Scrap Car Prices by Weight: The Per-Ton Math, Done Right
Every junk car has a floor price set by what it weighs and what steel is trading for that month. Here is how to calculate it yourself before anyone quotes you a number.
Key Takeaways
- Scrap car prices ran $155-$205 per ton as of July 1, 2026, with a national average around $175-$190 per ton on that same date.
- Yards subtract roughly 500 lbs for tires and fluids before they calculate what they pay you.
- Use curb weight, never GVWR — GVWR includes payload and typically runs 1,000-1,800 lbs higher.
- A per-ton number without a date attached is a guess. Michigan, California, and Ohio led US scrap pricing in 2026, and the rate moves every month.
What scrap weight is actually worth right now
Scrap car prices ran $155-$205 per ton as of July 1, 2026, with the national average sitting near $175-$190 per ton on that date. That is the raw steel value of your vehicle, and it is the floor under any offer you receive. Nobody should pay you less than your car's weight is worth, because that is what they can get for it by doing nothing but crushing it.
The floor is not the ceiling. Most junk cars sell for $250-$800 in 2026 with a national average around $535, and the gap between the scrap floor and that average is parts value — the pieces a yard can resell before the shell goes to the shredder. This post is only about the floor. For the full picture on what drives an offer above scrap, see the 2026 guide to what your junk car is worth.
How to find your true curb weight
Curb weight is what your car weighs empty, with a full tank of fluids and no passengers or cargo. It is printed in three places, and they should agree within a few dozen pounds.
- Driver's door jamb sticker. Open the driver's door and look at the placard on the B-pillar. Many manufacturers list curb weight there alongside tire pressures. Every placard lists GVWR — that is not the number you want.
- Owner's manual specifications page. Flip to the back. Curb weight is listed by trim and drivetrain, which matters because all-wheel drive typically adds 150-250 lbs over the front-wheel-drive version of the same car.
- VIN decode. Your 17-digit VIN identifies the exact body, engine, and drivetrain combination, which is what determines weight. Run it through a VIN lookup and match the result to the manufacturer's published spec for that build.
Why GVWR is the wrong number
GVWR stands for Gross Vehicle Weight Rating, and it is the maximum loaded weight the manufacturer says the vehicle can safely carry. It bundles in passengers, cargo, and tongue weight, so it runs about 1,000-1,800 lbs above curb weight on a typical passenger vehicle. At the July 1, 2026 average of roughly $180 per ton, an 1,800 lb error is about $162 of imaginary money. Sellers who walk in quoting GVWR are the easiest people in the yard to spot.
The 500 lb deduction nobody warns you about
Yards subtract roughly 500 lbs for tires and fluids before paying you. Tires are not steel and cost money to dispose of. Gasoline, coolant, oil, and refrigerant all have to be drained and handled under environmental rules before the shell can go anywhere near a shredder. That work is real, and the deduction is how it gets billed back to you.
The deduction is standard practice, not a scam. What you should watch for is a yard that takes the 500 lbs off and then applies a second vague "processing" charge on top. Ask for the deduction in pounds, in writing, before the truck shows up.
The per-ton math, step by step
A ton in scrap pricing is a short ton, 2,000 lbs. The calculation is four steps and takes about a minute.
- Start with curb weight. Pull it from the door jamb, the manual, or a VIN decode. Use the figure for your exact drivetrain.
- Subtract 500 lbs. This covers tires and fluids. Call the result your billable weight.
- Divide by 2,000. That converts billable pounds into tons.
- Multiply by the current per-ton rate. As of July 1, 2026, that was $155-$205 per ton depending on where you are.
Worked out across common vehicle sizes, using the verified July 1, 2026 range:
| Vehicle size | Curb weight | Minus 500 lbs | Tons | At $155/ton | At $180/ton | At $205/ton |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compact sedan | 2,900 lbs | 2,400 lbs | 1.20 | $186 | $216 | $246 |
| Midsize sedan | 3,400 lbs | 2,900 lbs | 1.45 | $225 | $261 | $297 |
| Compact SUV | 3,500 lbs | 3,000 lbs | 1.50 | $233 | $270 | $308 |
| Midsize SUV | 4,400 lbs | 3,900 lbs | 1.95 | $302 | $351 | $400 |
| Half-ton pickup | 4,700 lbs | 4,200 lbs | 2.10 | $326 | $378 | $431 |
| Three-quarter-ton pickup | 6,200 lbs | 5,700 lbs | 2.85 | $442 | $513 | $584 |
Every dollar figure in that table is pinned to the July 1, 2026 rate range. Read it in November and the arithmetic still works, but the rate column does not. That is the whole point of dating a number.
Why the rate moves every month
Scrap steel is a commodity, so the per-ton rate tracks mill demand and export volume rather than anything about your car. When domestic mills are running hard and buying shredded feedstock, the rate climbs. When export orders for scrap slow down, yards sitting on inventory drop their buy price within weeks. A quote from April tells you nothing useful in September.
Location matters as much as timing. Michigan, California, and Ohio led US scrap pricing in 2026, which follows the mills and ports. California sellers should also check the state's vehicle retirement buyback, which pays well above any scrap figure if the car qualifies. If you are two hours from a shredder, expect the low end of the range, because somebody has to eat the freight. Call two or three yards in your metro on the same day using the junkyard directory and take the spread as your real local rate.
Complete versus incomplete vehicles
A complete vehicle has its engine, transmission, catalytic converter, battery, radiator, and all four wheels still attached. That is the definition every buyer uses, and it is the condition their per-ton quote assumes. Strip any of it and you are selling an incomplete car, which gets quoted lower per ton, not just lower overall.
- Catalytic converter — the single biggest line item. A factory converter adds $75-$900, an aftermarket one only $5-$20. Missing converters are the number one reason a phone quote collapses in the driveway.
- Engine and transmission — heavy cast iron and aluminum that count toward weight and carry resale value on their own. Pulling them yourself almost never nets more than leaving them in.
- Wheels and battery — alloy wheels and lead-acid batteries both have separate scrap markets, so their absence is noticed immediately at pickup.
The Automotive Recyclers Association reports roughly 4 million vehicles recycled annually in the US and Canada, with about 86% of a vehicle's material content reused, recycled, or recovered for energy. Yards have priced this process for decades. Your leverage is not in outsmarting the weight math — it is in knowing the number before the tow truck arrives.
Using the floor price in a negotiation
Run your own calculation first, then collect quotes from buyers you have vetted, because not every junkyard actually buys cars and the ones that do use different formulas. If an offer lands below your scrap floor, say the number out loud: curb weight, minus 500 lbs, at today's per-ton rate. Yards that lowball casually stop doing it once they know you can do the arithmetic.
Also confirm who pays for towing. It costs a buyer $75-$150, and free pickup within about 30 miles is standard in 2026. A quote with a tow fee buried in it is really a quote a hundred dollars lower than it looks. When you are ready to collect offers, start on the sell your junk car page and work from your calculated floor upward.