cars · Ontario

Where to sell cars and vehicles in Ottawa

3 businesses in and around Ottawa that buy used cars from the public — what each takes, and whether you are offered a purchase, a consignment or a loan.

Verified 2026-09-24 from each organization's own website. We are not affiliated with anyone listed here, nobody pays to be included, and we receive nothing if you sell to them.

How to tell what you have got

Before you call anyone, two minutes with the object settles most of it. None of this needs an expert — it needs a flashlight and a look at the back.

  • A complete non-running car or light truck, still on four tiresAll four wheels on. Engine and transmission still in it. VIN plate at the base of the windshield readable. Doors and hood present. If you can read the VIN and count four tires, you have something to hand over.
  • A car that still starts and drives, however badlyIt turns over and will move under its own power onto a trailer. Under 12 years old. Under about 250,000 km. No structural rust through the sills or spring perches.
  • Alloy wheels, a spare set of winter tires on rims, a tow hitch, a roof box, a recent battery — stored separately in the garageIt is already off the vehicle and on the garage floor. If it is still bolted to the car, leave it.
  • British Columbia only: a vehicle still insured in BC and still driveableCount six months backwards from the day you apply. If the insurance lapsed at any point in that window, or the car will not drive today, you do not qualify.

Rarely worth anything

Not a rule, and not a reason to bin something without asking. These are the things people most often expect to be worth money and find are not.

  • A stripped shell — engine or transmission pulled, wheels off, sitting on blocks or on its brake discs
  • Any vehicle with a lien or encumbrance registered against it
  • A vehicle with an open insurance claim against it
  • A car still registered to a parent who has died, before the estate paperwork exists
  • An Ontario vehicle branded "irreparable" — worth nothing as a car
  • A vehicle a tow truck cannot physically reach
  • Loose tires off their rims, and the shelf of old oil, antifreeze and brake fluid
Licence plates travel with the driver, not the vehicle Ontario

On a sale the seller keeps the licence plates and the plate portion of the permit, and gives the buyer the vehicle portion of the owner's permit with the completed and signed Application for Transfer on the back, an original signed and dated bill of sale, and a safety standards certificate where one is required.

Read the rule →
Vehicles are branded none, salvage, irreparable or rebuilt, and the brand governs what you can do with the car Ontario

Under the mandatory vehicle branding program, a vehicle branded irreparable "has been written-off as a total loss", "can only be used for parts or scrap" and "cannot be driven again in Ontario" — it remains sellable for parts and scrap but can never be registered for road use. A salvage vehicle has also been a total loss but may be repaired; to be reclassified as rebuilt it must undergo and pass a structural inspection at a registered DriveON Vehicle Inspection Centre, with photographs of the damage and detailed invoices for the major components used. Only vehicles branded none or rebuilt can be driven on Ontario roads. Owners have 90 days to appeal a salvage or irreparable brand assigned in Ontario.

Read the rule →
A scrapped vehicle must be formally discarded with the SAAQ Quebec

Discard the vehicle online through SAAQclic if it is registered to an individual, or in person at a SAAQ service outlet. Where the vehicle goes to a scrap dealer or recycler, the dealer-recycler "will give you an attestation of transaction, which you must present at one of our service outlets"; ownership then transfers to the dealer-recycler. You are issued a new registration certificate marked "Mise au rancart". You must remove the licence plate: you "can destroy it so that nobody can use it or keep it for up to 3 years to register a vehicle that requires a licence plate of the same category."

Read the rule →
Your registration stays with you, not the vehicle Alberta

An Alberta registration can be transferred to another vehicle you own. To do it, bring to a registry agent "acceptable identification", "proof of ownership of the new vehicle" and "proof of valid insurance 'pink card'". Alberta issues no separate paper title, so the registration certificate is the ownership document.

