What’s The Difference Between An Automotive And Metal Scrap Yard?

If you’re getting rid of an old car that is no longer usable, you may think about selling it to an automotive or metal scrap yard. Both will pay you for your car and recycle the pieces properly and efficiently. However, even though they have similarities, automotive and metal scrap yards are not the same thing.

Automotive Salvage Yard

Automotive salvage yards specialize in car parts. They buy old cars at a discount and then sell the parts to interested buyers. The process is quite intensive. Usually, the car is drained of all fluids first. Then, the personnel at the salvage yard may evaluate different pieces of the car, which can be sold individually for various purposes. Some salvage yards remove individual pieces and then sell them conveniently in a shop-type setting on site. Other locations may let customer pull their own parts from the vehicle itself.

Once the car has been liquidated of any usable parts, it is usually then sold to a metal recycling center. Because even a car that has no remaining usable parts is still worth its weight in metal. In this way, a salvage yard really maximizes the use of those car parts because everything that can be reused is sold as parts and the rest of the vehicle is recycled.

Metal Scrap Yards

Metal scrap yards aren’t picky about the type of metals they receive. They pay by the pound or by the ton, and they have different pricing schedules for different types of metals. If you take an old junker to a metal scrap yard, you’ll get the same amount a salvage yard would get for it after they’ve sold all their usable parts. You don’t have to take the car apart to sell it to a metal scrap yard. Even though it includes non-metal pieces, it can be sold in one piece.

Metal scrap yards also buy a variety of other metals. For example, they’ll take aluminum cans, which you can collect next to your regular garbage at home or at work. They’ll also take steel and other metals that are often leftovers from new construction or remodeling projects. The best salvage yard in Clare, MI, will be flexible about the metals they accept as well. Not every type of metal has to be pure for them to purchase it, especially if it comes from a construction site.

Both automotive and metal scrap yards help reduce your impact on the environment by recycling metals you no longer need. With metal scrap yards, you can also get paid for different types of waste. They’ll take old appliances and copper piping for example. For maximum payout, you should sort out your metals by category, and then have them weighed separately.