Anyone who has ever explored selling a car for scrap will find that the offering price can vary. This is especially true if you get a quote today and then ask again six months from now.
Why is this the case? Metals prices are major drivers of the junk value of vehicles. Let’s look at how metal prices may affect the value of your junk car.
Types of Metals
Modern vehicles contain several major metals. In terms of weight, steel, iron, and aluminum tend to be the biggest metals because of the motor and the frame. Notably, the mixture of the metal content will affect the offering price. Even if you have two vehicles of the same weight, one may fetch a higher price because it contains more of an in-demand scrap metal than the other.
You may notice a difference between older and newer vehicles. Over time, companies have used more and more aluminum to reduce weight and comply with fuel economy standards. Consequently, more steel and iron are usually present in old vehicles.
Platinum and palladium can be major drivers of scrap car pricing. These metals are almost entirely in the pollution control systems, particularly the catalytic converter. Some vehicles, especially large trucks, have multi-section converters containing more of these precious metals.
Market Conditions and Metal Prices
Metal prices don’t stay put for very long. You can track metals futures on nearly any financial website. More importantly, scrap dealers track metal prices this way to determine what they’ll offer. You can expect the prices to go up and down many times on any given day, even if it only wobbles by a fraction of a penny per pound.
Looking at the composition of a car, a dealer can calculate how much of each metal should be present. They will inspect it to verify that the big-ticket items, the engine and the catalytic converter, are present and in good shape. Finally, they’ll weigh the vehicle and calculate its recycling value. This number will vary based on the market demand for scrap metal.
Closing Out: Metal Prices and Junk Car Value
The demand for scrap metal can change on a daily basis. Consider selling a junk car when scrap metal demand is high, because they may not always be that way. Dailymetalprice.com and iscrappapp.com are a few sites you can use to track popular metals by price.
Nationwide Auto Recycling is a Massachusetts salvage yard that will buy your junk car. Want to learn more? Fill out the form on this page, and a staff member will respond back shortly.