Breaking a car as an amateur

Deadly Ferret

Deadly Ferret

Deadly Ferret

Man of Honour
Joined
11 Apr 2003
Posts
9,389
Location
London
Rather than scrapping it, have you ever broken down an old car and sold all the parts individually on the auction site? Was it worth it, or the return was outweighed by the hassle and the time it took?
 
Local scrap man will collect the shell.

What car are you breaking? You'll make a load more money breaking rather than scrapping.
 
Rybo89 said:
Local scrap man will collect the shell.

What car are you breaking? You'll make a load more money breaking rather than scrapping.
Click to expand...

Not always, and they may charge (Why would they give you money/do it for free once you have taken all the good stuff off?)

Also, and rather more to the point, if you render it immobile (By stripping down hubs/axles etc) you will have to consider where it is parked (IE can it be picked up/dragged onto a transporter?)

Otherwise you are likely to end up spending an awful lot of time with a disk cutter!
 
Done it loads of times. Be prepared to store bits for a while as most of it doesn't go straight away. Also as long as you can get someone to pick up the shell your laughing, just make sure they will take it as non rolling if required and if so make sure they can gain access to do so!
 
Done it once... was about to do it a second time to a crash damaged scoob with a french engine rebuild until someone from Poland offered me a decent cash price for the whole thing.

Depends entirely on you and what you want for your time and if you have the space to do it.
 
Did a yaris a while back, car was immobile and due to high miles it wasnt worth putting right, so even as a spares or repairs jobbie i'd have got £300 max for it. Managed to sell the front end panels,engine and 'box, and a few other odds and sods, got about £650 in the end, which included about 65 for the scrap shell.

Its worth it imo, in the long run you can make a fair bit by selling all the tiniest bits and bobs, but it does mean you have keep everything somewhere. I'd just aim to sell the main bits quickly and scrap the rest.

What car is it?
 
Don't have to cut it up... a few scrappies will happilly take the shell off your hands for free... some will give you a few quid for that by itself.

I was stripping a MK1 MX5 for it's engine and some other bits... scrappy took the shell for £70 when I was done with the bits I wanted for myself and to sell... there were various offers between £50-70 and this was 5 years ago.
 
The guys driving about in the crappy old transit tippers won't take it. How will they fit it on the back if it isn't cut up?

You would need someone from a scrap yard to take it then. They would give you much for it. You only get around £120 for a full car these days
 
They came with a mini-crane to take it.

They base the full car price on the scrap value of the weight in metal... that hasn't changed much at all in years... any extra they can get from extra bits is their bonus / improved profit margin :p
 
Deadly Ferret said:
Rather than scrapping it, have you ever broken down an old car and sold all the parts individually on the auction site? Was it worth it, or the return was outweighed by the hassle and the time it took?
Click to expand...

Yes - made nearly £1000 from a rusty old Sierra - and that was with me keeping the engine, gearbox, diff, drive shafts, prop, steering column and brakes.

1795654_10207278590461804_7760117054837739485_n.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Orionaut said:
Not always, and they may charge (Why would they give you money/do it for free once you have taken all the good stuff off?)

Also, and rather more to the point, if you render it immobile (By stripping down hubs/axles etc) you will have to consider where it is parked (IE can it be picked up/dragged onto a transporter?)

Otherwise you are likely to end up spending an awful lot of time with a disk cutter!
Click to expand...

Nope, scap dealers typically don't break cars, they strip them up and re-cycle. The price of steel is the deciding factor. I last weighed a car in in 2010, they picked it up immobile with no wheels and gave me eight twenty pound notes. Steel is worth a bunch less now. I expect you can get it picked up free or £50 to £100 if you take it to the yard. They will drag it up onto a low-loader in any condition.

If you can tolerate a heap of junk sitting around, go for it. Otherwise take anything of value and get rid now, I kept and sold wheels and a working engine ECU + Key set.
 
Scrap steel is rock bottom. You'd be lucky to get £50 tonne today.

We have a 400t steel structure that needs to be scrapped. Easy pieces all new and we are having to pay for it to be removed.
 
I did this >10 years ago with a Vauxhall Omega Elite with all the fully equipped kit on it. I wouldn't do it again, too many queries about tupenny hapenny parts like left hand heated washer nozzle or the screw holding this or that on. When it was raining the last thing I wanted to do was go and take some part off. In the end, I just let people take what they wanted and put money through the letterbox then the scrappy took what was left away for free.
 
Last edited:
Scrap value atm is horrendous, I got I think around £160 for my seat ibiza about 11month back. My mate got £40 for an Astra last week, splitting would have seen far more.
 
I broke my Primera in Feb. Made around £1400 all in. Got £40 for what was left but it was on steel wheels so getting it removed was a piece of cake. I got more than what the car would have been worth whole in good condition so not too bad, just don't try and do it in the winter months!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom