If you’re one of the many thousands of people out there right now trying to sell a car without any luck, because the car doesn’t run or needs more work than it’s worth, please stop before you sell it for a few bucks to someone for recycling purposes. So many thousands of people every year end up losing out on hundreds, if not thousands of dollars simply because they don’t understand that their car still has a lot of valuable parts on it that can sell for cold, hard cash. You simply have to know where to look. With a little help, you can learn all about which parts of these cars can sell for the most money, and you can end up making more money for “junk” than you would have made selling the car outright if you could.
Let’s go through a list here of some of the parts you can find to sell on junk cars. Some of you might have all of these, while some of you will have only a few. Even if there are only one or two parts you can strip to sell, just keep in mind that this is always extra money. You can still get that small fee to have your car taken and recycled from you, even after you strip all of its valuable parts. Aside from this, we also have a list of the vintage car features that should come back.
The Parts You Should Be Selling Off Your Junked Car
Catalytic Converter
The catalytic converter on a car is responsible for cleaning up some of those emissions as the fuel is burning. This part is located near the exhaust of the vehicle. What’s so valuable about this part? Well, since 1974, when every car started coming equipped with a catalytic converter, a third of them have been made using platinum. There’s not a lot in here, to be sure, but if yours is one of the ones made with platinum, you might be looking at a few hundred bucks. Imagine that; a few hundred dollars for a part of a junker that you were just about to throw away.
Alternator
Even busted alternators will get you a few bucks because of the copper in them. However, if yours is still operational, you could be looking at a substantial 100 dollars or so. Yes, these are pretty valuable pieces of a car. A lot of junk cars will still have alternators that work well. The reasoning here is that if the alternator were the thing keeping your car from running correctly, it’d be a simple fix, and you wouldn’t need to junk your vehicle, to begin with. So never overlook this part. Strip it out and make some cash.
Electrical Systems/AC
Electrical systems can sell for a pretty penny. Most new cars since the 2000s have sophisticated computer systems in them with some pretty expensive components. Get someone to give your car a good once-over to see if you can sell any of these systems. You might be shocked to learn how much money you could make from your onboard electrical systems. The same goes for an air conditioning unit. If yours is in good condition, you can make a couple of hundred bucks from it, as they run close to a grand to install, even as used parts, so they’re in high demand.
Rims and Tires
Rims and tires in good condition won’t bring you any sort of fortune, but it’s still money that you can bank on receiving if they’re in good working condition. Consider making preparations to have your car towed to its final junk destination without its rims and tires, because you might be able to remove these pieces to end up getting a few extra dollars on top of what you’re junking it for. They may have custom rims and other cool upgrades for racing as well.
Battery
The battery is another piece of your car that isn’t going to bring you any sort of fortune, but you can still get money from it. Most recycling plants are giving people up to 10 dollars simply to recycle old batteries, so you could get a few times more than that for one that’s in good working order. Again, it’s not a fortune, but add that on top of every other part you sold, and it starts to accumulate into a nice chunk of change.
Before you send your automobile off to its final destination, always hunt and peck around to see what you can pull off of it for cash. You might just be shocked at how much money you were about to throw away.