It’s never good news when your vehicle develops a major mechanical fault beyond repair, but it’s important to know the difference between scrap and salvage. Here are a few pointers to help you make the best of a bad situation.

Salvage or scrap?

Salvage cars are very different to scrap cars in that, typically, they’re less than 12 years old and are usually being sold due to having developed a major mechanical fault such as total engine failure, ECU fault or gearbox failure.

The repair costs involved for these sorts of faults, can run to many thousands of pounds for the unfortunate vehicle owner and, of course, without paying for the repairs, it’s very difficult to sell the car on. It’s a catch-22 situation that sees all too many vehicle owners faced with the problem of what to do with the faulty vehicle; they can’t afford to repair it and they can’t easily sell it. Their first thought might be to cut their losses and look into scrap vehicle collection, but there is a better solution.

A better solution than scrapping

Although a major mechanical fault can be a perfectly valid reason for the owner to investigate vehicle disposal, it’s important to know that salvage cars are still more valuable than their scrap vehicle counterparts.

Owners can achieve very attractive prices for these sorts of vehicles compared to what they’d receive by simply scrapping them. Why? Because they’re able to be re-marketed to trade repairers, who can in turn repair the faults much more cost effectively than an individual motorist could.

A greener solution, too

Not only does the salvage vehicle owner receive a better price than if they were to simply book a scrap car collection, they can also feel better about the environmental impact of the transaction. Trade buyers have access to perfectly suitable ‘green’ replacement parts necessary for the repair. This means car parts that have been harvested from other dismantled cars, which are perfectly serviceable, having been fully tested and warranted.

In much the same way as buying a refurbished mobile phone leaves a far smaller carbon footprint than buying a brand-new handset, car recyclers who work with salvage cars, as opposed to scrap cars, are making a similar difference in the automobile marketplace.

This undoubtedly makes car salvage the best vehicle disposal option all around – it’s the most environmentally friendly repair route, and the seller will see a far better return to help fund their next car purchase than if they simply resigned themselves to accepting the scrap price.

Contact Motorwise today

Here at Motorwise, we’re experts in car salvage and we’re always ready to help you make the best of a bad situation. If you have a car that needs salvaging, get in touch with our friendly team of car scrap and salvage experts.