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How Can I Get The Scrap Value Of My Car?

It’s been said time and time again. When you sell a junk car to the junkyard, the amount of cash you get is based on its weight. But what does that actually mean and how much does a car weigh?

When you bring a car to the junkyard, they weigh it! The car passes over an industrial-sized scale on its way to its final resting place.

If it’s being brought into a salvage yard on a tow truck, they’re both weighed, the car is dropped off, the tow truck is weighed on the way out. Then the difference is calculated. Most scales are accurate to the pound while some are down to tenths of a pound.

Once your car has been weighed, you’re issued payment based on that car’s weight from the scale. They’ll give you cash right away, or possibly a check, and you’re done.

But how much should you expect your scrap vehicle to weigh when you bring it to the junkyard? What is the price for the average junk car? And how do you get the most money for a scrap car?

The Typical Car Weight Figures

Think the scale is wrong or just want to know salvage yard prices ahead of time? You’ll need some sort of baseline number.

Most scales are in pounds or kilograms, but for vehicle scrap prices, you’re typically paid by the ton

So, how much does a car weigh in tons? Here are a few examples of vehicle curb weights.

How Much Does A Car Weigh?

The smallest vehicles on the market today are just over 2,000 pounds. That’s barely more than one ton, and that’s for a car like a Smart ForTwo or a Mitsubishi Mirage.

Larger vehicles are a different story. For instance, a 90’s Mercury Grand Marquis is just under 3,800 pounds, or 1.9 tons. A midsize vehicle like the Chevrolet Malibu is approximately 3,100 pounds.

But how many tons is a car? While the range is between one and two tons, the average passenger vehicle is just a little more than 1.5 tons.

What’s The Average SUV Weight?

A small SUV would be something like a Honda CR-V or a Toyota RAV4, both in the ballpark of 3,300 pounds. Then there are massive full-size SUVs with big V8 engines and tons of options inside that tip the scale at roughly 5,800 pounds, or almost three tons!

An average SUV would be the Ford Explorer, which weighs in at around 4,500 pounds or so.

The average SUV weight you can expect at the junkyard would be around 2.25 tons.

What Does A Truck Weigh?

There’s a huge disparity between compact pickup trucks and full-size pickup trucks – it’s almost not fair to classify them together. A compact truck like the Ford Ranger is about the same weight as a compact SUV, around 3,300 pounds. The average pickup truck, something like a Dodge Ram 1500 is around three tons or 6,000 pounds.

But there are much bigger trucks on the market too, like the Chevrolet Silverado 2500 with a Duramax diesel engine, that creep up to 7,000 or 8,000 pounds of curb weight.

That puts the average pickup truck at around 3.3 tons, or around 6,600 pounds on the scale. These weights definitely increase the average junk car prices.

How Heavy Is A Minivan?

Minivans can be hard to peg down for curb weights – they look bigger and heavier than they actually are!

A vehicle like the Kia Sedona is around 4,400 pounds at the curb, which is somewhere around the size of a compact pickup truck.

A larger minivan like the GMC Safari from the nineties might seem heavier but it’s not, tallying up to about 3,900 pounds.

The extremely common Dodge Grand Caravan also comes in at just under two tons, or 3,800 pounds.

It’s safe to say that a minivan will weigh in at or just below two tons at the auto junkyard.

What’s The Average Price For Scrap Cars?

The price per ton for junk cars is like the stock market, constantly rising and falling daily or even hourly. So, it’s hard to pinpoint the average scrap price. What’s more, it’s not consistent across the junkyards near you, so you’ll have to be extra vigilant to find the scrap car highest price per ton for your car.

So, figuring out what your junk car is worth can be difficult. It could be as low as $95 per ton or as high as $200 per ton or more, depending on junk yard scrap prices of the day. And there’s no guarantee that once you get your car there, the price hasn’t dropped.

There’s A Better Way

Want to know that you’ll get the exact price you agreed to when you sell your junk car? Then look to Junk Car Masters. With over a decade of experience in the industry, we know how to figure out what your car is worth and provide you the best deal on selling it fast.

We’ll give you a quote for your junk car in as little as 90 seconds, and we guarantee our pricing for seven days! We’ll give you cash for your junk car in any condition.