Sadly, there comes a time in every car’s life when its little engine just can’t give any more.
Whether you’ve been passed down an old car from the family or you’ve not had the heart to sell old rusty all these years, find out how selling your scrap parts might work out better than scrapping the whole thing.
Selling scrap parts from my old vehicle has seriously helped towards being able to buy my car to see me through the next few years. Trusted Car Buyers take a look at how you could earn more cash for your car too.
Tyres
Even though your car is scrap, your tyres might not be. Tyres are built to be durable and last some 20,000 miles before needing to be replaced.
So if your tyres are pretty new, you might be able to pocket a tidy sum selling them to a reputable tyre recycling business.
Engine parts
Did you know that your engine is made of costly materials like titanium and stainless steel? These can be reused for manufacturing all sorts of things from new engines to aircraft, which makes them a popular sale.
Wiring
All cars are wired with copper components. Whilst not as sought after as a couple of years ago, copper is still in huge demand. You can sell your copper at your nearest scrap yard no problem.
Fluids
If you’ve got a non-starter on your hands but you’ve only recently filled it up at the pump, you can empty your tank and sell your fuel. Provided your vehicle doesn’t have an anti-siphon valve in it, any old length of a hose pipe will do the trick.
Suction using a kit (not recommended to do with your mouth as you often see on Top Gear) will start the process.
Body parts
As a whole, or in separate chunks, your car’s body is a highly valuable piece of steel.
Metal recycling is a £5.6 billion industry in the UK, so you know there’s some serious money to be made from scrapping. Over 14 million tons of steel is recycled every year.
Batteries
Even if your car battery has run out of juice, you can still reuse them. Car dealers will often buy car batteries from you so they can recycle them.
Seats
Car seats are typically well-made, so can easily be sold or recycled, particularly if they’re leather.
Stereo and entertainment
Music to your ears: radios, six-disc CD players and other entertainment devices can be removed and reused in other cars.
If you don’t need the kit yourself anymore, you could easily sell it to someone who loves a good sing-along on the road.
Scrapping your car as a whole or for parts?
Scrapping your car as a whole will typically make you about £125 ($215). However, selling your parts individually like this – whether on eBay, Craigslist or at your nearest scrap parts yard – could help you pocket even more cash.
Here you have to weigh up the time factor – whether it’s worth your while listing your parts online and selling them individually. Also, it all depends on the condition of the parts you’re trying to sell.
It’s worth noting that if your car is particularly old (well over 10-years-old) it may not be worth trying to sell the parts alone. Anything between five and eight-years-old and in a bad way is worth considering, but be sure to check how much the parts are going for online and at your local scrapyard first.