OT - Value of a used car as parts

ehhhh... isn't that what salvage yards do all day long?

I guess the BIG question here is how much you pay for the used car.

LLB

Sometimes the sum of the parts is worth less than the whole. Whats worth more to someone with a busted trans a 2k car or a $600 tranny?

Off the lot used car parted out? No highly doubtful. Find a "deal" or goto the dealer auctions, done every day. Volume is where the money is of course, the below reply was spot on, junk yards make money but they do it with relatively high volume.

I helped my sister do it when her car was totaled from body damage, good engine trans and a bunch of other body components where fine. Buy back price was cheap though.

This depends a lot on time and demand. If you have the time to wait and keep the parts listed until they sell you have your self a deal.

The down side is you have a junk car sitting around.

I have purchased wrecks for their salvage value, but the first value was for me. anything else is a bonus.

Oh yes. Some cars are hard to find in junkyards, and if you do a good job of finding buyers (think specialty cars and enthusiast owners) you can definitely make cash.

But it's a crapload of work, you spend a huge amount of effort boxing, taping, addressing and making trips to the Fedex/UPS/USPS, you're left with a busted shell to dispose of, and as you sell more parts the rate of sales tapers off and you're almost always left with a pile of parts that never found a home. Not to mention that you have a huge pile about the size of a car that is taking up space, looks like hell, and leaks all kind of smelly and nasty fluids. IMHO it's best left to the pros or to enthusiasts who have a very developed understanding of the price/value of used parts and how to find buyers.

Dave

I think htis is done all the time, by operators who obtain cars, "without documentation" and cut them into parts for sale. Sometimes they even get caught, too.

The price of scrap steel is up, .06/ lb here.

John

It's one of those very tempting, apparently good ideas that wind up not being so good, as others have pointed out. Unless you enjoy the process, AND have oodles and oodles of space. And more space.

I got a 1990 Mazda 929S, great car (Mazda's knockoff of the side-paneled Mercedes 450), finally ready for its resting place, with some *very* expensive aluminum rims, great stereo, that I know I could get good $$ for. But even THAT is going to be a real pita.

What to do?

Cry, I guess....

On 9 Apr 2007 17:55:38 -0700, with neither quill nor qualm, "stone" quickly quoth:

New, parts for a vehicle run over $100k. The car goes for $20k off the showroom floor. For used cars, you have to have a buyer for all the parts, though. I'm trying to get my neighbor to sell her old 86 Merc Cougar to a parts hunter for more than she'd get scrapping it.

Buy it (or accept it) from a private party, not a used car lot.

Yes, quite often, too. Mom couldn't give away her old '88 Cadillac but the junk yards want over a grand for a running motor and tranny combo. I was thinking it would make a wonderful backhoe motor (Ar, Ar, Ar) but didn't want to drive it up here from NorCal. She got $200 for it from the gardener at her residence.

--- Is it time for your medication or mine?

Too bad it's not a '76 cougar. Or better, a 72-73. I had a '79 (the Yacht), loved it, shoulda kept it. :( Before the compression dropped to about 2.5 to 1, the gas mileage wasn't bad!