You have probably seen those ads offering to buy any car for $100 regardless of the condition. Those are usually scrappers, specialists who make a living by taking junk cars and scrap metal to the junkyard and selling it by the pound. It doesn't matter how much rust there is, how many parts are missing, or the condition of the car’s title, a scrapper will get paid just the same.

Whether you are a professional scrapper or someone who's simply tired of looking at a junk car in their yard, the number one questions are:

• How do I junk a car? How much will I get?

• Do I need a title to junk a car?

• Are there better ways to get rid of a car?

It’s always best to provide a title when scrapping a car and there are rarely cases where you can get by without one. If the title for your car is long gone, there are many ways you can recover it. That happens to be our specialty here at Dirt Legal. We can replace your lost, stolen, or missing car title in a matter of weeks. Click the button to learn more.

Do You Need a Title to Junk a Car?

Yes! A valid title is required to give a car to a salvage yard to be scrapped. Even in states that don’t require titles for certain cars, you will need to provide some legal paperwork proving your ownership of the car for a junkyard to take it.

You cannot use the following things to prove ownership:

• A bill of sale because those can easily be forged

• Proof of insurance because it is possible to insure a vehicle that isn’t yours to sell

• Cash and bribery won’t work because the yard is required to report every car they acquire

A scrap yard can't just find a car on the side of the road and decide to make a couple bucks by crushing it. That’s why when you see a TV character threaten to sell someone’s car to the scrap yard, it’s an idle threat that doesn’t hold water. That ruins the plot of so many 90’s movies.

Why is this required? The scrap yard is required to notify the state whenever they destroy a vehicle. They must report the source of the vehicle and, often, any information on the person who brought it to them. One benefit to this requirement is that a vehicle that was used in a crime can be traced back to whoever brought it in.

My friend said they didn’t need one. Sure, there are junkyards all over the country that will look the other way if you can’t prove you own the vehicle you're trying to scrap, and they‘re more illegal than a piñata full of cocaine at a child’s 12th birthday party. You could land in serious trouble if the state ever finds out you sold a junk car to one of those illegal junkyard operations. And no, a bill of sale by itself will usually not work either.

How to Scrap a Vehicle for Money

Before starting the process, it's a good idea to get your paperwork in order. If you have a title, ensure it is filled out in full. If you're buying a junk car and your end goal is to scrap it, depending on your state it may not be necessary to fill out the title or get it transferred into your name – in some cases only the seller’s signature is required. Check with your local scrapyard to be sure.

While some operators may require you to have the title in your name, many scrapyards only require that the title be signed by the seller. As long as the current owner has signed off on the title, you don’t need to pay the fees to transfer it into your name if you’re just going to turn around and junk the car. This is one of the few times an open car title is acceptable – it’s usually the source of major problems.

A junkyard might turn your car down because of:

• An active theft

• Active liens or loans

• The title you have is invalid or has been replaced

• The model or condition of the car, though this is rare

You can avoid this by running the car’s VIN number through a checker. It’s always a good idea to run the VIN if you intend to scrap a car, especially if you just bought it. Any reputable scrapyard will do this when you get there, but you would rather find out ahead of time if there’s some reason you might be turned down. Save yourself the trouble of dragging that old beater across town and run the VIN before you leave.

How to Get Your Car to the Junkyard

If the car you’re trying to scrap doesn’t run, it makes no sense to spend money getting it to the junk yard. Those scrappers we talked about earlier – the ones who offer to scrap any vehicle – they often have their own flat bed or wrecker for this very purpose. Why not call one of them? Or:

• Call a tow truck (but that costs money)

• Call the junkyard and see if they will pick the car up

• Call a friend with a truck and trailer

• Call your insurance company and see if you have towing coverage

Scrappers are able to make a living because most people don't have the resources to take their junk car to a junkyard. They roll in with a trailer and do the hard work on your behalf, then they get paid for it later. Fortunately, only one of the options above will cost you any cash up front. Some might even lose you money in the long run because junking a car doesn’t pay as much as you might think.

How Much Money Can I Get for a Junking a Car?

Not as much as you might think. A scrap yard will buy your junk car for the value of its weight in metal, but scrapping a car today isn’t as profitable as it once was – and the number is always changing. In most cases it’s more profitable to sell the car locally on a classified website or in the newspaper instead of scrapping it.

Scrap metal values were much higher 20 years ago, around the time when the internet started coming into its own. People were scrapping all sorts of cars that had broken down throughout the years without realizing anyone else wanted them. That’s one reason why you rarely see vintage foreign cars like old Audis and Volkswagens in the United States: most of them broke down, were difficult to repair, and were eventually sold for scrap when metal prices were high.

These days, scrap values hover right around $125 per ton for a complete car. You can see an up-to-date average here a couple lines down labeled as “Complete Car.” With the average passenger vehicle weighing about 1.5 to 2 tons, this means you should expect to make between $175 and $250 by taking your car to a junkyard. Don’t expect to make a large profit unless the car you’re scrapping is exceptionally heavy.

Scrap prices vary by state and sometimes by county, and they change all the time, so check your local scrap values before making any plans to junk your car.

Why Would I Scrap a Car? Is There a Better Option?

Scrapping is a healthy alternative to letting nature reclaim a car. It's also a nice alternative to staring at a rusty car in your backyard for the next 20 years, watching raccoons and possums making homes in it, and watching trees grow through the hood. If you have a car that’s destined to never be roadworthy again, and its parts aren't worth anything to a collector or enthusiast, perhaps it's worth scrapping it.

Similarly, if a car is so damaged that it’s pretty much irreparable, scrapping it may be your best option. A car that has burned, drowned, or rolled in its lifetime will still be worth its weight in scrap metal and may be worth taking to the junkyard.

Are you scrapping an old car? Hang on a second!

These days almost every old car has a following of enthusiasts. Old cars that weren’t worth a second thought yesterday could be classics tomorrow. There are millions of red-blooded car enthusiasts who would love to bring all or even some of your old car back to life. As one myself, I ask that you try to sell the car on a site like Craigslist, Facebook, eBay, or OfferUp before scrapping it, even if you only sell it for scrap value. You will probably make a little more money that way and the buyer will most likely haul it away for free. Not to mention, you’ll be helping to keep other cars on the road and reduce waste in a big way.

Here are 3 great reasons to sell your car to a person instead of scrapping it:

• More money than scrapping your car

• Free removal of the car from your location

• Helping keep other cars on the road

You could even try selling some of the parts. There's bound to be someone looking for parts off the car that you have, and if you're willing to put in the time you could stand to make extra money on top of scrap value. Just post a “pick your own parts” ad, kick back, and relax, then sell whatever’s left when that runs its course.

Need a title to take your car to the junkyard?

In most cases you need a valid title in order to scrap a car at a junkyard. Don’t have one? Dirt Legal can help. Our title specialists can get you a new title on your behalf quickly and easily. Skip all the hassle and legwork of the DMV and let us work for you. Look now or bookmark for later:

If you have any questions about car titles, junk cars, or scrapping cars in general, please don’t hesitate to contact us for a no-obligation chat.

We are not attorneys. This article is not legal advice. Cover image source