Tips to Choose the Right Junkyard
When trying to sell a junk car, you have a few different options available to you, but typically, selling to a junkyard is going to give you the biggest profit for the least amount of effort on your part. Once you’ve decided to sell to a junkyard, however, you still need to decide which junkyard you’re going to sell to. Most areas have a couple of auto salvage yards, and it’s important that you choose the right one. If you’re looking to sell a car to a junkyard in Fort Myers, FL, keep reading to learn what you should be looking for when making your decision.
Location
Junkyards are often located on the outskirts of cities, since they need several acres of land for the work that they do. Still, there’s a good chance that you can find a few in your area. Pay attention to their exact location and the distance to the junkyard from your residence. In some cases, the junkyard may ask you to bring the car in to them, or they may charge a towing fee to come and get the car if it’s a great distance from their lot. (We’ll discuss these 2 points further in a moment.) If the yard is willing to pick up your car without charging a fee, then the location isn’t a major concern; however, it’s a good idea to still be aware of the location and its distance from you so you can ask questions about towing fees based on distance.
Availability
You don’t want to wait several weeks to have your vehicle towed and to receive your payment for your vehicle. So, make sure to ask about the salvage yard’s availability and how soon they can pick up and process payment. Ideally, you shouldn’t have to wait more than a day or 2 to get rid of your junker and put that money in your pocket. In fact, with U Pull & Save, we can often tow your truck and put cash in your hand the same day, so you’re not left waiting around for anything.
Reputation
Any time you’re working with a business for the first time, you should do a bit of research into the company’s reputation. For a salvage yard, this will mean looking up reviews specifically in regards to their car-buying process and policies. While reviews from salvagers buying parts at the yard might have a little bit of useful information in them, reviews from those selling their vehicles will be much more pertinent to your situation. You’ll want to look for any recurring issues in regards to hidden fees, paying less than the original offer amount, delaying the release of the payment, failing to pick up the vehicle on the agreed-upon day, and other such issues that will make working with that company difficult or unreliable. If they have a good reputation for showing up on time, with the money promised, then you can move forward with selling your car to that junkyard.
Offer Amount
Of course, the amount that the junkyard is willing to pay for your car matters as well; even if a salvage yard is close by, immediately available, and has a great reputation, you won’t necessarily want to sell your car to them if they’re going to pay you a lot less than another salvage yard in the area. It’s a good idea to get several offers on your junker before you pick a junkyard to sell to. If at all possible, you should request a quote over the phone so that you’re not wasting time and money driving or towing your junker around town to get quotes on it. U Pull & Save can provide an obligation-free quote over the phone by simply asking a few questions about the car’s age, make, model, and condition.
Keep in mind that the value of your car can fluctuate from one day to the next, so if you’re spending several days or weeks collecting these offers, you shouldn’t be too surprised if the final amount you receive is slightly different from the initial offer; however, the difference should never be a great one. These minor fluctuations are usually based on demand for your vehicle’s parts as well as the value of scrap metal. Most salvage yards will sell the scrap metal of your vehicle to a metal recycler after the vehicle’s parts have all been pulled, so keep an eye on the value of scrap metal when you’re getting quotes on your car, and expect the car’s value to fluctuate with the cost of metal.
When comparing the offer amounts you receive, make sure that you’re subtracting any fees that the junkyard tacks onto the sale. You should ask about these fees during the call, when receiving the quote for your vehicle. It’s not uncommon for salvage yards to sneak in processing fees, stocking fees, and towing fees, if you’re having them come pick up your car for you, so these will need to be subtracted from the offer amount, since they’ll reduce the amount of money you actually put in your pocket.
At U Pull & Save, we don’t play these kinds of games; the offer amount we give you over the phone is the amount we’ll pay, provided the car is in the condition stated during our phone call. We don’t charge any hidden fees, and will even tow away your car for free. If you need to sell an old car in Fort Myers, FL, we invite you to reach out to U Pull & Save today to get your obligation-free quote over the phone. It only takes a few minutes to find out just how much your old car is worth. Call now!
