Getting The Most Money For Your Junk Car

Got an old car you're planning on getting rid of and want the highest price you can get for your junker? As one who spent years buying wrecks and junk cars for various Greensboro area salvage operations I know how it all works. Here's how to get the highest possible price for your junk car or truck.

For starters, forget those Internet and 1-800- national car buyers. All they can do is buy your car and sell it to a local junk yard or automotive recycler-- the same junk yard you can sell to yourself for the same price they can get. There's no way a broker in New York City, Chicago, Illinois or Los Angeles, California can afford to pay you more than a salvage dealer in your own home town. No one is shipping 20 years old cars across the country as the freight cost for a car is higher than the value of a junk car. Don't believe me? Then pick up the phone and start calling trucking companies and towing companies and ask them about the cost of shipping your car.

You'll need to begin by knowing there are a couple of different ways dealers price junk. Dealers who are primarily in the scrap metal business will weigh your car and price it by the pound or hundred weight. Prices are higher in areas that are closer to steel mills as a steel mill is the ultimate destination of your junk car. Here in North Carolina there are very few steel mills so prices will never be as high as in states like Ohio and Pennsylvania where steel mills are common still.

Dealers who are in the business of selling used parts will most often base their price on the value of the parts they think they can sell in the next 6 months to a year. Why 6 months to a year? Because cars take up a lot of space and if that space can be better filled with a car that will sell more parts, faster, then the space will soon be filled by something that generates faster returns.

A common mistake made by sellers of junk cars is to assume the guys who are buying junk cars are idiots. They're not. The junk business is lucrative but easy it isn't. Idiots don't last long. The final price you get for your junk car may well depend on your attitude towards the junk man.

Newer cars are worth more to parts dealers but to scrap metal dealers a newer car is just newer scrap metal. And new scrap metal is no more valuable than old scrap metal.

Some of your friends are telling you to pull a bunch of parts off your car and sell them separately to get the most money. If you're selling to a scrap metal dealer who buys cars by the pound that's true but if you're selling your junk cars to a parts yard then removing parts is going to reduce your price.

If your car is really nice or might be considered collectable or a classic then selling it to any sort of recycler is the last resort. To get the most for a car you need to sell it to someone who really wants your car. To car guys your car may be a diamond in the rough but junk dealers buy cars every day and to them your car is just another car. Believe it or not, most car guys don't do well in the junk business because they buy with their hearts instead or their heads. That said, if you don't have a valid title with your name on the front then all you've got is rolling scrap metal and the most you can expect to get is scrap metal prices. Most North Carolina salvage dealers can legally buy cars older than 10 years old without a title but titles are a lot harder to get than they used to be and most car dealers won't go through the hassle of getting a title when a quick trip to the crusher produces a faster return on their investment.

Here's a tip: You are not smart enough to beat the system. Many years in the junk business taught me the players always lose.

Get on the telephone and call the junkyards listed here at GreensboroJunkyards.com. Be prepared to give them the make, model and year of the car you're selling as well as your name and address and the address where your car is located. These are all things state law requires them to ask. And when you go to the junkyard to collect your money they are required by North Carolina law to make a copy of your current driver's license, current US. Military ID or NCDMV issued ID card. Credit cards, employee IDs and prison IDs are not acceptable.

If your car happens to be at a garage, dealership or body shop then ask the owner or manager if there are any towing, storage or repair bills owed against your car. If yes then find out yourself and either pay them or make sure the buyer knows about them in advance. If the buyer sends a tow truck to get your car and finds out after his driver gets there, that there is a bill against the car, then odds are good the deal is off. And remember: storage goes up with each passing day.

If you're selling to a scrap metal dealer and have the tools and know how, then you can make more by selling the catalytic converter(s), radiator, AC condenser, evaporator, electrical wiring, battery and heater core separately. If you've never removed these kinds of parts before you should probably leave them alone.

If you're selling your car to a parts dealer then it's best you leave the car intact as those are among the parts the parts yard is most likely to sell. If you remove the best parts then he'll not be very interested in your car.

Buyers who buy cars by the pound might be able to give you an estimate of what your junk car will bring but can't know for sure until they weigh the car. So that there's no hard feelings, most will estimate your car lower that what they'll actually pay you when you get there. There is no book out there that tell us how much cars weigh as each and every option available for the model you're selling changes the overall weight. Nor is there anything on your car that tells you what it weighs. GVWR means gross vehicle weight rating-- the maximum amount your car can weigh when fully loaded with people, luggage and any trailer you might be towing. Depending on the type of car or truck, the actual weight of your car could be hundreds to thousands of pounds less than the GWVR.

Finally, if you think it's a good idea to try and cheat the junk man... Well, someday you'll probably need to buy parts from him. And junk men never forget.

10 Tips To Cheaply Improve Your Miles Per Gallon

The argument as to how much oil remains in the ground continues to be debated but no one is arguing about the price of gasoline-- it's going to go up.

1. Clean out your car. Especially your trunk. Extra weight in your car makes your engine work harder and burn more fuel.

2 Use the freeway when possible. Most cars get the best mileage between 30 and 60 miles per hour.

3. Drive steady speeds. Yes, I know traffic makes this difficult but if you slow down a little and maintain a longer following distance you will spend less time on the brake and save gas.

4. Avoid road rage. Driving calmly can increase your mileage by as much as 1/3.

5. Maintain your car. Well maintained cars can get 25 to 50% better mileage than poorly maintained cars.

6. Use the grade of oil recommended by your vehicle manufacturer. Synthetic oils help too. Check your owner's manual.

7. Check your tire pressure often. Keeping your tires inflated to the recommended pressure can contribute to a 3 fuel percent savings, make your tires last longer and save your life . The recommended tire pressure is printed on the side of your tire. Forget the owner's manual when it comes to tire pressure. Why? Because car manufacturers do not make tires and don't know as much about tires as tire manufacturers.

