If you are on the hunt for a particular set of car parts, or want to know what used auto parts would cost on the private market, read on to learn more about how old car parts are valued.

Selling for Scrap

Some of the least valuable car parts are simply sold for scrap metal. Different types of auto parts or systems such as old motor mounts, frame and chassis parts, or even fuel and coolant handling system parts may just be bought and sold for their weight in steel or whatever metal they are composed of.

In this case, a junk car may not really be worth the amount that it costs to sell it to a facility. That's why so many owners of extremely old cars get caught up in the problem of having to pay for car transport. They might think their cars are worth a good bit of money for scrap, but set against the costs of hauling and dismantling the car, many scrap buyers will not offer more than a couple of hundred dollars.

Junkyard Parts

Many of the parts on other older cars are actually valuable in terms of their use to outfit other aging vehicles of the same model and year. That doesn't mean that the car owners going to get a lot of money for them -- a junkyard makes its profit margin by buying the vehicles cheaply, and keeping them on a large, open site so that they can sell the individual parts later.

The junkyard model works in different ways -- in a lot of cases, the junkyard resells parts to an ASE certified mechanic shop, but, as in the past, some junkyards do allow individual car owners to come in and get the parts themselves, and negotiate with the junkyard owner. In some cases, the customers may have to disassemble the car systems themselves, or haul parts away from the junkyard personally. Still, this junkyard model is a big source of affordable used car parts, where a junk car does have some value in providing future customers with what they need to keep a different car on the road.

Specialized Parts and Collectibles

Here's where individual car parts start getting valuable.

When the car in question is a special kind of car, the parts can be worth a lot more.

That means if a car is an antique of a specific popular model, the car owner can benefit from selling individual parts. That holds true for a lot of exotic and high-performance cars, as well as cars with top brands like BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

Here, there might actually be value in keeping the car and disassembling it, and selling the parts on eBay or some other kind of auction site.

Think about these different types of valuation when you're selling or buying or trying to figure out what used car parts are worth on the open market.

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