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Junker owners: How do you junk your car?

3K views 28 replies 26 participants last post by  cheap sunglasses 
#1 ·
So I've decided to send my old 97 Escort off to the crusher. In short, everything is broken but the engine and transmission, although it no longer passes emissions and cannot be registered for the road anymore. For those who've done it before or know a thing or two on the topic, what have you done to get the most money when having your car scrapped? I found a variety of websites that give the classic "We pay top dollar for your junker!" and similarly a bunch of google / yelp / BBB reviews complaining about either not getting paid at all or just being given a $50 gift card as payment. Anybody here got any tips? I'm looking to avoid selling it via craigslist due to the whole issue of not being road legal now due to emissions.
 
#2 ·
In Seattle I never took a car to the junkyard.

I would strip them, keep and sell the useful bits and take the sawzall to the rest. Cut it up into small enough pieces (about half the size of a Tercel) to throw in the back of a pickup.

Then I'd take these pieces to places that buy scrap metal.

But then the whole reason why I went through all that work is because these cars didn't have titles and a junkyard won't take a junk car unless you have the title. Once it's no longer a car, you can dispose of it.
 
#19 ·
In Seattle I never took a car to the junkyard.

I would strip them, keep and sell the useful bits and take the sawzall to the rest. Cut it up into small enough pieces (about half the size of a Tercel) to throw in the back of a pickup.

Then I'd take these pieces to places that buy scrap metal.
Helped a friend do that with an old ginster yellow mk3. It was pretty fun.
 
#4 ·
There's a local junkyard here that will pay $250 for anything you can drive in, so take out anything that you can re-sell (stereo if it's aftermarket, good tires on alloy wheels, throw the crappy winters on, etc), and drive it on over.
 
#5 ·
Do you have a local Junk yard you can call? When I called on a few cars they had flat rate, adding a bit extra if it had alloy wheels or a top model but not much. Drive able vs. not drive able makes a difference too, not talking about road worthy, just moveable.

Else if you want to deal with it we've given a few dead cars to "donation", where they basically pick it up with a flat bed and scrap it for you. You get nothing other then not having to deal with it.
 
#7 ·
I assume you have the title. Jump on clist and do a search for "junk car" and you will find a number of tow/wrecking services who will come grab your car and junk it for you. Call a few and go with the least sketchy seeming one who offers the most money. After that it's pretty simple, they'll show up, grab the car and the title, and give you a receipt and some cash. If you don't have a title, it's sawzall time.

Oh, by the way, scrap is worth nothing right now pretty much. I just took 350 pounds in last month and got about $12-15 or so.
 
#16 ·
I assume you have the title. Jump on clist and do a search for "junk car" and you will find a number of tow/wrecking services who will come grab your car and junk it for you. Call a few and go with the least sketchy seeming one who offers the most money. After that it's pretty simple, they'll show up, grab the car and the title, and give you a receipt and some cash. If you don't have a title, it's sawzall time.
this is by far the easiest way. done this several times. :thumbup:
 
#11 ·
There is actually some demand for Escort engines, because of the infamous dropped valve seat problem that tends to destroy the head or the whole engine. I mean, not big bucks or anything, it's just an old Escort. But people do want these engines. If you like the idea of reusing as many parts as possible, maybe post on the Ford Escort forum (yes, there is one...feoa.net) and see if anybody wants your car as an engine donor.

-Andrew L
 
#12 ·
Call a local metal recycling place and see what they pay for scrap cars. Around here it's $130/ton. You can probably expect $150-$200 but I'm not really familiar with how heavy your car is. You can either drive it in or tow it in with a u-haul trailer.

If you have the tools, pull the cat. If it's OEM it's worth at least $40 to a recycler. I've gotten over $100 for one before. It all depends on what cat it is.
 
#23 ·
This. People here on my local classifieds love stuff like this. You can sell any running and driving car for at least $500 on there, no joke. If you decide to part it out, you'll get quite a few grateful people that they don't have to deal with a junkyard for parts. :beer:
 
#14 ·
I have an Ford Ranger that doesnt pass smog and I want to get rid of it. There is a program called "car retirement program." Not sure if there are any in your state. The car must fail smog and must be able to drive to whatever car retirement center they assign. The car should be on the road for 2yrs and not Non -Op'd. The amount depends on your income, I've read up to $1500.
 
#15 ·
I had a tired 225k mile 95 Ford Taurus with a huge dent on the side. Felt uneasy about selling it or donating it.

Retired it by selling it to a pick-a-part junkyard for like $450. The yard even sent out a tow truck and brought in all the paperwork for me to fill out.
 
#18 ·
As someone stated earlier in this thread, metal is way down on price. Here in NJ these junk car guys are all over.. they bring cash and take the car. I would think they will offer you 200-250 for it max. I would put it on cl for a day see what the best offer you get is and go from there. That's what I did with my 02 no title having golf.
 
#21 ·
Fair word of warning. Figure out how to satisfy the tax man in your county that the car is scrapped. If there is a form, affidavit, mail in the title, receipts of sale, whatever. Turning the plate in isn't enough.

I never paid a dime of yearly taxes for the error but had to fill out a lot of inquiries and affidavits that I had sold a car for scrap.

PIA.
 
#22 ·
I'd just call local junkyards, especially pick-n-pull type places, or the Craigslist ads. The yards I go to have a set price they'll give you over the phone, which varies by current scrap price. They're usually just concerned with what's still on the car: engine, trans, cat, etc. You shouldn't have to do much of anything- find someone who will pick it up and trade the title for cash.
 
#24 ·
So what I've gotten so far:

1) Donate: Nobody will take it. I'm being told that they won't take the car because it's not worth enough.
2) Sell to parts yard: I've only called the two nearest me so far, but same story: both told me they are only buying cars from 2000 and newer. Mine is a 97.

I looked on CL and see multiple ads for old Ford Escorts like mine listed around $500 for non-running and $800-1100+ for running condition. Of course, any ad that is still up means it hasn't actually sold. All of the non-running ones were 2-4 week old ads, at least one of which having been updated a few days ago, confirming it simply hasn't sold and nobody has offered to pick it up and tow it away for him.

Looking online it appears it weighs around 2500 pounds, so if the estimates in this thread of $150/ton are accurate that does seem to suggest it could be worth $150-$200 or so from an actual scrap yard. On the bright side, at least I only paid $1800 for the car and got 15 months of use out of it.
 
#26 ·
I don't know if you've tried, but I sold off a 92 Jetta to Ecology once for 300 bucks. And they came to tow it away.
 
#28 ·
I can't belive I'll be the first to say this... :laugh:


If you take it to a scrap metal place, they don't care what the metal looks like, right? So get a bunch of friends, find an old field, and go rally and jump it. :beer:

Then, once it's dead or you're done, then you can scrap it.
 
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