Understanding How Scrap Car Buyers Work

By Henry Green


There are some people who drive their cars until they are ready to fall apart. If you have a vehicle that you've decided to get rid of, but it isn't worth taking to a used car dealer, you should consider scrap car buyers. You have to understand how the process works though in order to get the most money for your junk auto.

You need to be prepared for the fact that cash for cars businesses and salvage yards are almost exclusively concerned with the metal weight of a vehicle. You might tinker with a vehicle yourself, installing new parts hoping to get the thing running again. It won't do anything for the value of the auto in the eyes of a junk buyer though.

It's not going to matter that the air conditioning is working or you have a custom stereo system. These may have value in the parts market, but not when you are selling a vehicle for salvage. In the same vein, you won't impress a salvage yard into offering you more because the vehicle is still operable. Salvage yards are mostly concerned with metal recycling.

You can sell the parts yourself if you know what you're doing and have the time to do it. You will probably get more out of the individual parts selling them yourself, but it is a labor intensive operation. All the fluids must be drained and the wires, engine, transmission, and seat have to be removed for starters.

It's great if you have a ready buyer for the car parts. If you don't, you'll have to find space to store your parts until a buyer comes along. You will also have to spend time researching the value of the parts you're selling.

A salvage yard is probably your best and fastest solution for selling a junker. You'll find the ones nearest to you online when you put in the search words and your zip code. The majority of them are willing to pick junk cars up for free and will pay you cash right on the spot. They'll even do all the paperwork for you.

The amount of money you get for your junker and its parts will depend on what kind of vehicle it is. If you are selling a make and model that has been, or was, around for years without a lot of changes to it, you won't get as high an offer for it as you would for something rarer. The parts for mass produced cars are usually plentiful, which lowers the price of them. You may have to do some shopping around to find a dealer who has an interest in the particular parts you are selling.

Even small things can affect the amount of money you get for a junker. The region of the country is one. Certain cars are popular in certain parts of the country and not in others. If a tow truck has to travel a long distance to pick up your vehicle, the price offered will go down. You might save some money by driving the vehicle, if it's operational, to the salvage yard yourself.




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