Scrap my car?

Minxz

Two weeks ago the engine on my M reg Ford Mondeo seized, and i was towed home. I have had 2 mechanics look at it, and both say new engine needed.. sigh.
The car was brought for just under £3,000 but now isn't worth that much so buying a new engine(according to the mechanics, will be anything between £1300 and £1700) isn't worth it.

My question is, do people buy cars for scrap/parts or to work on, and is it worth me advertising it, or does anyone know somewhere that wants cars?
I am going to have to save now for another car, maybe a smaller cheaper hatchback, and am really missing wheels, so anything I can get for my seized up mondeo will help a lot!
Also does anyone know of a cheap place to look for cars? I am a single mum, and money's tight, but need wheels to get to and fro work.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

ReductionQueen

I have to ask you who gave you the information about a replacement engine. If they are a large garage (large premices, secretary on the phone, 4-6 mechanics working there, possibly with a sideline of a few used cars, with salesmen), or god forbid a Main Dealer (one with authority to sell new cars of one make exclusively, and use that marque's logo), they will give you a huge price for the work.
I have always put great faith in smaller garages - owned and operated by one or two mechanics and always found by recommendation. The smaller garages are also more likely to be happy (when appropriate) to use second hand parts to keep the cost down. Even expensive sought after commercial engines such as a newish (2-3 years old) Turbo Diesel 2.5l Transit engine can be bought for around £700-£900 second hand. I would doubt that an ordinary Modeo engine would be that much, infact a lot less (probably around £300). Fitting at a small mechanic's workshop should be around £200. Even with a drastic miscalculation or extras such as a major service, in your postition I would be looking at around £600 max.

You don't say if your Mondeo is anything special - fuel injection, turbo, even diesel so these are only generalities.

Hope this helps

kidtechnical

Minxz wrote:

My question is, do people buy cars for scrap/parts or to work on, and is it worth me advertising it, or does anyone know somewhere that wants cars?
I am going to have to save now for another car, maybe a smaller cheaper hatchback, and am really missing wheels, so anything I can get for my seized up mondeo will help a lot!
Also does anyone know of a cheap place to look for cars? I am a single mum, and money's tight, but need wheels to get to and fro work.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

In Topgear they did a challenge some sort of challenge to see who could get the best deal with a set amount of money, Jeremy bought a banger of a dealer for next to nothing (apparently it would have cost the dealer more to send the banger to the scrappy). The gist of the experiment was that Jeremy bought an old banger & then stripped it & sold the bits on ebay, making himself enough money to buy a decent car & beat the others taking part in the challenge. Whereas the others bought better cars & modified them.

So I suppose if you know or know someone who can strip the bits down, it may be worth your while. I think I'd do that rather than scrap it just to know that I tried to get something back for it.

My OH car broke down last year & needed a new engine, he came across a guy who wanted to give him 50 quid for it, which seemed nice for a useless car, but he reasised the guy was trying to rip him off cos it was a limited edition & the parts were rare... what did he do? Strip it & sell it on ebay? Find a buyer who wanted it for a fair price? No, he desided to avoid being ripped off by sending it to the scrappy!

ReductionQueen

kidtechnical wrote:

In Topgear they did a challenge some sort of challenge to see who could get the best deal with a set amount of money, Jeremy bought a banger of a dealer for next to nothing (apparently it would have cost the dealer more to send the banger to the scrappy). The gist of the experiment was that Jeremy bought an old banger & then stripped it & sold the bits on ebay, making himself enough money to buy a decent car & beat the others taking part in the challenge. Whereas the others bought better cars & modified them.

I had forgotten about this. What Jeremy did was to buy a part exchange car from a large dealer for £1. I actually know somebody personally who did this, though it helps to know somebody in the trade. Partexs are a loss leader for dealerships, who have to get rid of them, mostly to the auctions. If you don't know cars too well, actions are not a good place to start looking for a cheap car, but if you know somebody who does, take them with you and have a look, you may get a bargain.

