Car Scrap Value Hits Rock Bottom

After enjoying several years of really good scrap value prices, and maybe even taking them for granted a little, the price of scrap metal has hit a very low point. Basically rock bottom. I recently found this out the hard way when my car was written off and had to be sold for scrap. Really, the car was way too good for the scrap yard, and if I kept it for breaking and sold the parts individually, I could have gotten considerably more money in the long run. But breaking a car and selling the parts off one by one is a long process, and I didn't have the time for that.

So then the research began.. I know the car has to be scrapped, and I wasn't expecting to get big money, but I still wanted to get the best price possible. I tried many online "Instant quote for your scrap car" websites in my area and beyond, and the average price was shocking. Most of the time I was offered between £25 - £35! OK, it isn't the heaviest car in the world, but bear in mind, this is a Toyota Yaris SR with Alloy wheels, and I believe the overall weight of the vehicle is around 1 ton. Twenty Five Quid! That price is just unbelievable. The worst price I got quoted was £17!

After getting over the shock and then doing a lot of searching online, I managed to find a few places that were willing to pay a little bit more for the car. One offered me £46, which is still low but decent compared to the current rate. Armed with this higher offer, I then told this price to another company I made contact with and they bettered it slightly and offered me £50.

I knew from all the research I had been doing that I wasn't going to get much more than this so I accepted their offer. I remember a few years back when I was getting offered £120+ for a Ford KA. I believe the low scrap prices in the UK have something to do with the fall in demand for certain metals world-wide, particularly in China. Hopefully scrap prices recover before I need to scrap another car.