The Reaper Score
Anyone can call themselves a junk car buyer. Every buyer in our network is checked before they can bid and scored on every sale afterwards. This page explains exactly what we check, what we measure, and what gets a buyer removed.
The Problem With Selling a Junk Car
The complaint in this industry is almost always the same one. A seller accepts an offer, waits at home, and the driver arrives with a lower number. Take it or keep the car. By then the seller has cleared their afternoon and has no leverage, so most people take it.
A company that buys your car itself has no reason to explain how that happens. We don't buy your car. Screened local buyers do, and they compete for it, which means we can hold them to a standard and tell you what it is.
That standard is the Reaper Score. It is not a marketing badge. It decides whether a buyer sees your vehicle at all.
Before a Buyer Can Bid on Your Car
Three checks. A buyer who fails any of them does not join the network.
Licence Verification
We verify the buyer holds a current dismantler, salvage, recycler or dealer licence for the state they operate in, and we confirm it against the issuing agency rather than taking a copy at face value. An expired or suspended licence removes a buyer from the network until it is resolved.
Public Review History
We read what their previous sellers have said, across every platform we can find them on rather than the one they link to. We are looking for a specific pattern: complaints about the price changing at pickup, missed appointments, or payment that never arrived. One bad review is noise. A pattern is disqualifying.
A Real Conversation
We call them. We ask how far they tow, what they pay for, how they pay, who handles the title paperwork, and what they do when a car turns out to be in worse shape than described. The last question matters most, because the answer tells us whether they intend to renegotiate in your driveway.
What We Measure on Every Sale
Passing the checks gets a buyer in. Staying in is decided by how they behave on every pickup after that. Four measures, recorded on each completed sale.
Did They Pay What They Offered?
The single most important measure. The seller was quoted a number and accepted it. We record whether the amount handed over matched.
Did They Arrive When They Said?
Pickup happens inside the window the seller chose. Running late happens; not saying so does not.
Was the Paperwork Handled Properly?
The state release completed correctly, at pickup, so the vehicle actually leaves the seller's name. Getting this wrong can leave a seller liable for a car they no longer own.
Were They Straightforward to Deal With?
Responsive, professional, and clear. Sellers tell us afterwards, and what they say is recorded against the buyer, not filed away.
A Reaper Score is a rolling figure based on a buyer's recent pickups, not their lifetime record. A buyer who was reliable two years ago and is not reliable now sees that reflected quickly, which is the point.
What Lowers a Reaper Score
Two tiers. Minor issues affect the score. Major issues are recorded as strikes and are counted separately.
Minor — Affects the Score
- Late to a pickup window without telling the seller
- Slow to respond once an offer is accepted
- Rude, dismissive or unprofessional conduct
- Paperwork completed but completed sloppily
- Rescheduling a pickup more than once
Enough minor issues and a buyer sees fewer vehicles, because Score affects how often they are shown your car.
Major — Counted as a Strike
- Lowering the offer at pickup without a documented reason. A vehicle that turns out to be materially different from the description is a legitimate reason — a missing engine that was never mentioned, for example. The buyer has to be able to show it, in a photograph, at the time. "The market moved" is not a reason.
- Not showing up. No driver, no call, seller's day wasted.
- Failing to complete the state paperwork, leaving the seller attached to a vehicle they no longer have.
- Charging the seller for anything. Towing is the buyer's cost. Nothing comes out of the agreed price.
Not paying at all is not a strike. It is immediate removal. There is no version of that we work through with a buyer.
When a Buyer Is Removed
A buyer leaves the network when any of the following happens.
- Non-payment. Immediate, first occurrence, no discussion.
- Three major strikes in a rolling twelve months. The first strike is a written warning. The second is a review call and reduced volume. The third ends the relationship.
- Two major strikes inside ninety days. A cluster is a pattern, not bad luck, and we treat it as one.
- Licence lapses and is not restored.
- A Reaper Score below our floor that has not recovered thirty days after a warning.
The rolling twelve-month window matters. Strikes age out, so a buyer who had a bad quarter two years ago is not carrying it forever. What we will not do is let a buyer accumulate one problem every few months indefinitely, which is exactly what a lifetime-total system allows.
We Get Involved
Scoring a buyer after the fact does nothing for the seller it happened to. If a buyer drops the offer without a documented reason, does not turn up, or asks you to pay for anything — don't sign, and call us while the driver is still there. We will get another buyer to your car or make sure you are paid appropriately. The buyer takes the strike.
What This Means When You Sell
You do not choose a buyer off a list and hope. The buyers who see your vehicle have already been through the checks, and the ones who behave badly see fewer vehicles until they stop or they are gone.
- The number you accept is the number you should be handed
- Towing and paperwork are the buyer's cost, never yours
- If a buyer breaks that, we get involved rather than pointing at them
- Buyers compete for your car, so you are comparing offers instead of taking the only one
That is the whole reason the network is worth being in, for you and for the buyers who do this properly.
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