There’s no hard and fast rule to how mileage can affect a car. Some will give up the ghost at 60,000 miles, others will keep running well into the 100,000’s without batting an eyelid. Regardless, the value of any car will decrease as the miles clock up, so it’s worth thinking about your options when they start to rack up.
Does mileage actually affect the scrap value of my car?
Generally, mileage won’t actually affect the value of your car to a scrapyard. Case closed, right? Not quite. It’s true: authorised treatment facilities will typically value a car based on a few factors, such as weight, condition, and the presence of major parts; mileage doesn’t usually come into the equation. With that said, however, the mileage of your car naturally affects these factors and can change how you approach scrapping your car.
Major parts & the car’s condition
Some scrap yards will actually look to buy your car from you with the view to repair it and sell it on, to strip it for parts that can be used in other vehicles, or simply as scrap in typical cases. If you have a sought after car, it’s possible that they might try to negotiate an alternative deal to just turning your car into a metal cube.
If this occurs, the mileage of the vehicle could play a big part in how much you can barter with them, as it acts as a broad signal for the condition of internal components – how much wear have they had, are they due to be replaced, for example.
The higher mileage car you have, the less likely you’ll be to have this option when going to scrap it. It’s important to note that sought after doesn’t necessarily mean expensive – common, smaller cars that are in good condition but might not be worth the time to actually sell, are often in demand due to the parts that can be salvaged from them for other repairs.
Mileage & road-worthiness
If your car is not roadworthy, for whatever reason, then that will be more important than the mileage of the vehicle itself. They’ll be more concerned about the transportation of your car, if any internals is still functioning, or if the car is a complete write-off, than how many miles you’ve built up over the years.
For more information, read our guide; If I scrap my car do I have to sorn it?
Should I sell instead?
The other consideration is whether the car still carries enough value to actually be sold as opposed to scrapping. Mileage plays a bigger part here; perform a search on our car buying comparison site to see how much your car could be worth, and be sure to include mileage in that.
You can quickly see how higher mileage cars decrease in value by doing this. However, Jamjar’s car valuation service makes it easy for you to get quotes from car buyers who could be looking to either sell your car on or scrap it, making your only concern the money you’ll receive for it.
If you’re looking for general advice on scrapping your car, check out our getting started guide.
