Parts Only
An auction sale category for vehicles that cannot legally be returned to road use; bidders are buying the right to dismantle.
Parts Only is the auction sale category for vehicles that cannot legally be repaired and returned to road use under their original VIN — typically vehicles carrying a junk title, Certificate of Destruction, or Non-Repairable Vehicle Certificate. The buyer is bidding on the right to dismantle the vehicle and resell its components, not on the right to title or register it.
Parts Only inventory is dominated by vehicles that have suffered catastrophic frame damage, severe fire or flood damage, or structural impairment that exceeds rebuild thresholds. From a buyer’s economic standpoint, the relevant value is the donor parts value (intact engine, transmission, ECUs, glass, panels, wheels) minus the labour cost to extract and refurbish those parts.
Buyers must hold a dismantler licence in many jurisdictions to bid on Parts Only lots. Many states track the disposition of Parts Only vehicles through NMVTIS reporting to prevent VIN reassignment to a different vehicle (a fraudulent practice known as VIN cloning).