While you may be well aware of the two very similar terms of the automotive salvage yard and the automotive scrap yard. Do you know the difference? A lot of people do not realize that these two locations are not interchangeable.
In fact, they are actually not even close to being the same. While you might be looking to either sell or buy something, you will want to be certain about which one you are going to. To go into one (or the other) without knowing the difference could lead you to make the wrong choice.
So before you reach out to one or the other, make certain you keep reading for our full guide on automotive salvage yards vs automotive scrapyards! Here’s what you will want to know about the two.
Salvage Yard Vs Scrap Yard: What You Need To Know?
That old and worn-out vehicle that has been sitting on your property for a long time is now simply just a place holder.
Maybe it is your first car that you haven’t driven in years or an old “project car”. Whatever it was; you haven’t driven it in a long time, you haven’t completed the build, and it’s time to say goodbye.
You are probably thinking to yourself, I can’t sell it because it doesn’t work or it is damaged to the point nobody will want to drive it! You would be surprised to learn that your old junk car is still worth something, and probably more than you realize! A dealer or private buyer is not going to give you the right value.
If you want to get the most money for that old junk car, take it to an automotive salvage yard or scrap yard! Now, let’s breakdown the differences between salvage yards and scrap yards.
Automotive salvage yard
An automotive salvage yard (also known as a junkyard) is a company that purchases wrecked, damaged, unusable, or junk cars from owners that no longer have any use for them.
Believe it or not, automotive salvage yards will also buy your junked car if it still runs. Some people believe that the car has to be nonrunning for an automotive salvage yard to buy the car from you.
When you’re ready to get rid of your junk car, simply pick up the phone call the salvage yard and explain the vehicle to them in detail.
Next, they will offer you an amount for your vehicle. If you accept the offer, they will show up at your location and tow your vehicle for free (the cost is typically included in the offer amount), or you can drive your car to them.
Salvage yards are an ideal place to sell old cars as they typically offer some of the best and highest price compared to other businesses.
Salvage yards when purchasing a car can normally offer a better price because they can disassemble the car into individual parts. Salvage yards either take the cars apart themselves and sell the parts to a customer, or the customer goes out to the salvage yard lot to take parts off themselves.
Because they can sell parts separately, they can provide a better price for the whole vehicle.
All of the fluids from the cars are usually drained before the car is placed on the lot, and any remaining parts of that car are crushed. The scrap metal is then sold to another company, where the scrap metal is recycled.
The fluids from the vehicles, like oil, gasoline, antifreeze, etc. is all recycled, too. Because of this tremendous recycling job, salvage yards can provide the highest junk car prices to you – and great for the environment!
Automotive Scrap Yard
An automotive scrap yard is where people sell scrap metal from vehicles or any other type of scrap.
Even though they buy metals from just about anybody, they typically buy from bulk. The pricing typically is based on weight for the metals being sold, these can be either for the pound or for the ton.
They will buy small amounts of metals, but you will have better luck making some amount for sale, the more you have to offer.
And depending on the metals that you want to sell, there is typically an average price for each specific metal.
The most popular forms of metals they purchase typically include:
There are a variety of appliances that have metals like these, heavy metal cars, aluminum cars, and electrical wire made of copper.
They buy the metals, and then eventually sell the metals to other businesses for a higher price who then recycle the metal. Because the metals are being recycled, scrap yards are another big help to the environment!
Where to Sell
So now that you know the difference between the two automotive yards, where should you sell to? Well, it depends, on what you’re selling. If you are looking to sell your junk car, then you want to go with the salvage lot.
A salvage lot is fully equipped to take apart the vehicle, and they will sell pretty much every component in the vehicle, whether it’s metal or not. Therefore, they have more items to sell, and therefore re-sell, and they are going to make more money off the vehicle than a salvage yard will.
That is why you will typically see a better price for your vehicle with a salvage yard.
In most cases, as stated previously, the salvage yard can offer you at least a rough estimate of value over the phone. You are under no obligation to accept the offer.
Most often, it would be a best practice to call around to a number of different automotive salvage yards in your area to find out which one will pay you the most for your junk car.
An automotive metal scrap yard will only be able to pay you for the metal in the car. They are not in the business of selling car parts for a functional car.
Therefore, if you have just a ton of metal to sell and not a vehicle, like just a vehicle frame, you will want to sell it to a scrap yard.
Where to Buy
These two automotive yards are not just for selling parts, metals, or cars though; they are also for buying! When you are in the market for a part for your car, you can go to the automotive salvage yard and find a used part for a fraction of the price of an auto part store!
Sometimes you might even find parts from this salvage yard in brand new condition as well!
Before you make a trip to the automotive salvage yard, call them and confirm that they have the correct part you are looking for. You would be surprised at the number of parts available for all types of cars.
Since so many people sell a junk car to salvage lots, they have a ton of cars and parts to select from.
After the salvage yard confirms they have the item, ask them how their salvage yard operates. Ask them if you have to take the part out yourselves or if they will take it out for you.
If you do have to take it out, ensure you bring the correct tools with you. If you are looking to buy metal, you either must be a refinery or a business that collects the metal to recycle it.
If you’re not either of those, you will not be able to buy from any scrap automotive yard.