Getting Rid of Your Junk Car

We had this great little car that we drove all over.  It was a 1997 Nissan, and it still got amazing gas mileage.  

Recently it had a major problem.  Our trusted garage told us it wasn't worth fixing.  It would be really expensive and other things are going wrong with the car.

So, we needed to junk it.

I had some fantasy that your car magically gets recycled and then you get a pile of cash to buy a new car.  [ well, I didn't really think that exactly... ] 

Here's what really happens [or at least what happened for us]:

1.  You look in the yellow pages and newspaper for ads for people who pick up junk cars.  The internet isn't much help in this field.

2.  You call a bunch of places telling about your car.  They offer you a lot less money than you thought.  

3.  You call back the person/company that offered you the most money.  It's not that much more than what everyone else offered you, but it's the best way to pick out which person/company to use because no one you know has had to do this before.

4.  You go to the garage where your car is located at the appropriate time and wait for the guy to show up to take your car.

5.  He doesn't show up.  He makes an excuse and you make another appointment.

6.  He doesn't show up again.

7.  Call someone else and make an appointment with them.  They offer you a little less money for the car.

8.  Meet the person at the car.  They check out the car and offer you even less money.  You are so frustrated at this point that you would actually give them money to take the car away from you and not have to deal with it anymore, so you take the less money.  Plus, if they leave without your car, you have to start over again with another person.

9.  Sign your title, give them your keys, get your license plate and your cash.  

10.  Take the bus home because you no longer have a car.

Yeah, it was frustrating.  Now it's over.  

I recommend asking friends who may have some knowledge or experience before tackling this.  I also recommend picking the 2nd highest offer for your car.  The highest offer is probably too high and not going to show up because it's not worth it to them.  [ It doesn't make sense to me, either. ]

I don't drive usually (I take the bus to work and anywhere I can), but my boyfriend does need a car to get to work unfortunately, so his parents have loaned us an extra vehicle for now.  But now we need to find another car.  I hate the idea of a car payment after so long without one, but I guess we'll work it out.

What do they do with the car?

Well, my car is getting taken apart and sold in pieces, which is I guess why we got even less money than we expected.  Our car was in pretty bad shape.  Is there a magical car recycling place?  I don't know for sure, but I still like to think there is.