If your car is no longer fit for the road, did you know you can make some cash by selling it off for scrap?
A large percentage of the parts of cars can be recovered for recycling. In fact, more than 27 million cars around the world are scrapped each year.
However, before you hand over your car to your local scrap company for recycling, you should be aware that there are common car scrapping mistakes that could cost you money or cause problems down the line.
Read on for five mistakes people often make when selling scrap cars and how you can avoid them.
1. Selling to the First Buyer
The car recycling industry is highly competitive. If you accept the first offer from a scrap buyer you may not get the best price. Be sure to get as many quotes from scrap dealers as you can and use them to negotiate the highest price you can.
2. Not Having Paperwork in Order
If you want to sell your car to a professional local scrap company, like Motor Salvage Group, you must show your ownership documents to prove the car belongs to you and isn’t stolen. You must have the right to transfer the ownership to the scrap dealer.
If you’ve lost the paperwork you need, your local driver licensing authority can replace it. Check the relevant rules in your location for applying for replacement documents.
3. Forgetting to Cancel Your Insurance
Paying insurance for a car that is on the scrap heap is wasting money. As soon as you sell your car for scrap you should contact your insurance company to let them know you need to cancel your policy. Otherwise, you’ll keep paying the bill until the policy expires, even though you no longer own the car.
4. Failing to Sign All the Relevant Car Scrapping Paperwork
It is important to make sure that you sign a liability release once you sell the car to a scrap dealer. In most places, you need to send in a form to your local licensing authority to show that you have sold your vehicle. This provides protection in case the dealer resells the car, as it proves you are no longer responsible for it.
5. Forgetting to Remove Personal or Valuable Items
You probably keep things in your car, like items of clothing, electronics, or accessories, that you would not want to end up on the scrap heap. Make sure you check all the compartments, under and around the seats before you hand over the keys because you’ll be unlikely to retrieve any forgotten belongings later.
You may also want to remove valuable components like the entertainment system, battery, and wheels, as you can sell these separately. You should also remove the license plates as some authorities require you to provide them when applying to cancel your ownership of the car.
Avoid These Car Scrapping Mistakes to Get the Best Price
By avoiding these common car scrapping mistakes, you can get the best deal for your car and save money. You’ll also make sure you’re protected in cases something goes wrong.
Are you looking for more information about buying and selling cars? Check out the auto section of our site.
