The car recycling industry is a big industry across the world, and can contribute to many different industries that cover both the recycling and salvaging of cars. If you are looking to scrap a car or vehicle there are a few directions you can go in to make some scrap money from it. It really depends on how much time you have to spend and how much money you want to make. Below we break down some of the general directions when you are looking to recycle your car with a local scrap yard or salvage yard. Below are the solutions and options when scrapping a car to make the most money, but again dependent on your time and experience you can get a bit more advanced in the future. They are rated in difficult on a 5-star scale, with 5 being the hardest.
Scrapping the Whole Car
Difficulty: ★☆☆☆☆
When you are looking for a quick buck or to just rid your backyard of your rotting car, scrapping the whole car with a local scrap yard can be a easy way to recycle it. Usually scrap yards will be able to provide you with towing service and can pay you for the overall weight of your car when they have brought it back to their facility. Depending on the state laws in your area, you may be required to provide a clean title and your state issued ID (ex: driver’s license) to scrap your car with them. You may even have to fill out a sales form too. This is to prevent thefts or wrongful sale of the car.
If you have the ability to drive the car safely (assuming it is legal to drive on the road with registrations) to your local scrap yard, that is also an easy solution. This will benefit you with some extra money at the yard by not having to pay a towing fee to the scrap yard.
Scrap Car & Catalytic Converter Separately
Difficulty: ★★★☆☆
You may know that catalytic converters are a very valuable part of a vehicle can make you a good chunk of change at the salvage yard when selling it separately. If you are willing to scrap your whole car and cut the catalytic converter out for scrap, that can be a good profit when you sell them separately at your scrap yard. The catalytic converter has precious metals inside that will be processed and smelted down at domestic and international refineries.
catalytic converters can be worth anywhere from -200 each, which is a large range. Before you take the time to remove the catalytic converter from you car, it would be a good idea to call your local scrap yard and ask for the value. If the value seems good enough to spend your time on to make a profit, then by all means remove your catalytic converter and sell it separately from your car. You will need to have a reciprocating saw to be able to remove it from your exhaust system.
Separate Major Metal Classes & Parts
Difficulty: ★★★★☆
If you are looking to make some extra money with your car by separating the various metals inside and scrap them separately, it could take time but could be worth it. Usually those that are taking this option, have experience with fixing, repairing, or building cars or their engines. This solution of recycling your car takes experience of knowing what materials to look for and how to separate them into their different categories before going to the scrap yard.
Cars have a wide variety of metals and other materials inside that good profit at your scrap yard. With materials like copper wire, aluminum engine blocks, steel doors, Lead wheel weight, and aluminum rims, among many others, there is a great potential for recycling these metals separately. When you are separating the metals before going to the scrap yard, be sure to check everything with your magnet. You can check out guide about the metals inside a car before going to the scrap yard.
Salvage Parts & Sell Steel Separately
Difficulty: ★★★★★
If you are looking to make the most from scrapping your car and you have had experience in salvaging a car, it can be worth your time to salvage your car out for parts and scrap the steel separately. Thousands of salvage yards across North America are always looking for extra parts and pieces to particular Automobiles to resell for repairs. If you are able to salvage the different parts, like the engine block, catalytic converter, side mirrors, doors, headlights, and other parts, you can make a pretty penny at your local yard. This requires a lot of time and experience to do so.
Knowing the market for salvage parts is important if you are looking to sell the spare parts online with sites like Ebay, Craigslist, or any online auto parts sites. If you can efficiently sell your salvaged parts of your car, you can make about 2 or 3 times the amount of money as if you were to recycle the metals for their scrap value. This is requires a bit more patience, as you may have to continue to list the parts on various sites and could take months or a year to sell the replacement parts.
