The West Midlands · city guide
Birmingham is the one city in the region where an older car can cost money simply by being driven into the centre. If the Clean Air Zone has changed your sums, this is the local route to scrapping a car properly.
Free collection
Start with the registration and the postcode where the car is parked.
Birmingham City Council covers the whole city, one of the largest local authorities in Europe. Its Clean Air Zone, in operation since June 2021, covers the roads inside the A4540 Middleway ring road, though not the Middleway itself. Cars that do not meet the Class D standard are charged daily to drive within it.
Beyond the centre, Birmingham is a city of suburbs, from the Victorian streets of Moseley and Kings Heath to the post-war estates of the outer districts. Longbridge, in the south-west, was home to car making for most of the twentieth century.
Use the government vehicle checker to see whether the car meets the standard. If it does not and you drive into the centre, add the charges to your sums.
Registration and postcode; describe any faults honestly.
A car collected on a recovery vehicle from inside the Middleway is not charged for being driven.
Tell the DVLA and cancel any residents' permit with the city council.
Residents’ parking schemes cover many streets close to the city centre and around busy destinations such as the hospitals and the university. In tight areas such as the Jewellery Quarter or near Edgbaston’s cricket ground on match days, plan a loading spot with the driver.
The city reaches well beyond the inner suburbs. To the south-west, Northfield and Longbridge, where car production at the old Austin works ended in 2005, have long residential roads with drives. To the north and east, districts such as Erdington, Castle Vale and Shard End sit close to the M6 and the A38(M).
The M5, M6 and M42 form a box around the city, so recovery vehicles can usually reach any district without crossing the centre. That matters if your car is outside the Clean Air Zone: collection never needs to involve the zone, and neither does the drive to the treatment facility.
Birmingham at a glance
Questions
Answers specific to scrapping a car here.
Birmingham City Council.
Not automatically. Any local schemes are run by the council; check its Clean Air Zone pages for what is currently available.
Nearby
Start with the registration and postcode. A licensed buyer covering your area comes back with an offer, and collection is free.