Getting the Most Out of Junk Cars: 3 Valuable Parts You Can Resell

Posted on: 19 May 2016

America's love affair with cars is still at an all-time high, with the average American household owning 2.28 vehicles in 2008. If you have any spare junk cars sitting around on your property, it may be time to cash in on them before they start to rust over. You can easily sell your junk cars for money; however, if you want to get the most out of a junk car, you might want to consider stripping your car bare for parts first. Some parts are very easy to sell. In particular, this article will take a look at three of the most valuable car parts that can be easily disassembled from the cars.

1. Undeployed Airbags

Did you know that about 50,000 airbags, which are worth about $50 million, are stolen by thieves in the United States each year? Undeployed airbags are still worth a good chunk of money on the market since they can be reinstalled in different cars. When airbags get deployed in an accident, the airbags, the damaged steering wheels, and the dashboard parts like the sensors and electronics all need to be replaced. Used but undeployed airbags are much cheaper than brand-new airbags, hence their high demand.

If you're scrapping a car, you can sell the undeployed airbags or set them aside for the future. In the event that you get into an accident in the future, you can replace the deployed airbags with the undeployed ones.

2. Catalytic Converters

The catalytic converters in your junk car are perhaps some of the parts that can be most easily sold because they contain some very valuable metals. The year, make, and model of your vehicle will provide some insight for the type of catalytic converters that can be found within the car. In addition, it's also important to determine whether the catalytic converters are aftermarket parts or original equipment manufacturer (OEM) parts.

Once you have found and removed the catalytic converters in your junk car, make sure you leave the honeycomb filters intact. If you remove the honeycombs from the shells of the catalytic converters, it will make it nearly impossible for the scrap yard to determine the type and value of the catalytic converters you have.

3. GPS System

With all of the construction that is constantly happening everywhere, finding the best route to a destination can be difficult without the help of a GPS system. If you are planning to scrap a junk car, you should consider taking the GPS system out and selling it online or to an auto shop. Basic GPS systems cost anywhere from $100 to $300 on average. It's easy to recoup some of that money if you sell the GPS system.

If you are going to resell the GPS system in your car, make sure that you include all of the wires and cords that come with the system. In addition, if the GPS system offers free updates, make sure that you provide the account information to whoever will be purchasing the GPS system. This way, he or she will be able to update the system whenever they need to.

Conclusion

When looking to sell your junk cars for money, it's important to shop around in order to determine how much you'll get for the car as a whole and how much you can get for the different parts. Sometimes, it's worth stripping the car for some of its parts and selling the parts separately in order to get the most out of the vehicle. The rest of the car can still be sold to a scrap yard. The scrap yard will either melt down the car for its metal or take it apart to resell any of the remaining parts. Look for a scrap yard in your area like U Pull & Pay for further information.

Share