If your vehicle is old, severely damaged or otherwise difficult to advertise for sale, you may be wondering how to sell used car parts individually and separately from the vehicle itself. Depending upon used car prices in your state and according to the current market, you can oftentimes make a sizeable portion of your investment back by selling viable used car parts individually, regardless of whether your vehicle is operational or in good condition. You'll need to do a bit of research to make the most money possible, and you'll also have to familiarize yourself at least somewhat with the parts of your vehicle. Read on for a step-by-step guide to selling your old and damaged car for parts.
Step 1 -- Have the Vehicle Assessed
Salvage lots and individual buyers will only be willing to purchase parts that are in decent or better condition. if your car isn't functional or in bad condition overall, there may still be some parts within the vehicle that are in good enough shape to sell for scrap or individually. In order to determine which parts are viable, have a mechanic thoroughly inspect your vehicle. They can tell you which components are in good enough condition to fetch a decent price and which other components should be sold for scrap metal.
Step 2 -- Find Local Salvage Yards
You'll oftentimes make the most money off of selling parts of your used car if you can find a local salvage yard to work with. These dealerships offer the best used car part value of any potential buyers. They specialize in selling broken down or stripped off vehicles to buyers who use them for individual parts or as rebuilding projects.
Look online and in your local phone directory listings for information about salvage yards in your area. Make a list of all of them you find and contact each dealership to inquire about whether or not they purchase individual parts for your particular vehicle's make, model and year.
Step 3 -- Advertise Individual Parts to Private Buyers
Another way to consider selling your used car for parts is to advertise those parts for individual buyers. This takes a bit more work, as you'll have to keep track of your negotiations and will be responsible for stripping any parts that are sold out of your vehicle. However, this can be a great way to sell off more components of the car after you've worked with all of the local salvage yards. Consider putting the remaining viable parts up for sale on sites like eBay or craigslist. Look online to get a good sense for how much parts from your vehicle are worth given the condition they're in.
Any remaining pieces of your car can then be sold to a scrap metal yard in your area for minimal return on your investment.