How to Scrap a Car

If you’re pondering over how to scrap a car and what the most convenient way to do it is, a simple internet search such as ‘Scrap My Car’ will yield a multitude of different companies ready to pay for scrap cars.

In our initial search, we discovered the following: Out of 25 results, only 9 were Authorised Treatment Facilities (ATFs) or recycling networks.

Here's the breakdown: Out of 11 sponsored links, only 5 were ATFs or ATF networks. The remaining 6 results are known as ‘Lamp Post Traders’.

Out of the 7 local search listings, only one company was ATF registered. Out of the 7 organic search results, only one is an ATF registered company and two were websites who cooperate with ATF networks (including us).

This illustrates that locating registered Authorised Treatment Facilities isn’t as straightforward as you might initially think.

When scrapping your car, it's crucial to select an ATF as they are legally obligated to dispose of and recycle your vehicle and all of its parts in the correct manner.

There are numerous businesses and individuals who are not registered ATFs, but who will express interest in buying your scrap car, intending to sell it to an ATF for a profit, which means they’re offering the lowest possible price to you in order to maximise their own profit. If you plan to locate a scrappage company yourself, be ready to investigate whether they are ATF registered.

Alternatively, you could streamline the process and rely on Take Scrap Car, as we’ve already performed all the rigorous work for you.

If you’re struggling to find a company to purchase and collect your scrap car, it's likely because it has low scrap value. Common cars like Nissan Micras often fall into this category and it can be challenging to persuade an ATF to collect them due to the potential profit being very low or negligible after accounting for transportation costs.

However, with our network of approved ATFs, we can purchase your car and arrange for it to be collected by a local ATF. This is possible due to our strong relationships with our members who are aware that we expect all cars to be collected. They are willing to pick up low-profit cars because they understand that through our collaboration, we will also have higher value cars for them to collect in the future.

We can offer customers a superior price for their scrap car than if they were to contact an ATF directly. It might seem surprising, but it's true.

When you approach an ATF independently, they'll give you an individual value on your car, but the values on Take Scrap Car are based on weight and are guaranteed. If we value a car at £180 on our website, our member ATF will pay that £180, even if they would independently attempt to make more profit by offering you less.

For more information, read our tips on how to get the best price for your scrap car.

A van with two cars on top of it.