Salvage yard
A business that acquires damaged or junk vehicles to resell whole, sell as parts, rebuild or crush.
A salvage yard acquires damaged, totaled or junk vehicles and makes money from them by reselling them whole, selling their parts, rebuilding them, or sending them for crushing and recycling. Many buy from insurers and auctions as well as from private owners.
When you sell a damaged car, a salvage yard may pay more than a pure scrap buyer if your car has parts in demand or could be rebuilt.
Federal law treats salvage yards as part of the national anti-theft system. The Anti-Car Theft Act defines junk and salvage yards as entities engaged in acquiring or owning junk or salvage automobiles for resale in their entirety or as spare parts, or for rebuilding, restoration or crushing, and they must report the vehicles they obtain to NMVTIS.1
References
-
U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance, “For Auto Recyclers, Salvage Yards, and Junk Yards” (NMVTIS), https://vehiclehistory.bja.ojp.gov/nmvtis_auto ↩
Related terms
Guides that mention salvage yard
- Car titles explained: types, transfers and problems
- Certificate of destruction and nonrepairable certificates
- How car recycling works: what happens to a junk car
- How junkyards price cars
- How to buy used auto parts from a junkyard
- How to remove an abandoned car from your property
- How to sell a car that doesn't run
- How to sell a car with a blown engine
- How to sell a car without a title
- How to sell a car without keys
- How to sell a flood-damaged car
- NMVTIS junk and salvage reporting: who reports, what and when
- Salvage title: what it means and what you can do with one
- Should you sell your car for parts or whole?