Car breakers
We break cars. We do not just weigh them in
There is a real difference between a scrap metal dealer and a car breaker, and it decides what your car is worth. A metal merchant weighs it. A breaker takes it apart first — and the parts are worth more than the steel they are made of.
- Complete cars are worth more than their weight — that is the whole point of a breaker
- Engine, gearbox, catalytic converter and body panels all carry value
- Tell us what has already been taken off, and the quote reflects it honestly
- Depolluted on site, parts recovered, the shell baled for steel
What's it worth?
Registration and postcode. We'll ring back with a firm figure.
Why that is worth money to you
A running engine, a good gearbox, a catalytic converter still on the car, straight doors, working lights, a clean set of alloys — every one of those is worth more on a shelf than melted down. A dismantler can pay for that. Somebody buying by the tonne cannot, because to them it is all the same steel.
It is also why we ask what is missing before quoting. A car that has already been picked over is worth what it weighs. One that is complete is worth considerably more, and the questions on the form exist to tell those apart.
What happens after we collect
Depollution first, because nothing else is legal until it is done: fuel, oils, coolant, brake fluid, air-conditioning gas, the battery, the airbags, the tyres.
Then the parts worth keeping come off and go back into circulation — sold on to garages and other dismantlers, keeping somebody else's car on the road instead of a new part being manufactured for it. Only what is left, clean steel by that point, is baled and sent to the mills.
Breaking, scrapping, dismantling
They mean much the same thing in practice, and most people say "scrap my car" whatever the yard actually does with it. The words that matter legally are Authorised Treatment Facility and Certificate of Destruction — those are what say a vehicle has been dealt with properly, whichever term brought you here.
Straight answers
Questions we get about this
What is the difference between a car breaker and a scrap yard?
A breaker dismantles the vehicle and sells the usable parts on; a scrap metal yard buys it by weight for the steel. In practice many yards do both — we do — but it is the dismantling that lets us pay more than the weighbridge price for a complete car.
Is it worth more if I leave the parts on?
Almost always, yes. People sometimes strip the catalytic converter or the alloys first and are surprised the figure drops. Those were the valuable bits. Sell it complete unless you already have a buyer paying properly for the parts.
Do you sell parts to the public?
Not over the counter. Recovered parts go on to garages and other dismantlers. If you are in the trade and after something specific, ring the yard and ask.
My car still runs. Is a breaker the right place for it?
If it is worth more than its parts, sell it as a car — we will tell you if we think that is the case. Once the repair bill outruns the value, a breaker is where it is worth most.
Sat on your drive doing nothing?
Give us the registration. We'll tell you what it's worth and, if you're happy, have it gone tomorrow.