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I've been working in a auto garage for a year & pretty much everyone there takes old parts to scrap for extra cash. I figure I may as well start doing that too. Wondering if there were any parts that were more desirable than others to scrap. I get aluminum rims go for more than brake rotors. Wondering if wheel hubs were more desirable or shock & struts. Thanks in advance.

If you get them for free I would imagine you could accumulate enough to make some money. Check with your local scrap metal yard for what they want. Lead tire weights add up nice also. If you have space I would hold onto any scrap metal right now. I'm told the Chinese aren't buying because of the trade war.

Core value for any auto part is almost always more than scrap value.

Assuming no core or collectible value, the most valuable scrap parts of a car are:

catalytic converters
alloy rims
lead batteries

The people I know who scrap cars for a living or side business usually only pull these items, sometimes just the first one.

Other items like radiators and wiring harness are worth far more than steel, but they are time consuming to extract.

Alternators and starters can be sold as scrap electric motors even if they have no core value. By weight they are worth about 3x as much as light iron/scrap cars.

Many newer cars have more aluminum parts like the hood, which should also be separated from your steel.

Always think in terms of the non-ferrous metal content. Is there lead, copper, brass, aluminum, etc? I imagine some parts have different metals in them depending on age, model, and manufacturer. Any way you can break down component metals will boost your return, ie #2 copper and junk steel separately pay out better than "copper with steel" category, etc.

Thanks! I appreciate everyone's input. Last year around this time we had about 20 rims just sitting in the recycling room & I kept thinking, hmmm I bet those are worth something. I'm a manager there, new to this industry, so I want to make sure the people below me are able to scrap as much as possible but I've noticed that they aren't doing it as much now so I thought I'd capitalize on it. Thanks again!

AGgressive Metal wrote:Always think in terms of the non-ferrous metal content. Is there lead, copper, brass, aluminum, etc? I imagine some parts have different metals in them depending on age, model, and manufacturer. Any way you can break down component metals will boost your return, ie #2 copper and junk steel separately pay out better than "copper with steel" category, etc.

+1 I always go for the most valuable first.

Don't forget mixed item like a AL engine with everything on it , they probably will give you a Dirty AL , (High or Low FE AL) or a special engine price depending on the yard. Without out braeking it down. sometimes its worth it ,sometimes its not.

Rotors and Drums are #1 HMS Steel 190 GT vs 120 GT light iron around MA
there is a separate price for rims/Wheels, ferrous and non ferrous
My Regular place won't take wheel weights

Not quite the same thing, but this reminds me of a story told to me by a long-time dentist. I was speaking with him about gold fillings. He told me when he extracted them that he put them into a bucket as very few people would ask for them back. He said he took the contents of the bucket after a number of years and sold them for a whopping $10,000!

So it pays to recycle. Hey, that's actually part of my name on this site, so I guess you could say I am biased.

It seems like a lot of wheel covers now are plastic and used to be aluminum. Is that correct?

P.S. I had about 10 or so that I took to a couple places that deal in them and neither one wanted any of them at any price. What a shame.

Recyclersteve wrote:It seems like a lot of wheel covers now are plastic and used to be aluminum. Is that correct?

P.S. I had about 10 or so that I took to a couple places that deal in them and neither one wanted any of them at any price. What a shame.

Most modern ones are plastic. I can sell mine with light iron.

Dr. Cadmium wrote:Core value for any auto part is almost always more than scrap value.

Assuming no core or collectible value, the most valuable scrap parts of a car are:

catalytic converters
alloy rims
lead batteries

The people I know who scrap cars for a living or side business usually only pull these items, sometimes just the first one.

Other items like radiators and wiring harness are worth far more than steel, but they are time consuming to extract.

Alternators and starters can be sold as scrap electric motors even if they have no core value. By weight they are worth about 3x as much as light iron/scrap cars.

Many newer cars have more aluminum parts like the hood, which should also be separated from your steel.

I totally agree on core vs. scrap value.