What happens to your junk car parts?
When you sell an old car, one of two things can happen.
First, you can sell it to an end user. In other words, a private buyer or a dealership. If your car’s still running, you may have some luck with a dealer. Generally, though, they don’t offer you anything close to what your vehicle is actually worth. You can often get more with a private buyer, using an online classified website. However, when you’ve got an old junk car, you’ll frequently find that private buyers aren’t interested. They’re looking for something that’s in good shape, not something that’s falling apart. That said, if you manage to sell your car to an end user, they’ll either drive away in your vehicle (if it’s drive-able), or they’ll repair it and get it back into running condition.
The other route that your car can take involves selling it to a junk car buyer, such as a junkyard or scrap yard. When you sell your clunker to a junk car buyer, they’re not going to fix it up and drive it around. No, your car is destined for an entirely different fate: it’ll be parted out, disassembled, and sold as scrap.
What exactly happens to your vehicle, though? Where do all of its component parts, fluids, and metal bits end up?
Liquids first
Before anything can be done with your vehicle, all of its fluids have to be drained. That means any leftover gasoline and oil are removed. Just as importantly, though, your radiator fluid, transmission fluid, brake fluid, power steering fluid, and all other liquids are siphoned out of your car. Each of these has to be disposed of individually in a responsible manner before anything else can be done.
Valuable parts get pulled
Next up, any valuable parts that are still functional are removed from the car. These include big parts like the engine, transmission, and alternator, as well as smaller items like the battery. Each of these is inventoried, and can be made available for sale to the public.
Scrap metal is crushed and recycled
Last but certainly not least, the vehicle’s shell is processed into scrap metal. This is an awe inspiring thing to witness. About 750 million pounds of scrap metal make their way back into the industrial cycle every single month in the United States alone, fed in large part by the auto recycling industry. In fact, something like 95% of cars worldwide end up recycled, rather than sitting in a dump somewhere.
First, a junk car is crushed with a huge machine that compresses it into a small, flat, compact sheet of metal. Even a tall SUV or truck is little more than two feet tall after emerging from a crusher. Next, the compressed block of scrap is fed into an incredibly powerful shredder. This machine shreds the scrap car into smaller bits of compacted scrap metal. This metal can be shipped more easily to a processing plant. There, the aluminum and steel can be separated, melted down, and put back into use in the form of new products–including new cars.
If you’re looking to sell your junk car, choose an auto recycling company that pays top dollar. JunkCarTraders.com is known for their great customer service and high quotes. They provide service in areas all over the country and can tow your car for free even in places with rural areas like North Carolina.
References
http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/a1481/4213384/
http://gopullit.com/blog/what-happens-to-your-junk-car-after-you-sell-it-to-a-salvage-yard/
