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Long enough to know that most car problems sound worse than they are — and the ones that don’t, we’ll sort those too.
1st Auto Clear started as a family garage in Norwood. Three decades later, we’re still here — same address, same approach. We collect scrap cars across South London and the South East, and we run a full workshop for everything else. MOTs, brakes, diagnostics, air conditioning, tyres — if it’s got wheels and an engine, we’ve probably fixed one like it.
We’re not a call centre. We’re not a franchise. We’re the garage down the road that actually picks up the phone.
An Authorised Treatment Facility (ATF) is a vehicle processing site licensed by the Environment Agency to legally handle end-of-life vehicles. The licence isn't a rubber stamp — it requires specific equipment for fluid recovery, approved storage for hazardous materials, and ongoing compliance with environmental regulations.
Not all scrap dealers are ATFs. Many operate without the required licences, which means no Certificate of Destruction for you, no DVLA notification, and no guarantee your car isn't being stripped in someone's backyard.
All scrap cars collected by 1st Auto Clear in Norwood are processed through our ATF-licensed facility. You get a proper Certificate of Destruction, a clean DVLA record, and the knowledge that your car has been handled legally and responsibly.
The ELV (End of Life Vehicles) Regulations require a minimum 85% recovery rate and 80% recycling rate for every vehicle processed. We consistently exceed these targets — because doing it properly isn't a stretch goal, it's just how the process works when it's done right.
Every car goes through depollution first: all fluids drained and recovered, hazardous materials safely removed, tyres and batteries separated for specialist processing. Then usable parts are salvaged — a working alternator going into another car is better recycling than smelting it down. Finally the shell is shredded, with steel, aluminium, and other metals separated for raw material recycling.
It's not particularly exciting. It's just the right way to do it — and we think that should be the baseline, not a selling point. Every car we collect in Norwood goes through this exact process.
Free collection in Norwood. Same-day quotes, instant payment, and all the paperwork handled for you.