Scrapping A Car for Profit

What Are the Basics of Selling A Car for Scrap?

The car you’ve loved and relied on for years has finally given out and it’s time to get a new one. Most people would want to sell the car to a dealer or private buyer, but if your car is really on its last legs, this is unethical, and a liability. Instead of selling your car to be driven again, it is better to sell it to the scrapyard, where it can be turned into scrap metal recycling and given a second chance at life. Selling a car for scrap can be profitable if done correctly. The problem is, there are a lot of rules and things to know about selling a car.

The first thing to understand about selling a car for scrap is to understand what exactly is scrap metal. Basically, it is metal that has been utilized previously in some sort of manufacturing process and is now ready to be recycled for a new project.  This can be old popes, metal found inside wires, discarded pieces of aluminum, etc.

Selling your car for scrap basically involves stripping it to its metal parts and selling the pieces. You can also just sell the car, at a lower price, and let the scrapyard do all the work. There are many licensed scrapyards in any major metropolitan area. The price you’ll be able to get from scrapping your car will vary depending on the demands of the market.

How to Scrap A Car

There’s a process to everything, including scrapping cars. Once you understand the process, you will know how to scrap your car for the most money. The first step to scrapping a car is to determine how much work you want to put into the project. You can either sell your car piece by piece (more work for you) or sell the entire vehicle for cash per ton. Each part of the vehicle has its own unique value, so you will make less scrapping the entire vehicle.

Once you’ve disassembled your vehicle, you have to identify each metal and separate it into ferrous and non-ferrous. Ferrous metals are alloys – metals combined with iron. Non-ferrous metals do not contain iron. You will have to call the scrapyard ahead of time to determine if they handle ferrous metal recycling or non-ferrous metal recycling. Generally speaking, non-ferrous metals are worth more.

After you’ve figured out what type of metals you’re working with you have to understand which parts are worth more. Each part is weighted; for instance, catalytic converters have the most scrap value. Just remember that the scrap value for car parts are always in flux and prone to changing on a daily basis.

The Difficulties of Scrapping A Car

Scrapping a car sounds easy, but it can be more challenging than it appears. There are a lot of steps to take in order to successfully prepare the metal for the scrapyard.

The most important, after separating the metals into ferrous/non-ferrous and individual parts, is to strip the paint from the metal. You don’t have to do this, but this is something the scrapyard will eventually have to do if you don’t. You can save yourself some money by handling the job yourself.

Another major difficulty is knowing what can and cannot be recycled. Most scrapyards will only bother buying metals as that is recyclable. They won’t take plastic, wood, radioactive metals, lead, or mercury as they are too difficult to recycle.

Scrapping A Car Isn’t Easy

If you’re trying to maximize your profits and get the maximum scrap value out of a car, you have to be willing to put in the work. The bottom line is, the return on your effort is unknown as prices fluctuate constantly.

It is totally reasonable that scrap prices will change between the time you start your project and the time you finish it. There is no way to determine scrap metal prices today, other than calling your local scrapyards and inquiring about the price yourself. 

Sell to Copart Direct!

The best way to sell your car for scrap and maximize your profits according to time spent is to sell your car to Copart Direct. Copart Direct does all the hard work of buying your car so you don’t have to do all the hard work of taking it apart to scrap it! When you contact us, we will make you a competitive cash offer quickly. We have over 200 locations nationwide and have a history of buying junk cars for top dollar!

Contact us at (888) 883-9981 or go to our online instant quote form

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Go here and learn more about how to sell your car or vehicle and learn why Copart Direct is the best option!