Most people think salvage yards and scrap yards are the same, but they’re not… Depending on what you want to buy or sell, these two yards differ.
Automotive Salvage Yards
Take, for instance, the automotive salvage yard. It’s the place you go to find wrecked, unusable, damaged, and/or junk cars and trucks. If you’ve got a vehicle you want to sell them, and it’s still in working condition, automotive salvage yards will probably take it. Even if it’s not running, they might take it. Automotive salvage yards are known for breaking old vehicles down into individual pieces. Parts can then be sold to customers. What happens to the “shell” of the vehicle? Typically, it gets crushed after all the fluids are drained from it and important pieces that can be resold have been removed. The scrap metal from the crushed vehicle can be sold to other businesses and/or eventually recycled.
Automotive Scrap Yards
What about the automotive scrap yard? How does it differ from a salvage yard? A scrap yard purchases leftover scrap metal from crushed vehicles and/or any other type of scrap metal. Typically, scrap yards purchase metal in large amounts. Pricing may be based on weight– by the pound or by the ton. Scrap yards are usually looking for the following metals: aluminum, cast zinc, and copper. Therefore, they may take in vehicles as well as things like appliances and electrical wiring made of copper.
So, if you’ve got a “junk car,” and you want to sell it/get rid of it, you should take it to a salvage yard. Salvage yards are interested in all parts of a vehicle, whereas scrap yards just care about the metal(s).
Scrap yards are generally not where you’d go to purchase car parts. They don’t deal with parts like salvage yards do… so don’t waste your time going to a scrap yard to look for used parts. However, sometimes you get a business that is both a salvage yard and a scrap yard– a hybrid of sorts. Though few and far between, hybrids do exist.
All American Auto Salvage is a tri-state auto salvage yard in New Jersey that carries all kinds of used auto parts. Are you looking for body panels, engine components, or transmission replacements? We might have just what you need! Call us at 732-574-1945 for more information.
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