Moving Parted out Parts

"Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney" (braddelaparker)
08/02/2017 at 11:19 • Filed to: None

Oppo: outside of the obvious avenues like craigslist, ebay, and make-specific forums, do we have any community input on ways to move parts from parted-out vehicles quickly? I’m specifically looking for ways to move the big ticket items like engine, transmission, diffs, etc.

Background is that my brother has finally capitulated to the reality that putting any more money into maintaining his Touareg is going to be a waste of money and it’s time to move on. Unfortunately, I can’t figure that the thing is worth any more than $2000-2500 in its current condition. It’s a runner and usable, but it’s cosmetically shot and coming up on lots of deferred maintenance. Taking a very conservative stab at parts prices (50% of advertised ebay value, give or take), I’m very easily coming up with $4k+ in parts value. He’s interested in the idea and I have the garage space and storage to conduct the part out, but I’m trying to get a feel for the reality of moving these parts, even at heavily discounted rates.

I figure that VW Vortex is going to be a pretty easy place to move many/most of the ship-able pieces, along with ebay/CL, but my concern is the ability to move the drivetrain items without just capitulating and sending them to a junkyard for pennies on the dollar. Thoughts are welcome.

DISCUSSION (6)

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
08/02/2017 at 11:44

Talk to the German car indy shops in your area. They probably won’t pay a whole lot unless they happen to also have a customer needing that used drivetrain at the moment, but they’re likely to give you more than a wrecking yard will. If you’ve got another German car that needs work, shop credit/trade will usually get you the most out of it.

Vicente Esteve > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
08/02/2017 at 11:46

If you have concerns of german car reliability, buy the version with the oldest engine in the lineup. In the case of VW, the VR6.

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > Vicente Esteve
08/02/2017 at 11:50

Funny thing is that it’s been fairly reliable, the thing is just kind of disintegrating around itself over time.

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
08/02/2017 at 11:51

Had this thought, it may actually be the way to go. Thanks for the input.

Vicente Esteve > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
08/02/2017 at 12:03

Seriously, most cars will do that otherwise if they have been extremely well treated.

My fathers 09 Tacoma has a full christmas tree on the dash, a couple electrical bits refusing to work at all and clear coat vanishing from the roof.

CobraJoe > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney
08/02/2017 at 12:12

I’ve used facebook marketplace and groups to sell a lot of stuff of an Integra I parted out.

I’m very easily coming up with $4k+ in parts value. He’s interested in the idea and I have the garage space and storage to conduct the part out

One thing to note: it might take a lot longer than you expect to make that money.

Not every part will sell like you expect it would, maybe because it rarely breaks or has a better aftermarket solution. Some parts might take months to sell, because the one buyer who wants it and would actually pay for it might not see your ad. I had that Integra for 7 months, and no one bought the hood or hatch or doors or any of the interior (except the seats). (Ok, it was poorly painted in primer, so maybe it stopped sales of body panels, but I was asking for low prices for those).

Overall it did work alright for me though, I got about equal to what the car was worth (probably more than I would have sold it for though), and I got to keep the engine/trans/ECU/wheels/pedals/radiator and several other small and difficult to source parts. (Probably would have doubled my money if I sold everything).

So, just know that you might have a partially disassembled vehicle in your garage for a long time.