Keeping an accident-damaged car in the driveway rather than dealing with it right away carries ongoing costs that many Western Australian owners overlook. The piece is aimed at people in Perth who own a written-off, crashed, or non-running vehicle and are unsure whether to keep, repair, or sell it. It lays out the financial, environmental, and practical downsides of letting the car sit, along with what's involved in selling to a licensed wrecker.
A stationary damaged car can still incur registration and insurance costs, take up usable space, and in some cases draw council attention if left on a verge for too long. Beyond money, there's an environmental angle: damaged seals, cracked lines, or a compromised sump can slowly leak oil, coolant, or fuel, and the risk grows the longer the car sits and the more its rubber components degrade in the sun. The car's resale or scrap value also declines over time, shaped by factors like completeness, extent of damage, weight, weather exposure, and whether the chassis is intact. Selling in Western Australia carries specific requirements too, including keeping number plates with the owner rather than the car, lodging a Notification of Disposal with the Department of Transport, and providing valid ID at the time of sale.
The central point is that delay has a real cost - financially, environmentally, and in terms of what the car is ultimately worth. A vehicle sold soon after an accident typically fetches more than the same vehicle sold months later, since damage, weather, and time all work against its value. For an owner weighing what to do with a wrecked car, the practical takeaway is that acting sooner rather than later tends to preserve more of its worth and avoids unnecessary ongoing costs.
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