It’s hard to believe that the shiny and sleek new vehicle that you so coveted one day will fall into disrepair and you will be making its “final arrangements”.  May your car and you travel many safe miles together and may the parting at the very end be bittersweet.  You know… if you stop to think about it, the life of your car takes on many phases from the very moment that it is a concept on paper in some automotive engineer’s mind, to an idea shared via a storyboard or slideshow during a meeting of the minds, to the actual construction of that vehicle, and the eventual purchase of it by you.

Many phases of your car

  • Your car, which you will eventually take ownership of, was manufactured at a production plant.   At one end of this very large automotive plant, raw and recycled materials and components are delivered.  Eventually, at the other end of the plant, a completed car is driven off the assembly line, loaded onto a car hauler, driven many miles, then unloaded at a dealership, where potential customers, among them you, will ooh and ahh over it.  At one time, the only way to admire the new car models up close and personal was to visit a car dealership or see them on the lot where they were parked.  Now, one can view the various auto models right on the website of either a dealer, or manufacturer.  In fact you can take a virtual tour, inside and out, look at the colors and even order it.
  • Your new vehicle, whether you drive it for pleasure or as a means to get to and from work, unfortunately depreciated the minute you drove it out of the dealership lot.  In order to keep the car in tip-top shape, after spending the initial amount for the vehicle, you probably will be making car payments for many months, if not years, afterward.   And, even though your vehicle loses value every year you have it, you must keep it insured and you must maintain it regularly.  Coincidentally, the more that you drive the vehicle, the better off that vehicle is, because if it sits for long periods of time, electrical issues sometimes develop and you will then be spending money for vehicle repairs.
  • Though you might be diligent in maintaining your vehicle, eventually, the breakdowns and electrical issues begin happening more frequently.  In despair, you realize that the payment for constant repairs has become cost-prohibitive and you make the decision that the vehicle must go as it is unsafe and costing too much to keep it any longer.
  • The next, and near-final phase for your vehicle, is to take it to a car recycling facility.  In days gone by, most cars were taken directly to a junkyard where they were stripped of their most-salvageable parts and useful components, but now the trend is to completely reduce the car to a much safer and more-salvageable end product.  Not only is vehicle recycling enable the vehicle body to be repurposed, but useful parts may be stripped from the car, cleaned up and resold.  Such useful parts would include alloy wheels, recyclable rubber, plastics and metals.  A car recycling plant will turn rubber or plastics into granules made of those respective components which can then be used for many modern products.
  • After the vehicle has been stripped of any valuable parts, the remainder of the vehicle is then crushed into blocks.  The blocks are then melted down in special furnaces, where, after the waste is removed, the “good” steel is left.  This recycled steel will then be used to manufacture new cars or other products.

Not all cars go this route

While cars of yesteryear lasted longer because our grandfathers, fathers… and maybe even you, were handier about taking care of routine vehicle maintenance, and took pride in that fact, but today’s vehicles  are much more complicated and need the assistance of the dealership’s service department to keep it humming along for as many years as possible.

If you faithfully follow the manufacturer’s suggested plan for vehicle maintenance, unless it is a certifiable “lemon”, your car will reward you with many long years of service.  Perhaps you might even be able to donate your car to a worthy organization, so that others, less fortunate than yourself, will be able to enjoy the vehicle for many years to come.  There are several charities that are happy to take your vehicle off your hands to provide reliable transportation to a lucky recipient in one of their many charitable organizations.

A certifiable clunker

Perhaps you drove your vehicle to the ground, turning that odometer over once, and maybe even a second time, and you know it’s just time to part with that “baby” and get a new one.  While you might be in tune with your vehicle’s quirks and know how to deal with them, that doesn’t always mean that the next car owner is willing to take on that headache.  If your vehicle is beyond rehabbing, then perhaps it is time to part with it for the price of scrap metal. A NJ car recycling company will be able to ensure that your car does not damage the environment in its afterlife.