What to do with my written off Astra (with new parts)?

Tunstallstoven

Hi all

Sorry if this is the wrong forum, it was the closest I could find....

The cam belt went on my Astra (1.6 GLS 16V, eco tech engine) a few days ago, and the potential fixing costs are not worth it..... So it's off to car heaven for that one.

As bad luck would have it, I'd just had a lot of work done on it. It has a 2 new tyres. All wheels are alloy. New CV joints. New draft shaft joint. Various other bits and pieces. (to be honest, the car belongs to the missus so I don't have all the details at the mo but I think I've covered the main).

This is all new to me... So I wondered what's best to do? Have someone collect it for scrap from a yard. Put it up for sale as spares/repairs. Or strip off a few bits (like the wheels etc) and sell those separately... If I went down that road, would scrap merchants still be interested in what was left or are they are only likely to take it with everything still on it?

Any advice on these questions or any other comments on what to do would be great.

Cheers

Max

Mindless_Clone

A scrap merchant might still take the shell as it's metal and they can still make on it, but won't give you as much. They're pretty much going to give you the minimum they can get away with anyway so I would strip it if you can, particularly the wheels.
The local authority might have some type of scheme to take the shell off your hands though, although will likely charge it they do.

The only issue with selling the parts is that you will need to put the work in to strip it down and photograph it all. But, I recently stumbled across an ebayer who was doing just that/ he's sent me a question about one of my items and, me being nosey, I went to look at his feedback etc. and saw he was selling off lots of parts for the very car I have, one of which I needed. What's the chances! He was making quite a tidy amount on what he'd sold.

You might be best listing it on somewhere like Gumtree or in local paper though as most of it will be local pick up. If you list it as a one off "Car for stripping/parts" and state in the listing that you are happy to sell off in bits or as a whole but anyone wanting parts will need to strip it themselves and invite offers. You can list the bits you know are new/ worth money separetly if you like but leave it open for others to take whatever they want. Just say it's up to the buyer to take the bits off it.

First though, get a quote from the scrappy to see if it's worth it. I won't mind betting they'll offer you a silly amount that's less than what you'll get for the wheels alone.

reeree

Seagull27 wrote: »

Hi all

Sorry if this is the wrong forum, it was the closest I could find....

The cam belt went on my Astra (1.6 GLS 16V, eco tech engine) a few days ago, and the potential fixing costs are not worth it..... So it's off to car heaven for that one.

As bad luck would have it, I'd just had a lot of work done on it. It has a 2 new tyres. All wheels are alloy. New CV joints. New draft shaft joint. Various other bits and pieces. (to be honest, the car belongs to the missus so I don't have all the details at the mo but I think I've covered the main).

This is all new to me... So I wondered what's best to do? Have someone collect it for scrap from a yard. Put it up for sale as spares/repairs. Or strip off a few bits (like the wheels etc) and sell those separately... If I went down that road, would scrap merchants still be interested in what was left or are they are only likely to take it with everything still on it?

Any advice on these questions or any other comments on what to do would be great.

Cheers

Max

weve just scrapped our car as everything was starting to go on it, and it wasnt worth repairing we got £140 for it, not alot but it was worth it to get rid of it and the scrapyard picked it up aswell

Tunstallstoven

Many thanks for the advice. I've just called the local scrapyard and they offered £50. They said we could take off the wheels and sell them separately but that we would need to put some crap wheels on there so that they could still take it.

If I decide to do that, how will I know what type of wheels I need to put on there? And any advice on what I would likely get for the set I have (and how much I would have to pay for replacement set?

Cheers

Max

Mindless_Clone

What an insult! The crap wheels will probably cost you £50!

I'd try and sell it for spares/repair if I were you.

As for what you'll get for the wheels, if they are in good condition, anywhere from £80 to £170 if ebay is anything to go by.

UnderPressure

What year is it?

A snapped cam belt need not bring its life to an end, pick up a second hand cylinder head from a reputable scrappy or reputable dealer on Ebay, as all you need then is a half decent mechanic and a few hours labour.

It might not even be that bad the worst case scenario is knackered valves you could be exceptionally lucky and whack a new cam belt on it and it may be fine.

Dependant on the age I would not be to hasty to get rid if you really do not want to.........

NeverEnough

You could also offer the car for sale as spares and repairs - you may get around £300 or so if you do a good advert as describe all the new parts.

I would look for a good local mechanic, not a big garage, and see what they think - you may be able to get a decent engine or head, depending on the damage, from a breakers and still have good life from the car for a few more years.

Tunstallstoven

Cheers guys.

The Astra is an R reg with around 80k in the clock.

We had spoken to a couple of local mechanics who said they would take a look and inspect the damage for around £100... They said that the type of engine it has is one of the most likely to be bnggered by the snapped cambelt and that if it has done the damage they suspect we'd be looking at a bill of around £800.

The car goes through a lot of oil, which we cannot figure out why.....

And the CV joints keep needing replacing.

Plus it is over £200 to tax.

So all in all we thought to sell for parts and get something new. But it would be interesting to hear from people who think otherwise....

Cheers

Max

Tunstallstoven

Oh - one other thing to add (seeing as this is all about money saving!). It's got almost a full tank of petrol. What are the options there?

imho

Can you not siphon out the petrol and store it till you get another car or sell it to your neighbour cheap.
I wouldnt let a scrappy have the car with a full tank of petrol .Oh and take out the cd player and speakers out if you have a decent one in there. Oh and the battery thats worth cash if someone wants it.Its all gotta add up to more that £50
I would look on ebay and see how much the seats are selling for on your car and wing mirrors , battery, check how much they sell for

Mindless_Clone

imho wrote: »

Can you not siphon out the petrol and store it

Not unless you have the proper licence to store flammable substances. You can store a small amount in a proper cannister though, but I think it you're talking a tankful, it'll be more than you can legally store.
You can syphon it and put it directly into another vehicle though, which is probably your best option.