Selling a broken car for more than scrap?

[Kev888]

Well, my car's latest used but newly fitted rear differential is cack (it drives, but with horrible grinding noises on cornering).

This has been an ongoing saga and I'm not sure that I can face going on with it any more, so am seriously thinking of just writing the car off as a money pit before yet more cash, time and grief get expended, in order to move on. I was going to sell it anyway, this just means losing my part exchange for the next one.

But... the car is only 8years old and without the diff issue it would be worth say £5,000. Obviously, i will get nothing like that in the current state, but it seems like it could/should be worth more than just scrap metal value. I'm not going to do the dirty on anyone though; is there any good way to (honestly) sell a car in this kind of state? The only one I can think of is listing as 'spares and repairs' on the bay.

Thanks,

[wine~o]

Put it into a car auction ? reserve at say £2,500 never done it myself...

Say a dealer buys it, has to repair it (say £ 800/£1000) they'll then sell it on and still make a good profit.

[Someone-Else]

Advertise it in "car mags" with the truth, got to be better than ebay.

[kellys_eye]

For anyone that may be fixing up a wrecker (there are quite a lot of back street garages still doing this kind of thing) is would make an ideal 'parter' car. Not easy finding out who is doing this but advertising it EXACTLY as it is with a clear description of the parts required to get it on the road will get you 'what it's worth'.

[arco_iris]

..... advertising it EXACTLY as it is with a clear description of the parts required to get it on the road will get you 'what it's worth'.

Coincidentally I have just done EXACTLY this. A 2006 vgc BMW that wouldn't go due to an electrical fault & not worth dragging to the dealers who would charge a fortune, lesser operations just aren't able to adequately test the electronics.

Having had 100,000 miles out of it over ten years, let it go. Extremely honestly described in all respects.

It made £852 on the 'bay after several bids, guy drove 3 hours across Wales to collect on a trailer, everybody happy & I don't want to know what he does with it.

Result.

[columbiers]

If it's worth £5k running well then I'd get a rebuilt diff and fit it. I couldn't waste that sort of money.

If you can afford to throw away a few grand then chuck it into auction, it becomes someone else's problem.

[Kev888]

Thanks everyone, a great help. So there are some viable options then - thats very useful to hear. Makes a lot of sense too, if anyone with the facilities and skills can afford to play with it themselves they'll have a good car for a good price. My problem is that i don't have said facilities, and so am paying garage rates to have the next used diff fitted each time, whether it turns out to be defective or not - even if the part itself is refunded. Plus its my only vehicle, so this ongoing aggro is crippling - especially as I'm attempting to go self-employed with it at the mo.

I'd not realised you could get reconditioned diffs; I shall look into it. Though unless the warranty covers fitting it would now (to my jaded eyes) still seem a gamble. As things have panned out it has so far cost me not substancially less than £5k (and a lot of aggro) trying to avoid throwing £5k away - and I've nothing to show for it. TBH I'm also beginning to wonder if I'm really this unlucky or if there isn't some underlying cause or other issue. Apparently knackered vehicles can get towed distances without much regard for the 4wd rear diff so maybe this is predisposed to be a risky buy, but even so its a worry.

It has also been suggested to me that, as I was intending to part exchange anyway, there are deals/circumstances in which the part-exchange is more or less a token offering anyway. Mostly with the newer vehicles, but then maybe going a bit smaller and newer than intended for the next vehicle would be at least similar cost, and no bad thing if it also includes at least some manufacturers warranty.