When you get to the point at which you just cannot stand your tired and clapped-out old car anymore, the first thing that comes to mind is selling it. Even though you realise it’s not in the best condition and that the next owner might not exactly be thrilled by the purchase, it seems the only realistic way of getting rid and making sure you’re paid for it. 
However, there are certain snags and downsides to selling a run-down car that need to be taken into account, though seldom are. For example:
- It’s Not Easy – Think you’re going to have a queue of admiring worshippers beating down your door to take home a rust-bucket? Think again, the resale market’s quality is just too high these days.
- It’s Time Consuming – From the taking of the pictures in the first place to listing the car to answering calls to writing emails to arranging viewings and so on, if you were expecting a quick and easy process you can forget about it!
- It’s Expensive – And if you want to get your car listed anywhere that’s got a decent enough audience to parade it in front of, you’re going to have to pay for the privilege.
- It’s Dangerous – Last up, if you’re selling a car you know is clapped-out and not exactly fit for long-term use, it’s actually pretty dangerous to dupe someone else into buying it. Not only are you playing with their safety and that of other road users, but to deceive them in any way could land you in a legal pickle.
So on the whole, selling seems like the most obvious choice but to say it’s a fast, easy or enjoyable process would be far from accurate…it’s not even all-that safe!
Scrap Cars for Cash
As for the alternative? Well, there are businesses operating these days that offer cash for scrap cars – as in they buy scrap cars for cash as the core part of their business model. It sounds like something laden with catches, but in fact all comes down to the UK’s important recycling system. Your car is taken from you, processed for recycling and eventually sent onto the plants that make it into new steel. The recycling agents get paid for the materials, so are therefore able to offer fair payments to the prior owner of the car.
Why this is superior to the selling option is simple – it’s easier to go about, it’s guaranteed to pay off and there’s no way in hell you’re going to end up in trouble following the transaction. What’s more, in many cases you will actually walk away with far more money that you would have been able to get for the car had anyone actually bothered to agree to a sale, so no matter which way you look at it it’s win-win.
Quotes are free, collection can be arranged at any time and there’s even help on the cards to sort out all the DVLA stuff at the end of it. Which in turn makes it difficult to look at the selling option with any real favour as when it comes to getting rid of a genuinely old and run-down car, there’s really no safe option but the scrapping route.
