Car broke down - junk or sell?

[riverwed070707]

Finally decided to replace the 01 Civic. It was having some issues and I found someone with the car I wanted who was looking for an older Civic perfectly matching the description of mine. The deal was made and the trade was to take place Monday. I had one last road trip to make to my hometown. On my return Sunday, I threw an engine rod on the highway 100 miles from home Needless to say he no longer wanted my car -- I had sold it to him for $2000 and the engine is going to be about $2000 to replace. I paid the extra $2k to still purchase his car but my broken one is still at the shop while we decide what to do with it.

Car only has 108k miles but its a manual and is starting to have some transmission issues, plus as noted, now needs a new engine. DH called a couple people who take junk cars to recycle and they offered him around $150 for it... I really thought we might get something closer to at least $500. I suggested maybe we'd get more for it if we put it up for sale and someone parted it out rather than recycling it but DH seemed skeptical. I don't want to spend a lot of time messing with it but I also don't want to undercut what we can get for it... not that we want to take the time to part it out but the new tires alone are worth more than $150 and its got $50 worth of gas in the tank. Already frustrated with spending more than planned. Despite its repair needs its still a great little car. WWSAD?

[bigdaddybus]

I would put it in your local Craigslist for $750 as a "Mechanics Special" and say it is being offered for 2 weeks. Take the first offer over $500. If it doesnt sell in 2 weeks take the $150 for it and be done with it.

We have an internal company classified system where I work that would be perfect for this. If you have something like that available put it up there as well.

I know quite a few guys in my area (central IL) that would buy a car like this for $500 and put a junkyard motor in it for $300-400, do the labor themselves and try to sell it for a couple grand fixed. You need to find guys like this

[bjl584]

According to Kelly Blue Book you can sell the Civic for around $3900 assuming the engine is running.

http://www.kbb.com/honda/civic/2001-honda-civic/lx-sedan-4d/?condition=very-good&vehicleid=4402&intent=trade-in-sell&mileage=108000&category=sedan&options=171426%7ctrue&pricetype=private-party

If you have all the repairs done you could either keep the car as a second vehicle or sell it and do a little better than break even.

Or, you could sell it "as is" as the previous poster suggested for $1000 or less to a mechanic and be done with it.

[ua_guy]

If the interior and exterior are in decent shape, it will fly off of craigslist, even without a running engine.

I'd say list it for $1,000 and see if you get any bites. Post good pictures.

[klarose]

I am having the SAME EXACT problem right now.

Was getting ready to sell my car, engine died on me a couple days before.

Mine is also sitting at a shop. With a quote of $1,500 to $2,000 to fix, but of course it would be cheaper if you could do the work yourself.

Mechanic offered me $400 for it as is.

I said no. If fixed I can sell the car to $3,000 - $4,000.

I think I will put mine on Craiglist this week for $1,500. Someone may buy it and be able to put in a new engine, and have a nice car at a discount price.

If mine don't sell quickly as is I will go ahead and buy the engine and make $1,500 to $2,000 off it. That's better than $400.

It just involves some time and work, but I need the money.

[riverwed070707]

According to Kelly Blue Book you can sell the Civic for around $3900 assuming the engine is running.

http://www.kbb.com/honda/civic/2001-honda-civic/lx-sedan-4d/?condition=very-good&vehicleid=4402&intent=trade-in-sell&mileage=108000&category=sedan&options=171426%7ctrue&pricetype=private-party

If you have all the repairs done you could either keep the car as a second vehicle or sell it and do a little better than break even.

Or, you could sell it "as is" as the previous poster suggested for $1000 or less to a mechanic and be done with it.

Visually it looks nice but the reason I was selling it for $2k when it books at $3500 is becuase it needs a number of other things (shocks and struts primarily) and as noted the transimission was acting up. We knew it needed maintenance and just wanted out from under it without dumping any more $$ in.

Listing it on CL now! Thanks for validating that I'm not crazy for not wanting to take so little.

[JoeP]

If the car isn't needed for transportation, I'd consider trying my hand at fixing it myself. This would be a great opportunity to learn with actual hands-on work, provided one had the time and most of the tools. Take off all insurance, surrender plates, park it in the garage, and then have some fun. Who knows, you might have a car you feel confident about and will want to hang on to.

If you fail, you can always salvage or sell as non-functional.

[riverwed070707]

SOLD! thanks for the advice -- so glad we didn't get take the low ball offers. Got 12 calls and 3 texts within 20 min of listing and it sold for $1300 (above asking) to the first person who looked at it within an hour. Glad to have that out of the way and to have been able to pocket some of the cash too!

[Permanent Temp]

Thats awesome. Congrats!