If you have an older truck, van, or car in your garage or driveway don’t just bring it to the local dump. Your car may still have some value even if it is beyond repair. Many local auto shops will buy parts, spare tires, etc., and scrap metal recycling yards will take the metal. Here is a quick guide on how to break your vehicle down into it’s most profitable components.

Taking Your Car Apart

Although this may be a difficult project for individuals without experience as mechanics (and it will make it more difficult to move the vehicle around), breaking your car into pieces might be beneficial. Although a local scrap yard will likely take a vehicle as-is, not every piece of your vehicle is scrappable. Upholstered seats and tires for example should be removed. Whenever you recycle metal you want the item you are giving to the scrap yard to be pure metal. Any non-metal elements will decrease your price per weight. Additionally, some elements of your vehicle can be resold in other places. Tires can be sold to auto shops that sell used tires.

Bring Your Junk Car To Local Auto Shops

Often the reason our cars stop working isn’t because the entire car is broken. Vehicle failure is usually dependent on a few specific systems failing. That means, there are probably some good pieces of your vehicle left. A family-owned and operated auto shop might offer money for the used components that are still working. You should consider the value they offer you against what money you could get from a scrap metal recycler. In some cases, a used transmission is worth more to an auto parts dealer than the metal is worth to a scrap metal recycler, in other cases, the reverse might be true. An oil pan for example might be worth nothing to an auto parts store but may net you some quick cash at a local scrap yard.

Recycling Your Car Battery & Catalytic Converter

Two of the most lucrative items in a vehicle are their battery and their catalytic converter. Both of these components utilize less common metals than say the exterior of your vehicle. Additionally, motors are also of higher value. But of course, any part of your car made up of recyclable metal can usually be sold. Breaking your vehicle into separate components may be difficult and time-consuming but it can be an effective way to get the most for your vehicle. That being said, if you do not have the time or the tools to break your vehicle down many yards take whole vehicles as are. Granted, to stay in compliance with state and federal laws you will need to provide proof of ownership of the vehicle before it recycled.

Questions? Give us a CAll

Our team would be happy to answer your questions about your scrap vehicle. If you are planning on recycling a scrap car, we can help make this process easier and more convenient.