It’s sometimes a bit of a painful reality to face when it becomes clear that you’d be much better off scrapping your car than trying to sell it. Maybe you don’t want to think about your precious baby being crushed into a cube, maybe it’s about the money you spent on it or it could be anything else at all – it’s often pretty difficult to say goodbye to a car.
But here’s the thing, in any and all cases it’s important to be proactive when it comes to the scrapping process as there is a right way and a wrong way of going about it. You might think that scrapping is scrapping and that the outcome is the same no matter what you do – this isn’t in fact the case at all. Get it right and you’ll be looking at a smooth and reassuring process that might just see you better-off for your efforts, so never overlook the importance of ticking all of the following five boxes:
Scrap With a Responsible and Legal Firm
If your car is not scrapped and registered as such in the required manner, you could find yourself facing a pretty painful penalty. The DVLA isn’t known for going easy on those that flout the rules where car scrapping is concerned, which means it’s your responsibility to make sure your car is de-registered and confirmed as scrapped – something a good scrap center will help you sort out. And of course, you also need to ensure that the company is operating legally.
Scrap With the Environment in Mind
There’s a big difference between scrapping a car and recycling a vehicle in a manner that has the environment in mind 100% of the way. For example, it’s best to stay away from dealers that pour gallons of oil down standard drains and spend hours each day burning tyres – seek assurances of eco-friendly scrapping practices.
Make Sure it is Indeed Recycled
And while on the subject, it’s a concrete fact that around 85% of any car can be recycled and given a new lease of life as something else. As such, it’s nothing short of a tragedy when millions of cars all around the world end up being confined to heaps or landfills every year – make sure yours isn’t one of them.
Get the Right Price For It
It’s almost unheard of these days for anyone to have to pay out for their car to be scrapped. As the dealers themselves make money from the car, it’s only fair that the car’s owner should get a fair price for it. So before going ahead, ensure you’ve been quoted the best price.
Arrange Collection, Rather than Delivery
And finally, it also shouldn’t be up to the car’s owner to arrange delivery of the vehicle to the scrap yard – a good recycling firm will always arrange to pick the car up and take it away. If it feels as though you’re having to make far too much effort to technically give away a valuable asset, you’re working with a questionable company.