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It's a ~15 yr old car with almost 190k miles on it, transmission just could not go up the 4th gear, but still drivable locally. Some other minor problems but overall it was still a moving car.
Tried to sell it on CL while listing all the problems (want to be honest and sell it to someone who can deal with the fix), but only getting some inquiries and offers like $100 from some guy who said he can tow it as well. Now I'm leaning towards selling it to some junk yard maybe for parts and metal? ( I replaced quite a few parts about 2-3 years ago, so a lot of the parts are still in good shape) or maybe donate it.
Do you guys have any recommendation for this (junk yard close to Baltimore area or charity)? My neighbors donated to Purple Heart and Salvation Army and said good things about them.
Recently we were offered $60 and $80 for a non-mobile scrap car. They usually do not care about what new parts you may have put on it. If you have a new engine or transmission with a warranty, it might make a difference.
Charity donations - they sell the car and you get a deduction for whatever they get for it. They are not likely to get more than you can, so they sell for $60 you get a $60 donation. You might get $20 back from taxes out of that.
Parting out.
This is a PIA and then you have to figure out what to do with the remains. Scrap yard might take the carcass if you bring it to them, but if they have to pick it up, they might charge you. Be certain you make enough out of selling parts to cover that cost. Cannibalizing and selling parts is a PIA because you do not know if they are good. If you sell someone a part and it turns out to be no good, will you refund their money, or just &*(&*$Q them over? You also have to deal with packing, shipping, payment, and possibly tracking and paying sales tax. It does nto seem like you would get enough profit to be worthwhile.
Craiglist. There is a risk here. Some bad people come to case your house, or mug you or worse. Most will call, schedule an appointment and not show up. Then they will do it again and again if you let them. On the other hand, I got lucky with CL. I traded 3 broken/Scrap cars in exchange for a young mechanic to come fix a fourth one. I got a running car that woudl have cost more than it was worth to fix. I got rid of three broken cars and he got three projects to work on and possibly make a little money.I am a fan of the whole trading for services thing. I have a 1957 boat that I may try to trade for more mechanic work, or maybe some log splitting or something. Still risky, but seems less so. Is someone really going to come split five cords of logs just to case your house?
Also if you have one nearby it's worth dropping by Carmax and see what they offer. I got $1750 out of a car with 200k on it from them, but it was in great shape and working perfectly. Just such old high mileage cars go straight to auction they would never put on their own lot, so I would only expect a couple hundred.
If you go to a junkyard, they usually only pay you if you drive the car there. $100-200 tops. If they have to come out to pick up the car, it goes for free most often.
Donation? Least hassle, they pick the car up, sell it, and you get to claim whatever they sell it for. $100 sale, you get back $33 or so on our taxes?
CL sale? $100? Come pick it up. Risk is dealing with strangers who come to your house.
Sounds like not a lot of money to be made here. Just do what's the least hassle for you. Call up Karsforkids.com or some other service and have them pick up the car and donate it. I used this service once and was pretty hassle free. $100 isn't worth my time dealing with CL buyers and junkyards.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Sounds like a manual tranny?
pretty ez and cheap fix if it is a common vehicle.
Someone should want it, unless it is an 'orphan' / undesired vehicle.
Donating is fine and you get a little deduction (If you itemize your 1040)
Most donation vehicles have issues, they expect that.
4th gear is not a deal breaker, I have driven cars for many yrs with missing gears, even reverse.
There are others who do the same. you just need to find someone!
Realistic value, if it is a 'normal' commodity car, generally drive-able should be ~$300 - $500, so not worth too much hassle.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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We don't have a lot of wrecking yards left any more, but they will charge $50 to pick up a car, and pay $50-100 if you drive or tow it to them. You can do a lot better taking the tax deduction for blue book value when donating it, and they pick it up, running or not. I would never consider selling a car for $100 on CL, it's just too much hassle to deal with the scammers for such a small amount.
Thanks for all the advice. Just to clarify, it is an automatic car and in a rough interior shape (leather seats and leather door panel peeling and such). I do have a carmax nearby (still a good 15 min driving involving highway driving), that's why I was hesitant to go there considering the car could not go up to highway speed and not on highway for the past two years.
Now they changed the tax law, you can't claim kbb value anymore, it's how much they sell for if sell-able... I initially thought junk yard might be able to offer 300-400, sounds like too optimistic. I'm very much leaning to charity now..
Salvation amry, purple hearts and good will, three most heard recommendation (without too much neg experience)?
Sounds like a manual tranny?
pretty ez and cheap fix if it is a common vehicle.
Someone should want it, unless it is an 'orphan' / undesired vehicle.
Donating is fine and you get a little deduction (If you itemize your 1040)
Most donation vehicles have issues, they expect that.
4th gear is not a deal breaker, I have driven cars for many yrs with missing gears, even reverse.
There are others who do the same. you just need to find someone!
Realistic value, if it is a 'normal' commodity car, generally drive-able should be ~$300 - $500, so not worth too much hassle.
Had a few phone calls from self-claimed mechanic, duno if real of not. Both of them did not read my ad, and decide to cold call it, didn't even know if I was seeking for repair service or selling. None of them follow up despite claiming willingness to test drive. Only one more serious inquiry, but guy was expecting a "normal cheap commute car" and my honesty about the car might scare him off.
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