What the DNF Score means, and what it doesn't

The DNF Score runs from 0 to 100, and every listing has one, in Canada and the US alike. It turns what the seller reports into one number you can compare across listings: parts car, project or good candidate to rebuild.

Where the Score comes from

It's worked out from the answers the seller gives when they list the vehicle, in five groups.

Within those groups, a few rules shape the number.

• Damage type. Hail and cosmetic damage earn the most points, then vandalism and theft recovery, then collision and mechanical damage, then electrical and other damage. Rollover, flood and fire earn none.
• Repair economics. The lower the repair estimate against the value before the loss, the more points. Without both numbers, this group scores like the worst ratio, so adding them can only help.
• Not known. For structural damage, airbags and leaks, a "Not known" answer earns fewer points than a known good one and more than a known problem. For whether it starts, not knowing scores the same as "doesn't start," and a missing odometer reading, key count or answer about the registration or title scores like the worst answer too.
• Unfamiliar brands. A brand word the Score can't place yet counts like Salvage, never like an unbranded vehicle.

A listing with nothing entered scores 21. Buyers would rather see a real answer than a guess, so for the repair numbers, the odometer, the registration or title and the keys, giving an answer never scores below leaving it blank.

The four bands

Some vehicles can never score high. A non-repairable brand (such as Non-Repairable, Irreparable or Nonrepairable) or a listing marked parts only stays in the Parts only band, with its points scaled into 0 to 24 so a well-documented parts car still outscores a burned shell.

Flood and fire get the same cap, with a difference between the two countries. In Canada, DNF lists every vehicle with flood or fire damage for parts only, whatever its brand. In the US, a vehicle with a flood or fire brand, or flood or fire damage, keeps its state's brand and carries a high-risk notice instead. Its Score stays in the Parts only band either way, and Canada won't accept a US flood vehicle as anything but parts.

A Score of 80 or more needs a Rebuilt brand and an inspection certificate the seller has attached. Without both, it stops at 79.

Even at the top, the Score doesn't say a vehicle is fit for the road. An inspection certificate records one check on one day, and some of those checks look mainly at ownership and parts: North Carolina's law says its rebuilt inspections don't certify safety or road-worthiness, and New York's DMV says its salvage examination isn't a safety inspection.

What it can't tell you

The Score is a guide, not an inspection. Nobody from DNF has looked at the vehicle, and the brand is shown as the seller reports it, without a check against the registry or the DMV. So the Score can't tell you whether those answers are right, how well a repair was done, or what the vehicle is worth to you once you've priced the work.

Use it to compare listings and pick the ones worth a close look. Then look closely: the photos, the damage description, the registration or title, a lien check and, for anything you plan to drive, your own mechanic. The Score works the same way on every listing, including the performance and exotic project cars our staff pick for the Paddock.

Raising your Score as a seller

The listing form shows your provisional Score before you publish, with up to three things that would raise it. It only suggests steps that can't lower your Score, whatever the answer turns out to be:

• check whether it starts, runs and drives, which is worth up to 20 points
• add the repair estimate and the value before the loss from the insurance company's letter
• attach that letter or a repair invoice (documents stay private)
• add photos up to 12, including a close-up of the damage
• say how many keys come with it, and add the odometer reading
• on a Rebuilt brand, attach the inspection certificate

It almost never suggests checking for structural damage, airbags or leaks, because finding a problem would lower the Score, but buyers will ask, so answer them if you can. A higher Score helps buyers trust what they see, but buyers check, so only an accurate one helps you sell. How to photograph damage covers the photos.

Browse every listing to see the Score and its reasons on real vehicles, or list your vehicle.