Cutting up vehicles - worth it?

Those cars would have a lot of parts value here. I wouldn't dream of cutting them up. I'd buy em and part em out. But i own a junkyard and not everyone can move parts easily....at any rate...you're gonna need to sell at least something off the cars to really come out ahead at anything over 100 bucks each. Cutting them up in pieces small enough to manhandle would be quite time intensive.

In my area cars are $35.00 a ton (2000 pounds)
Most I am currently paying for small cars like that is $50.00
I will do an additional $40.00 if they have aluminum rims
I don't have to drain any fluids. Battery is pulled and sold separate I check RAS for any cores worth pulling
I pull alternators, AC Compressors, Starters and ECM's for RAS >> Even if there is no core value they pay more as scrap then my local yard
I pull wiring harness that is easy to get, Radiator and AC Condenser

I am not paying for cars at all.
You can make alittle extra money parting them out, but that takes a lot of time and space.
I pull small parts that I can ship for less than $6 on ebay and the rest goes to scrap.

Last summer I scraped my dads 71 Dart. Floors were gone and frame was broken in no less than 3 spots. I pulled the slant six, auto trans, rad, heater core, and rear end. The rest I cut with a sawzall and torches when needed. Sold the scrap tin, rad, alt/starter, hc at the yard. Doors, bumper and side glass on CL. I still have a few odds and ends laying around but over all, not worth it. The amount of time it took and messing around with parts, just was a waste of time for me.

My suggestion, don’t cut cars up for scrap unless you do it for a living or work at a garage. Just pull parts you think you can easily flip on CL . Pull the rad, alt, starter and rims if ally. Send the rest to the yard whole. Just my 2c

that jetta has lots of parts I could use. my daughters car is an '02 and I am constantly hitting the junk yards for parts. there are very common things that break so people are always on the lookout for them.

If you do get it, list the parts on CL...or send me the drivers door window clips, vacuum motor plastic hoses/fitting, cooling fan module under the battery tray, and I need the VW socket tool for the locking lug nuts...don't supposed you are close to west Michigan?????

I will haul cars with titles only. In Arizona it is impossible to leglly dispose of a car without paperwork. No legit yard will take them. They will however take a car that has been cut up without paperwork. It would be real easy to steal a car and torch it all up and get rid of it that way. The laws are weird here. Also here unless you have a muffler shop business to prove where you got the cat converter thanks to all the scams you cannot simply pull them for sale to a scrap yard. They refuse to buy them. I never pay for cars I haul. It costs me to haul them away for people. I part out the car. I pull the starter and alternator. If I can easily pull cast aluminum off the engine I will. The rest of the car goes to the scrap yard. Not worth the cost of a torch to cut it up. Scrap yards just drop it in a shredder complete. They cannot make anything on it either if they spend labor and expendables to cut it up.

Originally Posted by crownvicscrapper

I've had several offers lately to buy "scrap" cars in the $100-200 range.

If I could get a car dropped off to my place for that money wouldn't it be a no-brainer?

Just drain the fluids, pull out the interior, engine, trans. Save any re-sellable parts and cut up the rest, separate it and throw it all in my van and scrap it.

Any reasons not to go through with it?

One car is a 2004 Civic, the other a 2001 Jetta.

Shred is $40/Mt Aluminum $0.40/lb and the scrap yard is 13km away from my shop.

Im at 4c lb....last week bought a van for 100 no title. Cat was worth 135 on it...oddball...doesnt happen all the time. Pulled cores like alt, starter, and computers online. Van netted 140 across scale. Also full tank of gas, so fuel in wrecker doesnt count. Free gas. So 175 profit. Would have been more if alu wheels..9 a piece with rubber still on it here. Did sell two ties and steel rims to local used tire place for 16 bucks.

So yes money can be made. Computers worth 200 online. Done in 2 hours....

P.s Normal cat price is 45 bucks, but this was a special cat. Back in the day cat was worth 200.

Depends on your market and location in country. Im still running cars and actually fighting with other scrappers over them.

Your milage will vary, but i have friends that will take cars whole w/o titles as long as I dont bombard them daily. They usually crush min it is off my wrecker unless they want parts. One yard here rquires car cut in thirds and hauled in one shot. Other yard requires thirds hauled in 3 different trips. Or last possibility is take a bobcat or mini excavator and crush it then haul it in, both will take it.

Last year yard taking 3 pieces at once was higher than my buddy. So cut it in three pieces in less than a hour and hauled it in. 125 for 3 hours work or less including hauling since i got car for free.

Its simple. Take sawzall and cut along roof in front of rear window and behind fron winshield. Then cut floor in both spots...car now in thirds. Takes one good sharp sawzall blade like a Diablo not a harbor freight junk to do it.

If you want to risk fire, torch is quicker. Even quicker is plasma with minimal risk of fire since arc is concetrated to one area.