There is a real difference between a website that says it buys damaged cars and a yard you can drive into, walk around, and see for yourself. Lou Appel’s Auto Spares is the second kind. We have been buying damaged cars and supplying used parts from 233 Booysens Road in Selby, Johannesburg since 1939, more than 85 years, and you are welcome to come and look at the operation before you sell anything. When we say we buy damaged cars here, we mean a fixed address in Gauteng you can point a tow truck at, not a cellphone number on a classifieds ad.
A yard you can visit, not a phone number that disappears
A lot of “we buy damaged cars” operators are exactly that, a number on an advert and a tow truck that might not be answering next month. You hand over your car, you wait for the EFT, and you hope. We are a third-generation family business at a fixed address in Selby, with parts customers walking in through the buying week looking for a door, a gearbox, or a wiring loom off something just like your car. You can stand in the yard, see the stock, and meet the people making the offer before you agree to anything.
Why a real yard means a real price
The reason the yard matters to your wallet is simple. Because we strip and resell parts, your damaged vehicle is worth more to us than its weight in scrap metal. A scrap yard weighs your car and pays for the steel. We look at what still works and what other Gauteng drivers are asking for. Toyota parts move fastest because there are more Toyotas on the road than anything else, with the Hilux, Fortuner and Corolla leading, and Volkswagen is next with the Polo and Polo Vivo. Front-end parts sell quickest of all, because most accident cars are hit in the front, so headlights, bumpers, bonnets, radiators and fenders leave the shelves fast. That demand is what lets a parts business pay more than a crusher ever will.
Here is what that looks like on a real car. A 2007 Toyota Fortuner 3.0 D-4D came in accident-damaged with an insured value around R145,000. The insurer’s salvage offer to the owner was about R72,000. We paid R75,000, beating the salvage figure, because we valued the parts rather than the wreck. The engine sold for R55,000, the gearbox for R12,000, the doors for roughly R4,000 each, the seats for R5,000 and the differential for R6,500. Standing in the yard, you can see the shelves those parts come off, which is why the number we quote is not something a stranger invented over the phone.
What we buy
If it is a vehicle and it is a problem, it is probably something we will make an offer on. Over the years that has covered just about everything that comes off a Gauteng road.
- Accident-damaged cars and bakkies, from a light front-end knock to a full write-off
- Non-runners, seized engines, blown head gaskets and gearbox failures
- Electrical faults and cars that will not start and nobody can quite explain why
- Flood, fire and hail damage
- Code 2, Code 3 and Code 4 vehicles
- High-mileage cars, unroadworthy cars and vehicles still under finance
Cars, bakkies, SUVs, 4x4s and light commercials all qualify, from classic collectors right through to the latest hybrids. A hail-dented Polo, a Hilux that rolled, a Ranger written off after a collision, an NP200 with a dead engine, these are ordinary days at the yard. You can see the full picture of what we buy and the conditions we take if you want to check your car fits before you call.
Cash checked before the keys change hands
Selling here is short on purpose. Send us a few photos of the car and its details on WhatsApp, or just phone. We come back with a cash offer, usually the same day. There is no drawn-out inspection theatre and no waiting a week for someone to get back to you. Our buying office is open Monday to Friday, 9am to 3pm, and if you reach us outside those hours you can send photos on WhatsApp or by email and we will reply.
If the offer suits you, bring the car to Selby or we collect it free anywhere in Gauteng. That is Johannesburg, Pretoria and the rest of Tshwane, the East Rand, the West Rand, and down into the Vaal. Collection inside Johannesburg is usually same day depending on the time you call, and Pretoria and the outlying areas are usually next day. One tip that saves you money: do not strip the car first. Once the money parts are gone the rest sells slowly and the offer drops, so sellers who pull the good bits themselves almost always end up worse off than if they had brought the whole car in.
What to have ready
Bring your SA ID or passport, the vehicle registration certificate (the RC1, also called the NATIS document), proof of residence less than three months old, and your banking details. If the car is still financed, you will also need a settlement letter from the bank so the outstanding amount can be cleared. WesBank and MFC tend to turn these around quickly, so a financed car does not have to hold things up. Have your paperwork together and the whole thing is done in one visit, paid on the spot by cash or instant EFT the same day.
The paperwork is handled here too
Getting paid is only half the job. The car also has to come off your name properly, and doing that face to face at the yard is where it happens cleanly. We complete the NATIS deregistration and change of ownership in-house, so the vehicle is no longer your responsibility once it leaves.
This is the part people underestimate. One seller let a BMW M3 go privately instead of bringing it to us, the buyer never transferred it, and traffic fines and e-toll bills kept landing on the seller for months afterwards. When the deregistration is done properly at a real premises, that cannot happen to you. Our longer write-up on selling an accident-damaged car in South Africa walks through what to expect, and if you are closer to town our page on selling a damaged car in Johannesburg covers the local side.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to bring the car to the yard?
No. You are very welcome to, and plenty of people prefer to see who they are dealing with first, but it is not required. We collect free across the whole of Gauteng.
Will you buy a Code 3 or Code 4 car?
Yes. A Code 3 is a write-off that can be rebuilt and re-registered once it passes roadworthy testing again, and a Code 4 is permanently demolished and good only for parts and scrap. We buy both, along with ordinary Code 2 vehicles.
Can you pay out a financed car?
We can. Get a settlement letter from your bank showing what is owed, and we work the offer around clearing the finance so the car comes off your name cleanly.
How fast do I get paid?
Same day, on the spot, cash or instant EFT once we have agreed on a price and the paperwork is signed.
Come and see the yard for yourself at 233 Booysens Road, Selby, or send your photos through and let us talk. Call us on 011 493 8260. You can also reach us through our contact page. Lou Appel’s Auto Spares, buying damaged vehicles in Johannesburg since 1939.