Other than that, Loot is always a good place to start. A Good way to filter out the little unlicenced dealers is to just ask about 'the car' when you first phone. If they say 'which one?' chances are they are a small time dealer and be careful!

Minxz

Hmm.. have now been offered two cars..
one Golf M reg that's taxed but no MOT for £50- would you take a chance and spend 50 then MOT it?
Or- another Golf D reg,for £100 that's MOT'd , no tax, needs a new wheel bearing.
I can't afford to spend £700 on a new engine- so a cheap runabout is the best option-would you consider either of these cars??

Jumanji_2

I always get a car with MOT. So I would go for the second one. But first get a quote on a new wheel bearing and if you need to take it to a garage, how much they would charge, and also find out how much the tax is.

Edited to say that I'm a snob, and so would probably go for the newer one . Why don't you offer to give the person the money to put it through an MOT (about £40?). If it needs any work done - depending how much it costs - you can leave it with them and you've only made a small loss!

FJSRiDER

Minxz wrote:

Hmm.. have now been offered two cars..
one Golf M reg that's taxed but no MOT for £50- would you take a chance and spend 50 then MOT it?
Or- another Golf D reg,for £100 that's MOT'd , no tax, needs a new wheel bearing.
I can't afford to spend £700 on a new engine- so a cheap runabout is the best option-would you consider either of these cars??

Not unless I was desperate. There are LOADS of cars out there and not that many buyers! Look harder!

As has been said, get a car with a full MOT and I'd choose one with no known faults. Ther is a very good reason why these two cars have not been MOTed or fixed....A good site for ideas about buying and running 'bangers' is this one.

ReductionQueen

This is a brilliant site! Thanks FJSR!

Lazy_Ike

Minxz wrote:

Two weeks ago the engine on my M reg Ford Mondeo seized.....

......My question is, do people buy cars for scrap/parts or to work on, and is it worth me advertising it, or does anyone know somewhere that wants cars?
I am going to have to save now for another car, maybe a smaller cheaper hatchback......

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Minxz can sympathise, had the engine on my K Reg Ford go last year. Just was not economic to do anything to it when then found lots of rust, and MoT due. I got £40 for from a scrap dealer. I appreciate you are looking more for someone who wants to salvage your car, than just scrap it. Understand the world price of steel (driven by Chinese demand) has doubled in a year, and scrap dealers cashing in, so if it comes to it, don't accept that the removal of the car constitutes all it is worth as I almost did.
I am a full time carer, whose long-term disabled wife does not qualify on the highest level of mobility so no motobility car etc. (sigh) and money super scarce (thanks Martin et al for your help).
I set a max. figure I could just about afford, and I found the most car I could get for my money was a Skoda (dreaded name).
Before you knock it: Low purchase, low tax, low insurance, and low maintenance/spares costs, good fuel economy. Any jokes about the quality of Skoda manufacturing have largely been quashed since an industry report put it at the top of the car charts for reliability, with Jaguar bringing up the rear.
Downside is all my friends who, despite the above, get to trot out all their old Skoda jokes.
I found mine by searching and searching the net until I found one that matched my criteria, I ended up with a V reg 1.4 with 29000 miles 1 previous, FSH and some Mot and Tax left. Through patience I think I got a bargain - even for a Skoda.
By the way, not that this helps you, Skoda made the axle, and other castings, for the London Eye so anyone riding the London Eye rides a Skoda!

mrwibble

Minxz, Echoing some others a quote from a local mechanic might not be out of place - quoting for a whole new engine / major part is easy ("ooh it'll cost you thousands why not have a look at this lovely car we happen to have in") - look in your local paper or get recommendations - £600 to replace an engine is about right and assuming the rest is rust-free then better the devil you know rather than dropping a few grand on an unknown quantity.

Assuming its beyond help then have a look around on https://www.autotrader.co.uk and ask questions on https://www.honestjohn.co.uk - recommend you have a look at https://www.cargiant.co.uk if its in your budget (and you are in West London) - start at around £4-5k