cars · British Columbia

Where to sell cars and vehicles in Vancouver

3 businesses in and around Vancouver 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.

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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.

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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."

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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.

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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.

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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 Vancouver that take cars

ABC Recycling

Paid by weight Bring it to them
Buyssteel, cast iron and wrought iron, copper, brass, aluminum, stainless steel, lead, zinc and nickel alloys, household appliances, car parts, end-of-life vehicles
The dealYou drive in, staff direct you and help weigh the load, and you are paid by weight at the day's rate for each metal. No appointment needed. Their own advice is to separate your metals as much as possible, because "collective loads are paid for the lowest commodity" — a mixed load is paid at the rate of the cheapest thing in it. Cash is paid in $5 increments, and they state they always offer the full amount by cheque as an alternative.
Where8081 Meadow Ave, Burnaby, BC V3N 2V9
You must drive in with a four-wheel vehicle and produce a valid driver's licence or other government-issued ID — bicycles, motorcycles and taxis are not allowed, so you cannot walk or cycle a load in. Prices move with global metal markets and are not published in advance, so phone for the day's rate before driving across town. Sorting copper, brass and aluminum out of a mixed load before you go is the single biggest thing that changes what you are paid.
Visit their site →604-522-9727

Able Auctions

Consignment Not stated — ask
Buysantiques and collectibles, jewellery, fitness equipment, office furniture, restaurant equipment, industrial and commercial equipment, vehicles, retail stock and unclaimed freight
The dealAn auction house and liquidator rather than a shop: they sell your goods on your behalf and you are paid after the sale, not on the day. Their site says they can "help you liquidate your assets either at your facility or ours," which makes them one of the few options for a whole houseful at once. Commission rates, buyer's premium and seller's fees are not published anywhere on their site — you must ask.
WhereLangley North: 19757 92A Avenue, Langley BC V1M 3B3, 604-881-2253. Langley South: 22652 Fraser Hwy, Langley BC V2Z 2T8, 604-881-2253. Surrey: Unit 101 - 11539 136th Street, Surrey BC V3R 0G3, 604-325-2253. Also onsite auctions in Nanaimo, 250-751-1250.
No commission, buyer's premium or reserve policy is published, so get the full fee schedule in writing before you commit goods. Auction proceeds are uncertain by design: a piece can sell for far less than a dealer would have paid outright.
Visit their site →604-881-2253

Roath's Pawn Shop Ltd.

Buys or lends Not stated — ask
Buysgold, silver and platinum jewellery, diamonds and precious stones, laptops, gaming consoles and LED TVs, power, hand and air tools, generators, power washers, boat motors, guitars and amplifiers, ATVs, motorcycles, jet skis, boats
The dealTwo separate transactions, and the difference matters. They buy outright — their site says they purchase gold, diamonds and watches for cash — and they make pawn loans. Their own words on the pawn side: "If the customer does not want a loan, they can also choose to sell their item to the pawnbroker." The pawn loan is secured credit. They publish loan principals between $10 and $100,000 based on collateral, no credit check, a term running 0 to 90 days with payment due at 3 months, a flat rate of 7.5% per month, a stated APR of 90%, and a one-week grace period on loan items. Their own loan calculator example shows a $100 loan over 3 months carrying a monthly interest charge of roughly $7.50. If a pawn loan is not repaid, the item is forfeited and the shop keeps and resells it — a pawn is not a sale, and you do not receive the balance of the item's value.
Where13573 King George Blvd, Surrey, BC V3T 2V1
The 90% APR is the cost of borrowing, not a discount on the item. They also buy outright, so you can ask for both numbers — the loan offer and the purchase price — and compare them before deciding. In-house staff include a gemologist and a goldsmith.
Visit their site →604-584-4010
MUNICIPAL RULES ARE WHAT ACTUALLY AFFECT YOU. I could not verify the claim that British Columbia has no pawnbroker statute in force, so that claim has been removed rather than published. What is confirmed is Vancouver's Secondhand Dealers and Pawnbrokers By-law No. 2807, consolidated for convenience to 16 September 2025 (amended to include By-law No. 14443), read directly from the City's own consolidated text at https://bylaws.vancouver.ca/2807c.pdf. BRING PHOTO ID OR YOU WILL BE TURNED AWAY. Both secondhand dealers (buying outright) and pawnbrokers (lending) must confirm your identity by "picture identification" and record a complete description of it and the name of the authority that issued it (ss. 2.2(b), 3.2(b)). The by-law defines picture identification (s. 1.2) as one of the following, bearing a photograph of the holder: a valid driver's licence issued by a Canadian province or territory; a BC Services Card or other photo identity card issued by the Province of British Columbia; a passport issued by a legitimate government; a certificate of Indian status; a certificate of Canadian citizenship; a conditional release card issued by Correctional Services Canada; or a valid Canadian permanent resident card. A credit card, a bus pass or an expired licence does not qualify. The dealer must also record your name, residence or street address and birth date; a complete description of the property including make, model and serial number; the price paid or the amount advanced; the precise date and hour; and any identifying marks (ss. 2.2, 3.2). Other confirmed by-law facts: - You must be at least 18. A dealer must not purchase from, and a pawnbroker must not take a pawn from, anyone under 18 (ss. 2.15, 3.15). - No evening deals. A dealer must not purchase property, and a pawnbroker must not take property in pawn, between 6 p.m. of one calendar day and 6 a.m. of the next (ss. 2.13, 3.13). A shop may be open, but it cannot take your item in. - Anything whose serial number or other identifying marking has been wholly or partially tampered with or removed will be refused outright (ss. 2.14, 3.14). - Police reporting is daily. Shops on electronic registers transmit entries to the Chief Constable electronically (ss. 2.11, 3.11); shops on handwritten registers must hand-deliver a photocopy to the Chief Constable at the Vancouver Police Department, 3585 Graveley Street, between 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. on each business day (ss. 2.10, 3.10). Registers are kept within BC for seven years after the last entry (ss. 2.9(b), 3.9(b)). Selling second-hand goods in Vancouver is a recorded transaction, not an anonymous one. - Holding period. A shop cannot repair, alter, dispose of or remove an item for the longer of 35 business days (electronic register), 49 business days (handwritten register), or the number of business days the police direct, not exceeding 90 days (ss. 2.19, 3.20). If you pawned rather than sold, s. 3.19 preserves your right to reclaim the item inside that window by paying the debt and interest owing. - A shop licensed as both must physically separate purchased goods from pawned goods and individually tag each item to show the date and whether it was purchased or taken in pawn (s. 2.21) — a useful sign of a properly licensed operator. - In the Downtown Eastside, both secondhand dealers and pawnbrokers may only remain open from 6:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. (ss. 2.23, 3.21). Burnaby, Surrey and Richmond license under their own bylaws, so holding periods and reporting hours differ there; I did not read those bylaws, so call ahead if your shop is outside the City of Vancouver. SCRAP YARDS ASK FOR ID TOO. Richmond Steel Recycling states all material suppliers must provide valid government-issued photo ID to sell scrap metal. ABC Recycling requires a valid driver's licence or other government-issued ID and that you drive in with a four-wheel vehicle — bicycles, motorcycles and taxis are not allowed.

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.

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