Scrapping your car can be a very efficient way to get rid of your old junk car without the hassle of posting an ad and responding to people, paperwork, or even paying to get your old vehicle junked. However, removing any personal belongings and other items from your car before bringing it to a scrapyard or having it picked up is crucial.
So this blog will cover which items you should remove from your scrap car and how to remove them safely.
Personal Items
It’s critical to remove any personal items from your car before dropping it at a scrapyard or getting it picked up by a scrap car removal company like AKR Towing.
Everyday personal items found in cars include money, jewelry, documents, insurance cards, electronics and accessories. Especially if you have had a car for a long time, chances are that something may have slid behind or between things.
Here are a few tips to ensure that no personal items are left behind:
- Take everything out of the glove compartment
- Check all side compartments in the doors and any back seat pockets
- If your car has any storage on the floor, ensure to check all of them.
- Check between the seats, the backs, and underneath the seats for any items that may have slid between or under.
- Look in cup holders
- If the trunk has additional storage compartments, check them all.
Aftermarket Parts
Most of us have aftermarket parts in or on the car that can be valuable and worth removing. After all, you don’t want to get your car scrapped just to remember that you forgot something useful you wished to conserve.
You can try to sell many parts separately from your car, so some car parts to remove before scrap are sound and entertainment systems, navigation systems, performance parts, alloy rims, starter motors, the jack, the catalytic converter and more. You can consult a mechanic or a friend to see which parts they could see as valuable enough to remove and sell separately.
If you want to safely remove aftermarket parts without damaging the car, here are a few things to consider:
- Ensure to use the proper tools to extract parts from your car
- Take precautions to be able to perform any removals safely
- Depending on your expertise, consider consulting with a mechanic or friend to remove certain parts
License Plates and Registration
Removing the license plates and registration papers from your car is critical. You will need the registration for the bill of sale as proof that you have sold your vehicle to a scrap dealer. As for your license plates, removing them will help eliminate any chances of somebody using your number plate for malicious activities.
You will need part of your registration to transfer ownership to the scrap dealer. You can return the license plates to Service Ontario and either be able to install them on a new vehicle or receive a credit for the remaining months (they do not issue cash refunds).
Final Check
Before handing over the car to a scrap car company or bringing it to a scrapyard, it’s critical to do one final check of any locations personal or otherwise valuable items might be hidden. Even if you have checked the car before, it can’t hurt to go over it again because once it’s gone, anything that’s left in the car is gone as well.
Before scrapping your car, make sure to check off these actions:
- Check for and remove all personal items and items of value.
- Prepare vehicle ownership document (you will use it for the quote and to transfer ownership to the scrap dealer)
- Remove license plates (to return to Service Ontario to either install them on a new vehicle or receive a credit for the remaining months)
- Make sure to have your insurance papers (to cancel your policy after selling the car)
Conclusion
As you can see, there are parts to remove before scrapping the car that you can and should remove, from personal items over aftermarket parts to license plates. Not only to potentially sell some of these parts separately but also to prevent potential abuse (such as the license plates).
It’s critical to remove any items of personal or financial value. After all, your old car will be destroyed and recycled, so anything left behind will be lost to you. Some of these parts might be sold for considerably more than their scrap value to benefit you financially.
AKR Towing can help you with it and make the process hassle-free. Call us at 647-330-9840 or fill out our convenient online form to find out how much cash you can get for your car and schedule a date and time for us to come and pick up the car, taking it off your mind.
