Car Salvage Yard

[Sean7173]

Hi guys, I’m looking to start up my own Salvage yard, specialising in CAT B vehicles & also sourcing my own Damaged vehicles off the internet.

I have a passion for cars and I do have some mechanical knowledge, I have been buying and selling cars for the last couple of years & have had somewhat success however success is also quickly turned into failure due to my own money management issues which I plan to work on.

what would be needed in terms to start off & how would I go around it?


Thank you.

 

[Mr D]

Land. A decent fence. Security.
A portacabin office / shipping container office.
Some method of moving cars from on top of some cars to on top of some other cars.
Waste disposal

Have you ever worked a scrapyard before?

 

[Jasondb]

Good timing I scrapped an old car yesterday, got a price quote on the net and booked it in.
They were meant to come between 8-11 but their van broke down and was advised at 11.30 someone would come around before 4pm. They took it at 1pm and I got credited by bank credit before the end of the day.

 

[Sean7173]

Land. A decent fence. Security.
A portacabin office / shipping container office.
Some method of moving cars from on top of some cars to on top of some other cars.
Waste disposal

Have you ever worked a scrapyard before?

Hi thank you for your advice, I have never worked at a scrapyard before although I have been to tons of them for car parts so sort of know the layout, my question was whether I need to inform the council to start, also how much would be needed to start off!

 

[Mr D]

Hi thank you for your advice, I have never worked at a scrapyard before although I have been to tons of them for car parts so sort of know the layout, my question was whether I need to inform the council to start, also how much would be needed to start off!

Contamination of land - so at the very least need permits. Possibly change of use unless using land that already has the right use.
To start off? Lease is cheaper but of course increases monthly bills. Buying land and equipment is more expensive up front. Either way expect to pay considerably for security.

 

[Scalloway]

Official UK government advice on scrapping cars.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/when-a-motor-vehicle-is-waste

 

[estwig]

You'll need to look very hard to find land to do this on, it could be the only way is to use an existing site that has all the right permissions.

I'm terrible at the money side of things too, I've never tried to convince myself I'll get better at it, I pay someone else to do it and I do what I'm good at.

 

[mattk]

Do you actually mean a salvage yard as @Mr D describes or do you simply want to buy a couple of write-offs and break them for parts?

If it's the later, then you can start much smaller with a lockup, as long as it has room for you to work on two or three cars simultaneously. Presumably the vast majority of second hand parts are now sold online, so you'll need space to photograph, handle and package the items.

If you're really smart you could do a deal with a local scrap company and once you've taken all the valuable parts off a car, they can scrap it for you, avoiding all the complex and costly regulations and disposal requirements.