If your commuter car looks like it’s been through a war zone or you’ve acquired a project car that never got off the ground, you may be wondering if they’ve lost every ounce of value. You may even think it’ll cost money to be towed to its final resting place. If you’re one of those people, you’ll be surprised that your beater is still worth a few bucks or maybe even more.
What to Do With Your Old Car Once It’s Old and Tired
If your old car has reached the end of its usefulness or it’s costing you more in repairs than you should be spending on it, you could feel as if you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place. Maybe your project car has become a neglected eyesore and not the hot rod you envisioned. In most of the country, abandoning a car is not only unethical but also illegal. Just in Oakland, California alone, an estimated 17,000 vehicles are abandoned each year.
Simply dumping your clunker somewhere is wrong for so many reasons. Believe it or not, that hunk of junk still has some value. There’s no need to do the wrong thing and leave money on the table. You can sell a vehicle regardless of its condition.
Here are some ways to unburden yourself and still walk away with money in your pocket.
Specialized Dealer
A great way to turn your old clunker into cash is to sell it to a specialized dealer who purchases older vehicles despite their condition, appearance, or popularity. This method, generally referred to as junking or scrapping a car, is one of the easiest and most profitable ways of selling an older vehicle.
You may think that scrapping cars for money won’t yield much cash. Typically, you’ll receive more than a scrapyard would offer and you won’t have the chore of trying to find a buyer or dealing with an unscrupulous car broker who’s looking to flip it and pay you pennies on the dollar.
Scrap or Junk Yard
Even vehicles that are no longer running do retain some value. The value no longer resides in being a means of transportation but in scavenging the metal and other materials used for its construction. Most scrap or junk yards will gladly take your old car off your hands and pay you for its weight in the metal they will strip off and resell.
Unfortunately, there’s no real haggling on the price and what they offer you will be based on the current rates for whatever valuable metals your car is composed of. You may not even get the current Kelley Blue Book value of the vehicle. The upside is you’ve gotten rid of your vehicle in an easy way even though you probably could have gotten more for it.
How To Appraise Your Old Car
A quick and easy way to get a ballpark figure of the worth of your car is to use any of the available online car value calculators such as Kelley Blue Book or Edmonds. All you’ll need is the VIN for the car and once you pop in some other information such as vehicle condition, you’ll be given an estimate as to its current resale value.
For owners of newer vehicles, having a good idea of what you can set its selling price at will help if trying to sell it to a used car dealership or to a private individual. However, for owners of much older vehicles with over 100,000 miles, finding a buyer could prove to be more time-consuming than you’d think.
Does My Old Car Have Any Value? Yes, it does!
Although your older car isn’t worth its weight in gold, it is worth its weight in scrap metal. Scrap yards will usually take any vehicle off your hands and pay out some money for it, but you’ll most likely be leaving some money on the table by taking this route.
Bottom Line
Old car owners will be pleased to know that a specialized dealer sees more value in their car than just its metal. Selling your clunker to them will pay far more than anyone else and avoids the frustration of trying to sell a less-than-desirable vehicle.
All vehicles will depreciate in value as time goes by. In fact, the second you drive that brand-new beauty off the dealer’s lot, its value drops. This isn’t of much concern for most car buyers, especially when they’re still enjoying that new car smell. But as the dents and dings and repairs multiply, owners of older cars often question if it’s worth anything.
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