'll reach out to first. read more