Guides to scrapping and selling a car
Plain-English guides on paperwork, payment law, write-off categories and what sets the price of a scrap or damaged car.
- Any make, any condition
- Firm price in writing on WhatsApp
- No admin fees
Car salvage: your value guide to selling your damaged car
What Cat A, B, S and N write-offs mean, whether you can sell a written-off car, what sets its value, and how salvage works from quote to payment.
Read the guideHow to scrap a car and get paid (bank transfer, not cash)
No legal scrap buyer in Britain pays cash. How scrapping a car really works, from quote to bank transfer, and what decides the price you are offered.
Read the guideWhat to do before you scrap a car
Clear it out, find the paperwork, decide about the plate and check who you are selling to. A practical checklist for the days before your car is collected.
Read the guideCar scrappage in Edinburgh: your guide
How to scrap a car in Edinburgh: when it makes sense, what sets the price, how free collection works, and the paperwork that ends your liability.
Read the guideWhere to start
If you have never scrapped a car before, start with what to do before you scrap a car. It is a checklist for the days before collection: clearing out your belongings, finding the paperwork, keeping a private plate and sorting out tax, insurance and SORN. Then read how to scrap a car and get paid, which explains why no legal buyer in Great Britain pays cash, how a bank transfer protects you, and what happens between the quote and the collection.
Damaged cars and local advice
If your car has been in an accident or written off by an insurer, the car salvage value guide explains the Cat A, B, S and N categories, whether a written-off car can be sold and what sets its value. Selling in or around Edinburgh? Our Edinburgh guide covers when scrapping makes sense, how free collection works and the paperwork that ends your liability.
The guides explain the rules; they do not quote prices, because every car is priced on its own details. When you are ready, send your reg for a firm figure.
About these guides
Who writes these guides?
Motor Salvage Group writes them, as the business that prices and collects the cars. They explain the published rules, such as the DVLA guidance on GOV.UK, alongside how a sale with us works.
How up to date are the guides?
Each guide shows when it was first published and, if it has been revised since, when it was last updated. The rules they explain, from DVLA paperwork to write-off categories, can change, so where a guide links to GOV.UK, treat the official page as the final word. If something looks out of date, tell us.
Where can I ask a question the guides do not answer?
Send it on WhatsApp with your registration, and we answer messages in the order they arrive. The questions page covers payment, paperwork and collection in more detail, and the contact page has the phone number and email address if you would rather not use WhatsApp.
Can a guide tell me what my car is worth?
No. The guides explain what sets a price: weight, make and model, condition and completeness, demand for parts, distance and access, and that week's metal prices. Every car is priced on its own details, so for a figure, send the registration and postcode through the quote form and we reply with one firm price.
Do the guides apply in England as well as Scotland?
Yes. The DVLA paperwork is the same across Great Britain, and so is the ban on paying cash for scrap vehicles, though the law behind it differs: the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013 in England and Wales, and the Air Weapons and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2015 in Scotland. Where a guide is local, such as the Edinburgh one, it says so.
Ready to get rid of that car?
Send your reg on WhatsApp for a firm price, or call us. Free collection, paid by bank transfer.