Should I scrap my car, sell it or repair it?

Short answer: compare three numbers. Take what the car would be worth once repaired, subtract the cost of the repair, and see whether what is left beats the scrap price you can have today. If it does not, or only just does, scrapping is the sensible end. If it clearly does, repair or sell.

The three numbers

1. The repair bill. Get it in writing, with everything the garage found, not just the one fault that made you ask. An MOT failure sheet is a good start.
2. The value after repair. Look up the same model, year and mileage for sale near you and knock off a little, because the asking price is not what people pay.
3. The scrap price today. A fixed figure from the registration, which takes thirty seconds on the scrap my car page.

Two worked examples

A 2012 Ford Focus fails its MOT with £900 of work: brake pipes, two tyres and a suspension arm. With a fresh MOT it would sell for about £1,500. £1,500 minus £900 leaves £600, against a scrap price of about £220. Repairing is worth it, provided nothing else is waiting to go.

A 2008 Vauxhall Corsa needs £700 of welding and a clutch. Repaired, it might make £800. £800 minus £700 leaves £100, and as scrap it fetches about £180. Scrapping wins, and saves you a week of having it in the garage.

When repair is the right call

• One fault, at a known price, on a car that is otherwise sound.
• A car you need to keep, where buying a replacement would cost far more than the repair.
• A model that holds its value: some small diesels, hybrids and 4x4s are worth fixing at an age when others are not.

When selling it as it stands pays more

Some cars are worth more to a buyer than to a scrap yard, even broken:

• Newer cars with one big fault, such as a failed gearbox or a cambelt that snapped. The trade will often pay more than scrap for the parts and the repair.
• Insurance write-offs in Category N or S, which can be repaired and put back on the road. See selling a damaged or written-off car.
• Cars that run and pass an MOT but that you simply no longer want. Those belong on a used-car site, not in a scrap yard.

A good scrap quote takes some of this into account, because parts worth selling raise the figure. If the price you are offered looks like weight and nothing else on a car under ten years old, it is worth checking what it would make as a car.

When scrap is the right call

• The MOT sheet runs to a page of corrosion, brakes and suspension.
• The car is old enough that it will need something big again within the year.
• It has stood unused for months and has started to go off: flat battery, seized brakes, damp inside.
• It is costing tax and insurance and going nowhere.

The cost of waiting

A car that is waiting for a decision still needs tax or a SORN, and insurance if it is kept on the road. It also loses value: a car that stops running drops into the cheaper end of the scrap range, and one that is stripped or vandalised drops further. If the sum says scrap, doing it this month is usually worth more than doing it in spring. How much is my car worth for scrap? shows where your car is likely to land.