Making money from selling old or broken down cars

Honolula13

I have an old N reg corsa, which will not start at the moment. I think with a little tlc it may work, but it will need various small amounts of work. I am not able to do these jobs myself, nor do I have the cash to pay for them to be done (or indeed put it through its mot next week). Therefore I have decided to sell it, but am unsure of the best way - in order to get the most I can for it.

Need advice on whether to sell on ebay, sell individual parts or sell to a scrap yard - which is best (bearing in mind I have little car knowledge).

Thank you

anewman

Sell on ebay describing it fully and allowing people to view if they like before end of auction, stating it needs a tow. You'll get a reasonably good price. If you don't want to do work on it, then I doubt you want to pull it apart to sell individual pieces.

If the only issue is that it won't start I would try to rule out the simple stuff first. If you don't fancy doing it yourself, buy cheap breakdown cover with home start, leave it a day or two, then call them out.

mollycat

Personally I would contact a scrappy and get him to come for it and take the going rate, (check on the phone what that is, maybe phone a few). Even better, if you can get it started, drive it there yourself.

Remove Tax disc and get refund if any due.

I couldn't see your car being of any interest, even on Ebay.

anewman

mollycat wrote: »

I couldn't see your car being of any interest, even on Ebay.

Scrap dealers bid against each other on ebay! = higher price than going direct to a scrap yard!

mollycat

anewman wrote: »

Scrap dealers bid against each other on ebay! = higher price than going direct to a scrap yard!

I think for the money involved here, ( Less than £100 ?) i would give Ebay a miss just to avoid the hassle.

Contact srappy, make arrangement= job done!

On this one we may have to disagree Anewman

DirectDebacle

anewman wrote: »

If you don't fancy doing it yourself, buy cheap breakdown cover with home start, leave it a day or two, then call them out.

If you follow this decidedly dodgy piece of advice make sure you carefully read the T&Cs before purchase. There are likely to be conditions to stop this kind of practice.

SUESMITH_2

we sold an ancient nova on ebay and got far more for it hten it was worth - we were brutally honest and answered all questions fairly, we did get asked if it was mint! i had to say look, its 15 years old

vikingaero

Contacting the scrappies seems is easier. There are ads around our way offering a minimum of £120 for a car. My only caveat is to ensure YOU complete the V5C and send it off and don't trust the scrapmen to do so... as my Dad found out to his cost.

Inactive

vikingaero wrote: »

Contacting the scrappies seems is easier. There are ads around our way offering a minimum of £120 for a car. My only caveat is to ensure YOU complete the V5C and send it off and don't trust the scrapmen to do so... as my Dad found out to his cost.

Good advice, legitimate licenced car breakers will issue a certificate of destruction, I send all paperwork to DVLA via Recorded Delivery these days.

anewman

DirectDebacle wrote: »

If you follow this decidedly dodgy piece of advice make sure you carefully read the T&Cs before purchase. There are likely to be conditions to stop this kind of practice.

I think most say you can't call them out within 24 hours of starting the policy (to stop people who are broken down on the motorway getting their laptop/mobile phone out and signing up.) The breakdown companies like to really screw over anyone who isn't a member (but then membership is where the money comes from).

My advice ideally would be to DIY. Check out the battery, leads, distributor cap + arm, plugs, coil etc etc. However the OP has suggested a reluctance to do these and a man/woman from AA or RAC would do these.

JQ.

You will definately get more for it selling it on Ebay than just getting your local scrappy to take it away. I don't really see what hastle is involved in putting an advert on the internet - should take no more than 10mins. If you're completely honest in your description it's likely most people will bid blind.

We've sold allsorts of rubbish, it's amazing what people will pay good money for. :beer: