Twin Cities recyclers like Merritt's are paid by scrap mills by the gross ton — not by the vehicle. The 2026 spread is roughly $200 to $260 per ton of shredded auto body, which translates to about $0.09 to $0.12 per pound. Multiply that by your vehicle's curb weight, add the catalytic converter, subtract the tow, and you have within $50 of a realistic offer. Here is the full math.
The two numbers that matter
When mills quote a recycler, they use two ratings:
- HMS 1 & 2 (Heavy Melting Steel) — clean, sized, no contaminants. Yards rarely deliver auto hulks at this grade because of the wiring, plastics, and trim that comes along for the ride.
- Shredded auto body (ASR / "shred") — what you get after a vehicle goes through a hammer mill. This is the price that actually drives Minnesota junk-car offers. As of early 2026 it sits at $200 to $260 per gross ton in the Upper Midwest.
1 gross ton = 2,240 pounds. (Yes, that is heavier than the "short ton" of 2,000 lb. American mills use gross tons for ferrous scrap.) So $230/ton works out to roughly $0.103 per pound of shred-grade steel.
Quick weight-to-cash translation
| Vehicle curb weight | Approx. raw shred value at $230/ton | Class examples |
|---|---|---|
| 2,500 lb | ~$257 | Compact economy car (Fit, Yaris, older Civic) |
| 3,000 lb | ~$308 | Compact sedan (Corolla, Sentra) |
| 3,500 lb | ~$359 | Mid-size sedan (Camry, Accord, Fusion) |
| 4,000 lb | ~$411 | Full-size sedan, compact crossover |
| 4,500 lb | ~$462 | Full-size SUV, half-ton pickup |
| 5,500 lb | ~$565 | Full-size pickup, large SUV (Tahoe, Yukon) |
| 7,500 lb | ~$770 | 3/4-ton or 1-ton diesel pickup |
That is the raw steel half of the offer. The other half is what gets pulled before the hulk goes to shred.
Catalytic converters: the dollars per pound that change everything
An intact factory catalytic converter contains palladium, rhodium, and platinum. The metals inside a single cat are typically worth more than the entire ton of steel surrounding them. Here is the 2026 range we are seeing per unit (recycler's wholesale rates — what we get from the cat refiner, before our margin):
| Converter type | 2026 typical refiner value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Standard small-car cat (4-cyl, post-2000) | $80 – $180 | Most common — Civic, Corolla, Camry, Focus |
| Larger V6 / V8 cat | $150 – $300 | Pickup trucks, full-size SUVs |
| "Pre-cat" / mini-cat on dual-bank exhaust | $40 – $90 each | Some German and Japanese V6 / V8 cars have 2 to 4 of these |
| Diesel particulate filter (DPF) | $400 – $900 | Post-2008 diesel pickups; volatile pricing |
| Aftermarket "direct-fit" cat | $0 – $20 | Almost no precious metal — essentially scrap pipe |
| Cut-off / gutted cat (no shell) | $0 | Has no recovery value at all |
Rhodium has been the price driver since 2019 — spot has ranged from $4,000 to $20,000 per ounce. When rhodium spikes, cat prices spike with it. When rhodium pulls back, so does the cat. Reputable recyclers (us included) lock in cat prices for 24 to 48 hours so the number you are quoted does not move while we are en route.
How to estimate your car's curb weight
The most reliable source is the sticker on the driver-side door jamb — every modern vehicle has one. Look for "GVWR" (gross vehicle weight rating — too high, includes payload) and "Curb Weight" or "Shipping Weight" (this is the dry weight you want). Add 100 to 150 lb for fluids if the line says "shipping" rather than "curb."
If the sticker is illegible, the next-best source is the manufacturer's spec sheet for that model year. A quick web search of "[year] [make] [model] curb weight" almost always returns the number within 5%.
Worked example: 2008 Honda Civic LX
Let's walk a real vehicle through the math:
- Curb weight: 2,800 lb (1.25 gross tons).
- Shred value at $230/ton: 1.25 × $230 = $287.
- Catalytic converter (standard 4-cylinder Civic): $135.
- Battery, alternator, starter — typically pulled for parts: +$40.
- Aluminum wheels (if not steel): +$25.
- Tow + dispatch to Twin Cities address: – $60.
- Yard margin: – $50.
- Offer to seller: ~$377.
That tracks with what we are typically paying for non-running 2008 Civics this year — $350 to $425, depending on condition.
What about aluminum, copper, and other non-ferrous metal?
A vehicle is roughly 65% to 75% steel by weight. The rest is:
- Aluminum: 6 to 12%. Engine blocks, transmission cases, wheels, hoods on some newer cars. Aluminum scrap is currently around $0.55 to $0.70 per pound — about 5x the steel rate.
- Plastics: 10 to 15%. Zero recovery value — these get separated and landfilled or thermally processed.
- Copper (wiring harness): 30 to 60 lb per vehicle. Copper is the second-most-valuable metal in the car after the cat's precious metals — around $3.50 to $4.20/lb in 2026.
- Lead (battery): 30 lb. Worth ~$0.30 to $0.45 per pound at the battery recycler.
- Rubber (tires): Disposal cost — Minnesota charges yards $2 to $5 per tire to recycle them.
Most of the non-ferrous value is rolled into the offer at the yard level. Sellers do not typically itemize unless they are stripping the car themselves (we do not recommend it — the labor rarely pencils out).
Tracking the scrap market in real time
If you want to time the market — and the market does swing 20% to 30% over the course of a year — the two free signals worth watching:
- American Metal Market (AMM) publishes weekly Midwest #1 HMS and shredded steel prices.
- Rhodium spot price on any precious-metals tracker. When it spikes, catalytic converter values move within days.
In practice, most sellers do not have the luxury of waiting six months for a better market. The right time to sell is when you have decided you are done with the car — every month it sits in the driveway, it depreciates further and the tow eventually becomes mandatory anyway.
Get the real number for your vehicle
Plug your vehicle's curb weight and cat condition into the math above for a ballpark. For a firm, written quote that holds at pickup, call 763-533-2775 — we run the numbers in 90 seconds and dispatch a tow the same day across the Twin Cities metro.
