Scrap yard

A scrap yard, or scrap metal processor, buys metal by weight, sorts it, and prepares it for steel mills, foundries and smelters. Cars usually arrive already stripped of resalable parts and fluids, and are then crushed and shredded.

If your car has little parts value, a scrap yard’s price will track its weight and current metal prices. Many scrap yards won’t buy a car without a title, and they must follow state record-keeping and NMVTIS rules.

The U.S. Geological Survey says automobiles are the primary source of old steel scrap in the United States, and that more than 13 million tons of steel a year was recycled from automobiles in North America, the equivalent of about 17 million cars.¹