If you’re thinking of trading in your car for part-exchange and you’re a smoker, you should make sure you get a scrap car quote to avoid missing out on the full value of your vehicle.
Smoking in a car can affect its resale and part-exchange value, but has no direct effect on getting the best scrap car prices, so you might be surprised by how much you could get.
Vehicle valuation specialists HPI pointed out the potential impact of smoking in a car following No Tobacco Day on May 31st.
HPI’s consumer director Fernando Garcia explained: “If you’re a smoker, the first thing a dealer will do is knock back the price of your part-exchange.
“That’s because a car for part-ex has to be made fit for resale – a process which is considerably more difficult and expensive when a smoker previously drove that car.”
How much does it cost to part-ex a smoker’s car?
The cost of preparing a smoker’s car for part-exchange can be quite staggering. HPI list just some of the parts of the car that might need attention:
• Special treatment to clean out the air conditioning and vents.
• Deep valet cleaning of upholstery (total cost up to £150).
• Replacement upholstery fabric in severe cases.
• Cleaning of marks and stains on the dash.
• Repair of cigarette burns to the dash.
Added together all of this work can cost as much as £2,000 off the part-exchange value of the car – enough to wipe out the trade-in value of many used vehicles.
Why should smokers get a scrap car quote?
Just because you smoke, it shouldn’t have any effect on you being able to get the best scrap car prices.
Smoke really makes no difference to the scrap value of cars. They can be broken down in the same way, with the same hazardous engine fluids to remove, and the same valuable recyclable materials to be found in the chassis and bodywork.
Once those materials are fully recycled, there should be absolutely no difference from the very slight residues and aromas that may have been in the car before it was scrapped.
But compared with the lower resale value or part-exchange value of a smoker’s vehicle, this can make the scrap value much higher in real terms.
Get an instant scrap car quote
Whether you’re a smoker or not, you can get an instant scrap car quote from J Davidson Scrap with just a few details about your vehicle.
Fill in the form on our website to tell us your contact details, the make and model of your car, condition and engine size, year of registration, fuel type and whether it has alloy wheels, and we’ll give you a price for it.
At J Davidson Scrap we’re proud of our straightforward and easy car scrapping services in Cheshire and Greater Manchester – and we aim to pay the best scrap car prices in the north-west, too.
Get in touch today and find out how much you can get for your scrap car – the faster, easier and often more rewarding alternative to part-exchange.
