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So, I have a 2000 VW Passat GLS 1.8T. No longer my daily driver, and I've given up on spending money to maintain it.
Trying to decide what to do with it... moreso how to get rid of it. What would you guys do? Sell... donate... push off a cliff?
Are there any parts to this car that I could remove and sell for a nice profit before it ends up in a scrapyard? Not really sure what on this car would be worth anything.
Any guesses on what it'd be worth if I were to try to sell it? Besides "not worth the effort"? I've only sold good quality cars before, never "disposed" of one. The goal is to get rid of it in a fairly easy, cut and dry manner, and get at least some money out of it (a few hundred bucks?).
About it:
129,000 miles
Check engine light on... needs new catalytic converter and secondary air pump
Power windows don't work on any door but driver's
Overdue on oil change
Needs new tires, new battery, new brake pads
Exterior: doesn't look horrible, no rust, but plenty of dents/dings/scratches
Interior: in fairly good shape, but has plenty of things that don't work (overhead dome light, tape player, cd player, etc)
Has an accident on its record (a minor fender bender in a parking lot)
Other than that, it drives and runs fine. Use it about once a week to haul my mountain bike around. But, it won't pass a state inspection (due to the CEL and tires) in the state I just moved to, so its time to make a decision.
My first instinct would be to trade it in, even if you don't plan on buying a new car you can still do it. You may get less than a private party sale, but the car isn't worth much to begin with and I would wager even more would go wrong, personally I wouldn't want to sell it to an individual knowing it would probably die on them.
I've never wanted to sell a car like that to an individual because although you were clear and honest about its condition, you have no way to know how that person will react in 2 weeks after the car dies on them.
Are you ready to hear: "Hey man that car YOU sold me died on me. Give me my money back." ?
If it was me, I would ask around your circles if there is anyone in need of a car who can not afford it. Sometimes you have immigrants, or people who were laid off, or battered women who might need a good running car.
I think for a car like this, trade-in value will be MORE than private party sale. Often it is the other way around.
Listing on CL is a good idea. If you didn't have all those issues you listed, anything that runs sells for like 2k or more around here. So $500 for all the problems? Ya. Write the advert just like you wrote your letter above, and see what happens. You don't have to sell to the first taker if you don't want.
I had a Passat wagon - about the same year as yours - I had more issues with that car - which is why I am not surprised that you are ditching the car with what today is moderate mileage. But lots of folks still think VW is a good brand, which amazes me, but hey, it is what it is.
As for mileage, if you are HAPPY with the car, and are not having maintenance issues, then why not keep it? I've got over 300k on my Camry, and my wife's Vue is high 200k's. Original engines and all - just keep the oil changed regular. If you have the turbo on that Passat - you will get better life if you drop the oil change interval to something like every 2500 miles. I did mine every 3k religiously, and still got oil channels blocked and a trashed engine.
As for mileage, if you are HAPPY with the car, and are not having maintenance issues, then why not keep it?
Original poster mentioned they were in an area requiring inspection to keep it on the road and the cost of fixing the emissions issue isn't worth it for them.
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