Read the rule →
A detached catalytic converter is regulated metal, even though a whole car is not British Columbia

BC's regulated metals are items substantially made of non-ferrous metal — aluminum, copper including brass and bronze, lead, magnesium, nickel and zinc — together with a specific list of scrap items that includes utility wire, traffic signals, street lighting equipment, sewer grates, guardrails, grave markers, construction site scrap metal and "a catalytic converter that is not attached to an exhaust system." Car batteries are noted as not regulated. The practical consequence for a seller is that cutting the converter out turns one transaction into two, and the detached part is the regulated one.

Read the rule →
Certified recyclers must remove hazardous materials before the shell is shredded Canada (industry certification, not statute)

The Canadian Auto Recyclers' Environmental Code, developed from the National Code of Practice written for Environment Canada in 2008, requires removal and proper management of reusable parts, batteries, mercury switches, oils, fluids, coolants, gasoline and refrigerants before metal recycling. Certification requires an independent audit, and Automotive Recyclers of Canada makes maintaining it a condition of membership for direct members. Pre-2002 vehicles commonly contain mercury switches in convenience lighting.

Read the rule →

3 places in Ottawa that take cars

CFT Group (scrap metal recycling)

Paid by weight Not stated — ask
Buyscopper wire and tubing, aluminum cans, siding and extrusions, steel beams, rebar and structural steel, stainless steel appliances and fixtures, brass valves, fittings and plumbing, lead batteries and sheet lead, cast iron, zinc, nickel and specialty alloys, end-of-life vehicles, industrial equipment, demolition scrap
The dealYou bring material to the yard and are paid on weight and grade. Their site states you will "receive a competitive payout based on current market prices - same-day payment guaranteed." The payment method (cash versus cheque) is not stated. Prices per pound or tonne are not published and move with commodity markets, so phone for the day's price before loading a truck. For large quantities their site says they "can arrange container drop-off and pickup at your location."
Where6682 Bank St, Ottawa, ON K0A 2P0
Scrap is paid by weight and grade, not by what the item cost new. Appliances containing refrigerant are handled differently from plain steel, so confirm acceptance before hauling one in.
Visit their site →1-800-263-2344

Kenny U-Pull Ottawa

Buys outright May collect — ask
Buyscars, running or not, trucks, vans, end-of-life and damaged vehicles
The dealYou request a free quote, and their site states they provide "free towing" and "cash on the spot". No price range is published, since it depends on the vehicle. Their site asks you to "have your license and vehicle details ready" when you call.
Where6638 Bank St, Metcalfe, ON K0A 2P0
On liens their site says: "If there is an active lien on the vehicle, you usually need to resolve it before a licensed scrap yard can legally purchase the vehicle," and that an undisclosed lien may mean the transaction "may be delayed or cancelled once the lien is discovered." Selling a vehicle in Ontario also means dealing with the plates and the registration.
Visit their site →343-321-4419

Palmer Recycling

Paid by weight Not stated — ask
Buysold vehicles, appliances, copper, brass, aluminum, electronics, computers, scrap metal generally
The dealA weigh-in scrap yard in south Ottawa that buys "all scrap metal". Their site does not state the payment method or the price basis, so ask when you call. For several tonnes or more they supply a roll-off container, and they will collect heavy equipment over about 4 tonnes that cannot be brought in.
Where3191 Albion Rd. South, Ottawa, ON K1V 8Y3
Their site states the scale closes 15 minutes before closing, so arriving at the posted closing time is too late. No prices are published; confirm the rate for your metal by phone before making the trip.
Visit their site →613-521-5971
We could not verify this city’s municipal rules for second-hand dealers and pawnbrokers from an official source, so we state none. Check with the City or the province before relying on anything you read about them elsewhere.

Not sure what you have got?

Photograph it and we will tell you what it is and what it is worth — including when the honest answer is that it is worth nothing.

See what it's worth Everything in Ottawa →

Other things in Ottawa

electronics5 placesclothes9 placesbooks5 placesscrap metal4 places

Cars in other cities

Edmonton3 placesHamilton4 placesKitchener–Waterloo3 placesLondon5 placesSaskatoon3 placesToronto3 placesVancouver3 placesVictoria3 placesWinnipeg5 places