Short answer: A junkyard and a salvage yard are the same kind of business under two names. Both take in cars, sell the usable parts and send what is left to be shredded. A scrap yard is different. It buys metal by weight, whether that is a car body, copper pipe or a pile of aluminum wheels, and it does not sell parts. Go to a junkyard or salvage yard to buy a part, and to a scrap yard to sell loose metal. For a whole car, either may buy it.
Last checked: September 29, 2026. Scrap prices are national averages from iScrap App. Admission fees are from pullapart.com and pyp.com. Licence wording is from the Tennessee Motor Vehicle Commission and the California DMV. Name counts are from the 3,606 published listings in our directory.
What is the difference between a salvage yard and a junkyard?
In everyday use, none. "Junkyard" is the older, informal word. "Salvage yard" is what the businesses prefer to call themselves. "Auto recycler" and "auto dismantler" are the trade and legal terms for the same work.
State licences show it. The Tennessee Motor Vehicle Commission licenses an "automotive dismantler and recycler", which it describes as a business that recovers parts from wrecked or inoperable cars and trucks for resale and then reduces the vehicles for their scrap content. The California DMV says you need its dismantler licence if you deal in used motor vehicle parts or buy nonrepairable vehicles to dismantle them. Neither uses the word junkyard.
The names in our directory tell the same story. Of 3,606 published listings, 716 have "salvage" in the name, 705 have "auto parts", 686 have "recycling" and 274 have "scrap". Only 56 contain the word "junk". People search for junkyards, and the businesses call themselves something else.
Which yard do you need?
| What you have or need | Where to go | Why |
|---|---|---|
| You need a used part and have tools | Self-service junkyard | You pull it yourself and pay a flat price per part |
| You need a used part, tested and pulled | Full-service salvage yard | Staff pull it. It costs more and often has a longer warranty |
| A whole car with good parts | Junkyard, salvage yard or online buyer | They pay for parts on top of the weight |
| A stripped, burned or rusted shell | Scrap yard, or the nearest junkyard | It is worth its weight and nothing more |
| Loose metal: pipe, wire, appliances, rims | Scrap yard | It pays by the pound or the ton, by type of metal |
| A catalytic converter, battery or radiator | Scrap yard or a core buyer | These are bought as separate items, not as steel |
To buy parts, start from junkyards near me or the list of U Pull It yards. If you are unsure which kind of parts yard suits you, read full-service and self-service yards compared.
What does each one pay or charge?
A self-service junkyard charges you to walk in. Pull-A-Part charges $2 and Pick Your Part in Nashville charges $3, according to their websites. After that you pay per part from a posted list.
A scrap yard charges nothing and pays you by weight. These were the national averages on iScrap App on September 29, 2026. Local yards pay more or less, and the price changes daily.
| Material | National average |
|---|---|
| Shreddable steel | $177.27 per ton |
| Light iron | $164.04 per ton |
| Aluminum rims | $0.95 per pound |
| Lead batteries | $0.20 per pound |
| Bare bright copper wire | $4.78 per pound |
Steel is priced by the ton and copper by the pound, which is why scrappers strip wire and leave the washing machine for last. A ton of steel at that average pays about what 37 pounds of clean copper wire does.
For a car, the steel price sets the floor. A 3,000-pound car is 1.5 tons, and 1.5 times $177.27 is about $266. The buyer still has to tow and drain it, so expect an offer for a bare shell to come in under that. Our scrap car prices page tracks the metal side, and the junk car value calculator adds the parts.
Where should you sell a whole car?
It depends on what is left of it. A complete car of a common model is worth more to a yard that sells parts than to a yard that only weighs it. A shell is worth the same to everyone, so the closest buyer usually wins because towing is the main cost.
Get one quote from each kind of buyer on the same day. You can request a cash offer online, call a parts yard, and call a scrap yard. Say whether the catalytic converter is still on the car, because it changes every quote.
Both kinds of yard will ask for proof that the car is yours. Title rules are set by each state, so check with your state's motor vehicle agency before you haul a car anywhere.
Sahd Metal Recycling, a scrap yard in Pennsylvania, shows what a first visit looks like. It is the company's own video, published August 2022.
