Parting Out An Old Van? (vehicle, 2012, salvage, fuel)
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To make a long story short, a neighbor lady asked me to help her sell her old van. It's a 92 GMC conversion van. She doesn't know a lot about cars, and wanted to make sure she got the best value for her vehicle.
I said sure, I'd be glad to do what I can. Trouble is, the van does not run, so her options are limited from the get-go. There's some sort of problem with the fuel delivery, and the engine is hard to start, low on power, and won't run very long even when you do get it going. Seems to be a fuel delivery problem. I won't get into all the details of that, other than to say, the van is not a running vehicle.
So, the way I see it, the best two options are to either tow it to a shop and have a mechanic figure out what's wrong with it - and then decide whether its worth investing a couple hundred bucks or whatever it is to get it running again - or sell it as is to someone who knows how to fix it. The third option, as I see it, is to just sell it for junk, but I used to see that van running around a lot in the neighborhood before this fuel delivery issue, and it was a great running van. Seems like a waste to just junk it out, but still, it at least seems like one viable option to me.
Trouble is, she doesn't want to do any of these things. She would prefer to sell it for parts. This is something I don't think I can help her with, because I don't have the tools, the know-how, or (frankly) the time to be puling anything more than the most basic parts off of a van and selling them one by one. But she's convinced she'll make more money off of the van this way. Her mind's made up, and that's the way she wants to do it. So my questions are, is this really a good idea? Is it as complicated as I fear it will be? If this is what she really ends up wanting to do with it, is there an easy way for her? Because I'm just not sure what I'm getting myself into if I agree to help her go forward with this. Anyone have any advice?
Sell it on craigslist as a whole vehicle.......be upfront with the ad about its condition and put a price in the ad. I just sold a smashed Chevy truck in less than a week for $2000....it ran and drove but the nose was caved in/airbag blown but all painted parts/glass were perfect. Put cash only/no trades in the ad and offer texting if possible. I got 3-5 calls/texts a day and sold it for full price in the week between Christmas and New Years. Lots of idiots, offering $500 (BTW the local junk yard would come get it for $450 as long as I had a title). One guy showed up and offered $1000 cash and was knocking the truck for the damaged parts....to which I countered about all the non damaged parts. Funny part, not one person asked what it would cost to fix (I had the estimate in hand).
Parting out a nothing special 22 year old van will be a disaster and you will end up looking at the carcass of a vehicle for years to come (as a neighbor). $500 would be junk yard rates, $1500 would be decent in as in condition (semi running) but the end of the world would probably $2500 if it was light on rust, decent tires/condition.
Even for somebody in the business, a '92 is really old goods for the vehicle or the conversion parts. This is a loser from the get-go at this point.
Is it as complicated as I fear it will be?
Given that you're not in the business, don't have the tools/equipment, and probably don't really have time or a place to deal with parting this out, you've quite underestimated how complicated this will be. Don't do it.
If this is what she really ends up wanting to do with it, is there an easy way for her?
NO
Because I'm just not sure what I'm getting myself into if I agree to help her go forward with this. Anyone have any advice?
Run Run Run away from this deal if it involves anything more than making a phone call to get it hauled away to a junkyard.
If there is no additional reasons to help her, I would suggest politely refuse your involvement. I guess she do not want to put any money or time into it and that's why she asked you to help her. The problem is you are going to be doing stuff, which you are not familiar with/have no tools and may be blamed if something would get broken/stolen/non-working on this 20+ year old piece. I would guess after several months she would end up with half truck on her hands.
I would narrow your participation in the process to 2 options:
- call junk yard and arrange pick up,
- buy it from her and try to fix, if it worth, based on the condition, mileage, service history...
My advice, sell the van to the salvage yard and get a part-time job working evenings and weekends for a month and give her your salary. That way she'll get more money and you will have less time and effort involved than if you part it out for her.
Its worth a lot more parting it out if you have the space, tools and know how !!!
We have done this many times on ebay making 3-times and sometimes more what the unit is worth then just selling it for junk.
A. No tools, no "know how"
B. 22 yr old Chevy van isnt' exactly parting out a Stingray Corvette or 63 Caddy....
I suspect this will be a yard ornament, missing a few odd parts for years to come. She will have a couple hundred bucks in parts money and a corpse of a "never to run again van" on the front lawn with various animals living in it.
Sorry to bump such an old thread, but I just wanted to let everyone who was following this topic know how it turned out.
I put an ad on Craigslist, saying pretty much what I said in the OP - that it had been a terrific runner for years, but that something had suddenly changed, and that I didn't have the equipment or expertise to diagnose it. I was honest about everything I knew, and said that it was too good a van to junk out - we wanted to sell it to someone who knew how to fix it, and would keep it running and get a few good years out of it. I said that in my opinion, if someone knew what they were doing they'd get a good deal, and asked $1100.
Over a period of about a month, we had three people come and look at it, and got offers of $850 and $900. I held out, and the young couple who came to see it two weeks ago paid $1000. He called me a couple of days ago to let me know that it had taken a few tries, but he finally figured it out - he replaced the coolant temperature sensor, and the van once again runs like it's straight off the showroom floor. Everybody came out of it happy, and now that steady old van will still make a young family happy for years to come.
So, thanks to everyone for their advice. I'm glad I talked her out of parting it out, and very happy that it didn't just wind up in a junkyard. I just don't think it could have possibly worked out better for everyone concerned; the kid who bought it is happy he got such a deal, the old lady has $1000 she didn't have last month, and I'm happy that I didn't come away feeling like I screwed someone. I appreciate the help you all gave us in deciding the best way to handle it.
Thank you for the update Albert The Crocodile. It's nice outcome for everyone.
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