8. For most drivers it is recommended that you use cruise control but some drivers are able to get better mileage without cruise control because they are better at maintaining a steady speed than cruise controls and are willing to allow the car to slow somewhat when going uphill.

9. Many will tell you not to use your air conditioner but on many modern cars the air conditioners run almost all the time-- especially when defrosting and defogging your windows. Turning off the AC might help you get better gas mileage in stop and go driving but on the Interstate the act of rolling down your windows will also cause a significant loss of fuel mileage as the wind gets trapped in your car.

10. Learn and practice hypermiling.

A trip to your local junkyard to pick up a set of smoother wheel covers can help too.

And if by chance you are the type who is into experimentation and prone to keep a close eye on your gauges-- especially your temperature gauge-- a bit of blocking off of the grill openings on the front of your car can make a huge positive difference in fuel mileage. It can be as simple and ugly as duct taping the grill. Duct taping the grill on my '91 Tercel helped me gain 5-10 miles per gallon throughout the last year.

Roll Starting Cars With Automatic Transmissions

Most people will tell you that roll starting a car with an automatic transmission is impossible. For the most part they're right but not always.

I once owned a 1969 2 Wheel Drive Jeep with a Borg-Warner automatic transmission that I roll started for several months. A number of other cars like older Chevrolets and Chryslers made prior to 1970 could also be roll started. But generally it's believed that modern automatics will not roll start.

But after reading about someone who was able to roll start a 2000 Nissan Altima I decided to test my own '91 Tercel to see if it will also roll start and learned that by coasting down a big hill the Tercel would roll start at about 20 miles per hour in 'Drive'.

I'm sure there are other automatic transmission cars that will roll start and would love to hear the make, model, year, gear selection and speed necessary to roll start other cars with automatic transmissions.

Cleaning Inside Radiator With Simple Green.

A few years ago my 1992 Ford Ranger's thermostat had a leak and prior to this I found that running my air conditioner was causing the engine temp to climb sitting in traffic. I went and bought the thermostat to put in the coming weekend as now I knew where I was loosing coolant from on the 4.0 engine. Arriving at work on Friday morning I checked my coolant level to find it was low so instead of checking the over flow bottle I took off the radiator cap at first break after it cooled down. Inside the radiator could be seen that thick mucky sludge mess that clogs up the cooling tubes. I needed a clean jug so I could add water to the system to get home forty miles away but all we had was an almost empty Jug of simple green. It had about a cup left in it so I filled it up with water and poured it in the radiator.

I drove home the forty miles and parked. Next morning I went to work on the truck, drained the coolant removed thermostat housing expecting the thermostat, housing and inside block there to be filthy. It wasn't and looked like brand new. I checked the thermostat and it was bad so I replaced it. When I took off  the radiator cap and looked down inside the radiator was clean as well, no scale or mucky sludge. It too looked like a brand new unit inside.

Road testing with air conditioner running full blast in stop and go traffic the temperature gauge needle barely nudged up from the cold mark. It had not run this cool in years. I now had full cooling again after cleaning the radiator out with the Simple Green. That Ranger was sixteen years old when I sold it and had the original radiator in it with not one leak or repair ever.

After hearing me tell of my accidental discovery a co-worker ran some Simple Green in his radiator for the same amount of miles as I had. He was happy to tell me that it cleaned out his radiator gunk also. Others have asked me how I knew to do this and I tell them all the same, "It was pure accident, I needed some water and a clean jug, all we had was one of the Simple Green jugs with about a cup left in it."

Black Pepper: Quick Fix For A Leaky Radiator

Got a tiny leak in your radiator. Don't fill it with stop leak, the stuff is expensive and must be thoroughly cleaned from your engine's cooling system before your radiator can be permanently repaired.

Save yourself some money and slow that leak by pouring a can of black pepper in your radiator. Then, at the first chance you get, have your car professionally repaired before the pepper starts washing out.

Coming soon, my friend, Paul, will tell you about a cheap and easy way to flush and extend your car's cooling system using a simple green process that most shops have yet to learn.

Toyota Brake Light Repair

Are your brake lights staying on all the time causing your battery to go dead? This seems to be a pretty common problem on Paseos, Tercels and other 90s Toyota's as it is often caused by the breaking apart of a little round rubber/plastic pad that pops into a hole on the brake pedal arm and rests against the brake light switch until you put your foot on the brake.

An easy repair for this can be done in minutes by slipping a round 3/4" diameter x 3/16" thick magnet into the spot where the plastic piece formerly resided. Anything even close to those dimensions should do the trick and you won't even need any tools. The hardest part is getting under the dash.

Magnets are usually available at hardware stores and other places where tools are sold.

Toyota Transmission Tip

Your's truly spend last weekend replacing a Toyota Tercel transmission/trans-axle because a previous owner failed to keep the differential portion of the transmission filled with the proper fluids. You see, unlike some front wheel drive cars, my 91 Tercel has 2 separate compartments for ATF (Automatic Transmission Fluid) that must be kept filled and 2 separate drain plugs for the two no so distinct parts of the transmission/trans-axle.

The drain plugs are easily found on the bottom of the trans-axle but the filler/check fluid level plug is harder to see as it is located on the back side in the middle of the rear cover. To check the fluid level you simply remove the plug and stick your little finger in the hole. If the fluid isn't up to the top of the whole you'll need to add more by using a funnel connected to a hose that you run into the same hole where you check the fluid level.

Taking the time to check this one fitting could save Tercel owners hundreds of dollars in repairs and add many years to the life of a great little car.