Cash for Cars vs Pick-a-Part, Turners Auction or Private Sale: Which Actually Pays You Most?

If you've got a car to shift in West Auckland, you've basically got four doors to walk through: sell it to a cash-for-cars buyer like us, drag it to a self-service yard like Pick-a-Part, consign it to an auction house like Turners, or list it privately on Trade Me or Facebook. People ask me every week which one pays the most, and the honest answer is it depends on the car and on how much time you've actually got.

So I'm going to lay it out straight — no spin — and tell you exactly when each option wins, including the times you'd be daft to ring us instead of listing it yourself. By the end you'll know which door to walk through for your car.

The four ways to sell a car in West Auckland

Every one of these routes ends with the car gone and money in your pocket, but they get you there very differently. Here's the short version before we dig in:

• Cash for cars (us): we make a firm offer over the phone, collect the car free the same day, handle the paperwork, and pay you on the spot. We buy anything — runner or not.
• Self-service wreckers (Pick-a-Part style): big yards where the public walks in and pulls parts off cars themselves. They buy end-of-life cars to stock those yards.
• Turners / auction: you consign the car, pay to list it, and hope a buyer bids on auction day. Nothing is guaranteed.
• Private sale (Trade Me / Facebook Marketplace): you do everything yourself — photos, listing, calls, test drives, payment — and usually pocket the most for a tidy running car.

The trick is matching the route to the car. A rusty 2003 Legacy that won't start is a completely different decision to a tidy 2018 Corolla with a fresh warrant.

Cash for cars: fast, firm, and it buys anything

This is what we do, so I'll be upfront about where it shines and where it doesn't. You ring, you tell me the make, model, year and rough condition, and I give you a firm figure — not a 'we'll see when we get there' guess. If you're happy, we book a free pickup, often the same day, from wherever the car is sitting — a Henderson driveway, a dead one blocking a carpark in New Lynn, or something stuck down a steep bush section in Titirangi.

We buy cars no one else wants to touch: non-runners, deregistered, failed-warrant, flood or accident-damaged, high-kilometre, 20 years old. There are no fees — no listing cost, no commission, no tow charge. As a rough guide, family cars sit around $300–$4,000, utes and 4WDs $800–$14,000+, non-runners $150–$2,500, with scrap write-offs from about $150. The firm number always depends on the exact make, model, year and condition. See our cash for cars service for how it works, and the 2026 price guide for ballpark figures by type.

Best for: non-runners, old, damaged, high-km cars, and anyone who just wants the thing gone today without the hassle.

Pick-a-Part and self-service wreckers: handy for parts, not a payout boost

Self-service yards like Pick-a-Part are a genuinely good thing — I've sent plenty of people there to grab a cheap wing mirror or a door handle for an old Honda. But there's a common myth that selling your car to one of these yards gets you more money. It doesn't, and here's why.

A self-service yard buys your car for the same reason we do: the parts and metal are worth something. When you sell them the whole car, you're still just a car seller selling to a buyer — you don't get a cut of the parts the public pulls off it later. You hand over the car, they pay you a buying price, and that's that. The difference between them and us isn't the payout; it's that we come to you and collect it free, whereas you may need to sort getting the car to their yard. If you want to understand where the value actually comes from, I've broken it down in how cash for cars companies make money.

Best for: buying cheap second-hand parts. As a seller, you're doing the same deal as cash for cars, often with more effort to get it there.

Turners and auctions: good for tidy cars when you've got time

Auction houses like Turners can genuinely work out well — for the right car. If you've got a clean, in-demand vehicle (think a well-kept Toyota, Mazda or a popular SUV with a current warrant and reasonable kilometres), putting it through auction can reach a room full of buyers and sometimes drive the price up.

But you need to go in clear-eyed about the costs and the risk:

• You pay an entry or listing fee just to get it on the block.
• You pay a commission on the sale price if it sells.
• There is no guaranteed sale and no guaranteed price — it might not meet reserve, or might not sell at all, and then you've paid fees for nothing.
• It takes days to weeks, plus getting the car there and possibly storing it.

For a dead, damaged or old car, auction is the wrong tool — nobody's bidding on a non-runner, and you'd just be paying fees. For a tidy late-model car and a bit of patience, it's worth a look.

Best for: clean, desirable, running cars where you can afford to wait and gamble a little on the final number.

Private sale: usually the most money — if the car's good and you've got patience

I'll say it plainly because some cash-for-cars outfits won't: for a tidy, running, warranted car, a private sale on Trade Me or Facebook Marketplace will usually get you the most money. You cut out every middleman, so the full retail value lands in your account.

The catch is everything that comes with it. You pay to list it. You field the messages — including the lowballers and the tyre-kickers who never show. You hose it down, take decent photos, and write the ad. You host strangers for test drives (and carry the risk that goes with handing your keys over). You deal with payment safely, which in 2026 means being switched-on about scams and dodgy bank transfer screenshots. And you might wait weeks.

For a lot of West Aucklanders that's completely fine — a clean 2016 Corolla in Massey will sell itself. But if the car's old, won't start, keeps failing its warrant, or you simply don't have the weekends spare, the time and faff often aren't worth the extra few hundred dollars over a firm cash offer. That's the honest trade-off.

Best for: good, running, WoF'd cars when you have time and don't mind doing the legwork yourself.

Side-by-side: speed, effort, fees, best-for and typical payout

Here's the comparison I'd give a mate over the fence. 'Payout' is relative to the car — a good car always beats a rough one whichever route you pick.

• Cash for cars (us): Speed — same day. Effort — one phone call. Fees — none. Payout — firm, fair, especially strong on non-runners and damaged. Best for: old, dead, damaged, high-km, or 'get it gone today'.
• Self-service wreckers: Speed — quick once the car's there. Effort — you may have to deliver it. Fees — none, but you don't profit from parts sold later. Payout — similar to a direct buyer. Best for: end-of-life cars (and buying parts).
• Turners / auction: Speed — days to weeks. Effort — consign, transport, wait. Fees — listing fee + commission. Payout — potentially high, but not guaranteed to sell at all. Best for: tidy, in-demand running cars.
• Private sale: Speed — days to weeks. Effort — high (ads, calls, test drives, payment). Fees — listing fees. Payout — usually highest for a good car. Best for: clean, warranted, running cars with time on your hands.

Notice the pattern: the more money a route can make you, the more time and risk it usually asks of you. Cash for cars trades a little top-end value for speed, certainty and zero hassle.

So which should you pick?

Here's the simple decision I'd make in your shoes:

• Car won't start, failed its warrant, old, damaged, or you need it gone now? Cash for cars. You'll get a firm fair price today with free pickup and no fees.
• Tidy, late-model, running car and you've got a few weeks spare? Try a private sale first for the best money, and keep our number as the fast fallback if you get sick of the tyre-kickers.
• Clean, desirable car but you'd rather not run the ads yourself? An auction is a reasonable middle path — just budget for the fees and accept it might not sell.
• Just want cheap parts for the car you're keeping? That's where a self-service yard earns its keep.

We're not going to pretend we beat a good private sale on a pristine Corolla — we won't. What we do beat it on is speed, certainty and taking the whole headache off your hands, especially for the cars no private buyer wants. If that's your situation, you can read about who we are on our credentials page, or just ring 0800 705 243 for a firm figure. If you're weighing it up specifically against selling it yourself, I go deeper in cash for cars vs private sale in West Auckland.

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