If you have a junk car in your yard or out on your front porch, the chances are high that you are looking to get rid of it. If you have considered reaching out to junk car buyers, it is evident you’re trying to squeeze out the last bit of money from the junk. While you’re trying to do this, you should know that some junk car buyers are looking to pay you as little as they can. This article goes over the common junkyard scams and how you can avoid them to protect yourself and increase the amount of money you will get from your junk car sale.
Junk Car Price Changes
This is one of the oldest tricks in the book. Some junk car buyers offer you a certain price when you call them for your junk car sale. However, the price they quote changes when they arrive or you get to their yard. There is also a service called Junk car pickup in which you need to tell them about your car and it’s location and they will give you an offer. Once you accept their offer they will schedule a convenient pickup time for you and pay you the cash instantly when they arrive. Usually, the junk car buyers bank on your excitement to get rid of the junk car as fast as possible, so they lower the price offer. To avoid getting scammed this way, ensure that the junk car company comes to your property for pickup. Also, ensure that you do not settle for less.
Last Minute Fees
Another old trick in the cheat book is last-minute fees. After calling up the junkyard to negotiate price and delivery details, you may find the junk car buyer quoting certain fees that weren’t discussed earlier. Such fees may be attributed to transportation, logistics, scrapping, or processing of the junk car. Usually, these fees are unnecessary and aimed at driving down the amount paid for your junk car. To protect yourself from being cheated, always ask if there are any other fees during price negotiations. You can decline a sale based on these last-minute fees.
Checks That Bounce
Junk car dealers often issue dud or invalid checks to sellers to cash. One of the reasons this works is that the seller may not feel an urgency to cash the check instantly. Furthermore, the junk car buyer may have left with the car hours before the seller has the chance to discover the fraud. Cash payment is advisable to prevent getting robbed in this way. With cash payment, you can ensure that you get paid the full amount for the junk car before it leaves your property.
Be Careful Of Incentives
Junk car buyers mostly have incentives to offer their customers. While customers may not read meaning into this, the incentives are false promises at best. For example, a junk car buyer may offer $100 or $50 more on the sale of your junk car. However, the added sum and some of the original sum of your junk car may be presented in coupons. If your junk car is worth $300, you may be offered $400 but split into $200 cash and a $200 coupon. In the end, the junk car seller would pay you $200 in cash and a coupon that may be irredeemable.
Watch Out For Pressure Sale
Junk car buyers are known to be interested in good deals. However, in some cases, you may be offering them a little too good a deal which may cause them to use pressure tactics. For instance, a junk car buyer that has offered you less than the value of your junk car will want to seal the deal as fast as possible. Closing the deal means they have cheated you out of your junk car’s worth. Also, the junk car buyer may wish to pressure you to sell fast to prevent you from contacting other junk yards that may give you a better price. If you notice a junk car buyer trying to pressure you to make a sale, take a step back and re-assess the factors surrounding the transaction.
Junk Yards Aren’t Doing You Any Favors
Junkyards may deploy the “we are doing you a favor” line or any of its iterations to get you to sell your junk car at a lower price. This is false. You are doing them a favor by selling. Be sure to demand what your junk car is worth entirely before selling. If a junkyard implies that the sale is favoring you, contact another junkyard to negotiate a better offer.
Cancel Your Registration And Get Your Plates
Ahead of the sale to a junkyard, make sure to cancel your vehicle registration and remove the plates. Some sellers are in the habit of asking the junkyard to handle this part of the deal, but it isn’t advisable. Remember that anything that happens to your car will be traced back to you if you fail to cancel the registration.
