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Car selling craziness
Fozwazerus
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I need to sell a car. Thar be some complications though, so it isn't so easy as listing it somewhere.
First, some background:
The car is a 1997 Nissan Sentra with about 140k miles on it. It currently does not run. One half of the muffler pipe detatched and drags on the ground. The entire muffler system was new a year ago. Also, the battery may be dead or the alternator is shite since it won't start (I installed a new one of both a year ago, so I don't know which is broken.) It has a broken rear right window from a break-in and a ripped out radio. Otherwise it is fine (ha) and used to run great.
I registered the car in June 2007 in NY. The title never arrived and I said fudge it, I need to be steppin right quick. I drove it to CA, where it currently resides. In January 2008 it stopped running and I took it off the road. I've been biking to work ever since. Now I'm sick of the thing collecting dust in the carport. Someone enjoys drawing dongers on it in the dust every once in a while. It has been broken into twice, and god help me sometimes I wish someone would just steal it. I wouldn't mind getting something for it though.
More background that complicates things: I can't sell it without a title, unless I sell it for scrap. I just called the NYS DMV recently and found out the title is on hold. It was never issued, and this was over a year ago. ALSO, it is in my brother's name. What the poop is that? I filled it out in my damn name. The DMV is going to take another 1-2 weeks to obtain the file, review it, and call me back.
Also, for shits N giggles I'll include this part: the first break in resulted in a broken window and my shitty radio being ripped out. Thanks for leaving all that shit hanging out douches. Someone broke into it a second time and moved all the garbage from my trunk to my back seat. Yea, maybe they were high, or maybe they just saw all my shit and said goddamn, what a shitty car. I leave it unlocked, since the car is shite. Jesus christ try the handle before you break a window.
So the short version of whats wrong with it: Hanging muffler pipe, broken rear right window, stolen radio & wires hanging out all over the place, possibly failed battery or alternator.
Is this thing worth fixing? I imagine everything would be about a grand to have a shop do it. I live in Monterey, and cars sell for alot. Similar vehicles sell for 1500 - 2500. Should I bother fixing it to sell? Or should I sell it as is? Will someone buy this thing for 500? I see people posting non-running cars and trucks on craigslist for 500-800 sometimes, but I don't know if they sell. What can I get for it if I sell it for scrap, and how is it done?
First, some background:
The car is a 1997 Nissan Sentra with about 140k miles on it. It currently does not run. One half of the muffler pipe detatched and drags on the ground. The entire muffler system was new a year ago. Also, the battery may be dead or the alternator is shite since it won't start (I installed a new one of both a year ago, so I don't know which is broken.) It has a broken rear right window from a break-in and a ripped out radio. Otherwise it is fine (ha) and used to run great.
I registered the car in June 2007 in NY. The title never arrived and I said fudge it, I need to be steppin right quick. I drove it to CA, where it currently resides. In January 2008 it stopped running and I took it off the road. I've been biking to work ever since. Now I'm sick of the thing collecting dust in the carport. Someone enjoys drawing dongers on it in the dust every once in a while. It has been broken into twice, and god help me sometimes I wish someone would just steal it. I wouldn't mind getting something for it though.
More background that complicates things: I can't sell it without a title, unless I sell it for scrap. I just called the NYS DMV recently and found out the title is on hold. It was never issued, and this was over a year ago. ALSO, it is in my brother's name. What the poop is that? I filled it out in my damn name. The DMV is going to take another 1-2 weeks to obtain the file, review it, and call me back.
Also, for shits N giggles I'll include this part: the first break in resulted in a broken window and my shitty radio being ripped out. Thanks for leaving all that shit hanging out douches. Someone broke into it a second time and moved all the garbage from my trunk to my back seat. Yea, maybe they were high, or maybe they just saw all my shit and said goddamn, what a shitty car. I leave it unlocked, since the car is shite. Jesus christ try the handle before you break a window.
So the short version of whats wrong with it: Hanging muffler pipe, broken rear right window, stolen radio & wires hanging out all over the place, possibly failed battery or alternator.
Is this thing worth fixing? I imagine everything would be about a grand to have a shop do it. I live in Monterey, and cars sell for alot. Similar vehicles sell for 1500 - 2500. Should I bother fixing it to sell? Or should I sell it as is? Will someone buy this thing for 500? I see people posting non-running cars and trucks on craigslist for 500-800 sometimes, but I don't know if they sell. What can I get for it if I sell it for scrap, and how is it done?
Fozwazerus on
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Honestly, I'm a lazy bum and recently abandoned a car rather than go through the trouble of offloading it. The development I lived in was happy to get rid of it for me - they probably sold it for a couple hundred to a junkyard or something. My car was even running - though I know it needed a new radiator and probably a new transmission. I just didn't feel like going through the trouble of selling it privately. I did that once before and it was quite a hassle.
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Anyways, I think you should junk it as Disco and Elin have suggested. Trust me man, some of those are gonna cost you an arm and a leg. Try to get a tax write off as Disco suggested.
If the alternator's dead then maybe it's more of a hassle then you want to deal with, but if you get it running I'd think you could get $1500-$2K. Shitboxes be popular with gas so expensive. Once you get it running, clean it up real nice, wait til it's not so damn hot, and sell it.
How does one go about either
A. selling to a junkyard, or
B. finding a non-scam place to donate it to. I'm a little hesitant to do B since it doesn't run, and what would a charity do with a broken car? That just sounds like a hassle to them, and not even a donation. "Here take this broken car that would cost 1500 to fix." Maybe there is one that just sells it to the junkyard and takes the profits. Anyone know a reputable way to do this?
They put in the effort to get it fixed, then sell it to generate some cash. The broken window can probably be fixed for about $20 getting a used window from a pick-n-pull type salvage yard. If the only thing that is wrong with the exhaust is the mounting, that also can be fixed for anywhere from free to maybe $100 depending on how professionally they want to do it. The battery/alternator is a bit more expensive, but even both a new battery and a refurbished alternator can be had for less than $700. A new radio is optional and pretty cheap.
The end result in that the charity spends maybe half a day of a volunteer's time, and can turn around and sell the car for at least double what they put into it.
as I am generally only a well of bad advice, I do not have any specific pointers. =P especially since both A and B would probably vary depending on where you are. I think the general idea when it comes to donating crapped out cars is that, whoever you donate it to gets a free car, and whether they junk it or fix it up, that's their prerogative... and as for you, you get to write off the full Blue Book value of the car, which is generally much higher than what a junkyard would pay for it. However, then you have to fill out the 'long form' when you do your taxes, and you may find out at the end that the short form still would have given you a higher rebate or whatever, despite your 'large charitable donation'.
Hopefully someone with more specific info can speak up. otherwise I can just suggest googling around about it.