How to Sell Broken RC Cars

Broken RC cars are still worth selling — typically £4 to £30 at For Parts, against £15 to £120 in working order.

Can you sell RC cars that do not work?

Yes. Repairers, people replacing one component and buyers who want a project all shop deliberately at this end. None of them will accept a fault they discover after paying.

What actually goes wrong with RC cars

These are the faults that move RC cars down the grades, and the first things a buyer will ask about:

Toy-grade models with no spare parts
Degraded or swollen battery packs
Stripped gears and cracked chassis
Missing transmitters, which must be paired

Grading it honestly

Fair covers something heavily used, or with a described fault or missing part: around £7 to £54. For Parts covers something not working or incomplete, sold as seen: roughly £4 to £30. Grades are seller-declared and nobody inspects them for you, so grading up does not raise what you get — it produces a buyer who arrives expecting something else. All five grades explained.

Working out what you actually have

Establish the fault properly rather than guessing at it:

Run it and check steering and throttle respond
Inspect battery packs for swelling
Confirm the transmitter is present and paired

Photographing the fault

Photograph the damage directly and in focus — it is the evidence that the rest of the description is honest:

The car from the side, whole, with the body shell on
The chassis with the body removed, showing electronics and gears
The transmitter, battery and charger together
Any broken arm, stripped gear, worn tyre or cracked shell

What to state in the listing

Alongside the fault itself, buyers of broken RC cars want these confirmed:

Brand, model and scale
Whether brushed or brushless, and electric or nitro
What is included — transmitter, battery, charger, spare parts, body shells
Whether it currently runs, and any known fault

Brand, scale and state: “Traxxas Slash 1:10 Brushless RC Car, RTR with Battery” or “Tamiya 1:10 Buggy, Roller, No Electronics”. Hobbyists search brand and scale, and the shorthand matters — RTR means ready to run, a roller has no electronics, and using the wrong one brings the wrong buyers.

What buyers will ask

Answer these in the listing rather than waiting to be asked:

“Does it come with a battery and charger?”

Say it in the title as well. A car without a matched battery and charger costs the buyer real money to get running, and they price accordingly.

“Does it run?”

Charge it, run it, and answer from the test rather than from memory. A short video clip in the listing photographs, if allowed, settles it instantly.

“Are spare parts still available?”

Say what you know about the model’s support. Discontinued platforms with no spares are worth a fraction of ones a hobbyist can still repair.

Is it worth repairing first?

Usually not, unless it is cheap and you can evidence it. What lifts the price is condition and completeness, which a repair rarely restores:

Hobby-grade models with replaceable parts
Working electronics, servo and receiver
Batteries holding charge, with charger included
Recognised brands with spares available

If the work would cost more than the gap between £30 and what sound ones fetch, sell them as they are broken and let the buyer decide.

When to list it

Rises sharply before Christmas. Hobby-grade brands sell year-round to enthusiasts; toy-grade cars are seasonal and cheap outside December.

Getting it to the buyer

Postable, but remove or declare the battery — lithium packs are restricted on some postal services and rules vary by carrier and country. Check before you promise a shipping method.

WishThrift does not process payments, arrange delivery or hold funds. Confirm the money has cleared before the item leaves your hands, and keep the conversation on the site so there is a record of what was agreed.

Ready to list them? Free to list, no commission, and neither side pays a buyer-protection fee — create a free account, or read the full RC cars selling guide if yours turns out to be sound.

Frequently asked questions

Is broken RC cars worth anything?

Yes — typically £4 to £30 at For Parts against £15 to £120 working. Repairers and people harvesting one component buy deliberately at this end. Toy-grade models with no spare parts

Should I repair it before selling?

Usually not, unless the repair is cheap and you can evidence it. The things that genuinely lift the price are hobby-grade models with replaceable parts and a repair rarely restores those.

What do buyers ask about a faulty RC cars?

The fault itself, in detail. Say it in the title as well. A car without a matched battery and charger costs the buyer real money to get running, and they price accordingly. The listing that answers it before being asked is the one that sells.