The money that you can earn from your old car is affected by several factors. This article discusses some of those issues that play a part when prices for old cars are set by auto wreckers. Use this information to decide whether the price that you are being offered is the most competitive for your old car.
Scrap Metal Prices
The cost at which auto wreckers buy old cars is often influenced by the prevailing prices of scrap metal. This is because the auto wreckers supply the scrap to recyclers who make new products from that metal. Low demand for scrap can therefore result in lower prices for old cars. It may therefore be helpful for you to study the scrap metal prices in your area over several weeks so that you take your car to the wreckers once prices are at their highest level.
Vehicle Make and Model
The price that your old car attracts may also depend on the model year and make of that vehicle. This is because some cars or model years are more sought after than others are. Cars with a high resale value often attract better prices from auto wreckers. The wreckers pay more for such cars because they stand a higher chance of reselling the usable parts from makes or models of cars that are popular among motorists.
Drivability
It also matters whether your car can be driven or not. Cars that are still drivable may fetch a higher price because they can be fixed and sold as salvage cars. Cars that cannot be driven attract a lower price because the wreckers often have to incur the cost of towing them from your property to their wrecking yard. Choosing to deliver the car yourself makes little difference since you will still have to deduct the cost of the delivery from the price that you accept for the car.
The Car's Condition
Prices may also differ depending on the actual condition of the car when you sell it to auto wreckers. The condition referred to in this regard differs from whether the car can be driven or not. Here, the wreckers are looking at how many reusable parts they can retrieve from that car. For instance, a car that was involved in a serious crash may not have intact body panels. That car may fetch a lower price than other car that has been sitting in someone's yard for years with its parts intact.
Assess your old car in terms of the considerations above. Contact several wrecking yards and compare their offers for the car. Select the wrecker whose terms are the most competitive.
I'm Norman and I live in Australia. I am car crazy. I have always loved cars so as soon as I could learn to drive, I took some lessons and got my licence. I thought that learning how to drive would be the most important part of owning a car. While knowing how to control the machine is useful, it is also vital that car owners understand how to maintain and modify their auto. I am not an auto mechanic or any other kind of industry professional, so I decided to spend as much time as I could hanging around in my local repair shop and auto dealership so I could learn the tricks of the trade. I hope you like my blog which details all of my top tips.