cars · British Columbia

Where to sell cars and vehicles in Victoria

3 businesses in and around Victoria 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.

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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.

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3 places in Victoria that take cars

Erik's Unwanted Vehicle Removal

Quote first May collect — ask
BuysScrap and junk vehicles, Copper, aluminum, steel and iron, Auto parts, Unwanted batteries
The dealThey quote on the vehicle or the metal and pick it up. Their site says that in many cases where there is still value to your scrap metal they may also offer cash for it - note the conditional wording, cash is not guaranteed on every load. The site advertises a range of $70 to $2000 for vehicles or scrap metal; that is an advertising range spanning almost thirty-fold, not a quote, so the only number that matters is the one they give you for your specific vehicle.
Where#2, 608 Esquimalt Rd, Victoria, BC V9A 3L4
Their site does not state what ownership paperwork or identification is needed to hand over a vehicle. Ask on the phone what they need from the registered owner, and get the cash figure confirmed before the tow truck is booked rather than after the car is on the deck.
Visit their site →(250) 884-2537

Malahat Auto Wrecking / Cash 4 Junkers

Quote first May collect — ask
BuysJunk, scrap and non-running cars and trucks, Recycled auto parts
The dealThey quote per vehicle and, in their own words, pay you your cash on the spot during pickup. No price schedule is published anywhere on either site - the offer is per vehicle.
Where240 Okotoks Rd, Malahat, BC V0R 2L0
Neither site states what ownership documents or ID are required, and neither states in plain words that towing is free, so confirm both on the phone. Note also that the Malahat Auto Wrecking site links to Cash 4 Junkers as its own junk-car removal service, so a quote from each is not two independent quotes - ring an unconnected buyer if you want a genuine comparison.
Visit their site →250-478-4751

Williams Scrap Iron & Metals

Paid by weight Not stated — ask
BuysCopper #1 (new pipe and bare wire) and Copper #2, Brass, aluminum and car rims, Stainless steel, Lead-acid batteries, Electric motors, Catalytic converters, Steel and iron, End-of-life vehicles, Household and demolition scrap
Won't takeSafes, Used oils, Garbage, Wood, Acetylene tanks
The dealPaid by weight and grade. Their site publishes no prices and tells you to call the office to get their current prices, because rates move with the commodity market - so phone the morning you plan to go. They also offer bins and containers and will pick up household or industrial scrap for larger jobs.
WhereTwo yards, and which one you go to changes what you get paid. Main yard: 2690 Munns Rd, Victoria, BC V8T 4K9, 250-479-8335 - take copper, brass and other non-ferrous metal here. Millstream yard: 600 Terlson Ln, Langford, BC V9B 6E2, 250-391-3066 - their site says iron and steel only. Hours Monday to Friday 8am-4:30pm and Saturday 9am-12pm, closed statutory holidays and long weekends; the site says the Millstream yard is open 7 days a week. Family-owned since 1960, now third generation.
Bring government photo ID. Their site states that, abiding by the BC laws and regulations, they ask customers to have a government ID when bringing in their material. This is not shop policy dressed up as law - see the provincial Act in the regulation note. Separating copper, brass and aluminum out of mixed steel before you arrive is what decides whether you are paid non-ferrous or scrap-steel rates.
Visit their site →(250) 479-8335
CONFIRMED AND BINDING: SCRAP METAL. British Columbia's Metal Dealers and Recyclers Act, SBC 2011 c. 22 (https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/11022_01) governs the sale of "regulated metal" - defined as an item substantially made of non-ferrous metal, excluding used metal cans or containers for food, beverages or paint, and metal domestic or household products normally recycled to avoid waste. The Act's definition of non-ferrous metal covers aluminum, copper (including brass and bronze), lead, magnesium, nickel and zinc, and expressly "does not include gold, platinum or silver". A person selling regulated metal must present prescribed identification to the dealer at the time of the transaction. The dealer must record a description of the metal (type, weight, distinguishing marks), the date, time and value of the transaction, the employee's name, and the seller's name, address, telephone number, a description of the identification presented, where the metal came from, the details of anyone who delivered it, and any vehicle used - and must then provide that information to the local police authority within the prescribed period. Practical effect: arriving at a Victoria yard with copper pipe or aluminum and no photo ID means being turned away, and you should be able to say where the metal came from. Note the carve-out: selling gold or silver jewellery, coins or bullion to a Fort Street dealer is NOT covered by this Act. NOT CONFIRMED - DO NOT TREAT AS LAW: PAWNBROKERS AND SECONDHAND DEALERS. We were not able to retrieve the text of any City of Victoria pawnbroker or secondhand-dealer bylaw, and we make no claim here about what provincial or municipal law requires of pawnbrokers, holding periods, or police reporting in Victoria. What we can document is what three businesses state on their own sites: The Bay Street Broker says that for pawns every transaction must be done with 2 pieces of ID; Williams Scrap Iron & Metals says that, abiding by BC laws and regulations, it asks customers to have government ID when bringing in material. Assume ID is required everywhere in this guide and that it will be recorded, and confirm any holding period or reporting rule with the shop itself.

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 Victoria →

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