Scrap Car Dealers - Sneaky Tricks Exposed
Here at Remove My Car, we hate the thought of people suffering due to working with dodgy dealers within the scrap car industry.
To help people avoid choosing shady companies and having terrible experiences, we’re here to reveal 3 common tricks that are used by unscrupulous companies that you’ll want to avoid.
1. Make Big Promises and Don't Come Through
Often, scrap car dealers will offer great prices and then never come through. These companies often put out adverts online and in print that will promise something great, such as ‘we will pay a minimum of £150 for ANY car’. In reality, they are very unlikely to pay £150 for the majority of older and lower value cars, like your 2001 Vauxhall Corsa or Nissan Micra.
Usually, companies that make promises like this are really just on the lookout for specific makes and models of cars, or those with a high scrap value. They put messages such as this out so that people will get in touch and they can capture the cars that they’re interested in and ignore all others. They may even say they’ll come to pick up your car for the promised £150 and then simply never turn up.
Collecting low value scrap cars is something we arrange all day at Remove My Car. We have a nationwide network of reputable scrap car dealers and offer prices based on the weight of your vehicle and the value of its salvageable parts. This means we ensure you get a great price for your car and a collection service that you can depend on.
2. Offer a Good Price and Then Haggle
Many companies will offer either an initial great price for your scrap car, or offer a vague figure and then when they turn up to collect your car they’ll attempt to barter the price down.
They’ll tell you that your car isn’t in as good condition as you said it was and that it’s not worth as much money to them so they’ll need to offer you less as a result. They’ll point out faults that actually have no impact on the scrap value of the car and are therefore irrelevant. Or, they’ll complain about missing paperwork and tell you this will affect how much they can make on your vehicle.
But, some dealers will use every trick in the book to reduce the price and get you to agree to this.
At Remove My Car, we hate haggling. If we wanted to negotiate on prices, we’d open a market stall or apply to go on The Apprentice! Instead, we think the best deals are the ones where everything is clear and upfront right from the very beginning. That’s why you’ll see we always offer a fixed price for your car…and stick to it!
3. The 'Turn Up Early” Trick
If you contact companies before coming to Remove My Car, you may find you later get call backs from these companies asking whether you’ve sold your car yet. If you answer yes, they may ask for more details like who you’ve sold to and when your car is being collected.
Why would they ask these things?
Well, they’re trying to get information about the price and time it’s being collected so they can turn up just before and try to buy it from you instead by posing as Remove My Car. These companies that turn up might be unscrupulous and unregistered dealers that will haggle over the price and then won’t dispose of your car in the correct way.
If you ever have any doubts about the company you’re dealing with or the dealer who turns up to collect your car, call us anytime and we’ll be happy to clear up any confusion. We want to make sure each of our customers has the best possible experience selling their car through us.
How to Scrap Your Car without the Hassle
When you’re looking to sell a scrap car, you’ll want the best price, hassle free service and the knowledge that your car will be disposed of correctly. This is exactly what we offer at Remove My Car.
We’ll buy pretty much any car and we always collect at a time that’s convenient to you. You’ll never have to worry about us not turning up or trying to haggle with you on price.
To find out more, read How to Find A Reputable Registered ATF.