Donating to charity is out. I’ve done it before and it had zero effect on my taxes so it was a complete loss.
I have a 1996 Mitsubishi Galant. Its body has some dents, a side mirror is just about busted and it has a lot of paint scratches (one side looks like it got slightly side swiped).
It runs decent but is pretty clearly a beater. The only signfigant work it needs is new shocks.
I don’t NEED to get rid of it any time soon, but I’m considering it. Any experience selling a car for parts? Put it on Craigslist for a few hundred bucks? Find a desperate friend of a friend?
Around here, folks tend to park old cars in parking lots visible from the main roads, and put a “For Sale” sign with a phone number on it. I guess they make some kind of deal with the business owners. There’s also those free “Thrifty Nickel” type papers full of classified ads–think there’s one just for cars, but I dunno what the advertising rates are.
Stick a sign that says “$500” in big letters on the window and just leave it in front of your house. Put your phone number in small print under the price. There are enough people out there looking for a cheap beater that chances are someone will want it and will either knock on your door or give you a call if you aren’t home when they come looking.
If you are pretty sure it will keep on ticking, you can always do this:
Tell the buyer you want XYZ dollars a month for as long as it runs (or for ABC number of months) . If there needs to be major repairs at some point, something will be negotiated then (or already has been beforehand).
Obviously both parties need to be reasonable and trustworthy for this to work…
This obviously puts the seller at a higher risk, but on the otherhand the buyer is often taking a big risk that this beater will blow up the next day and therefore they won’t pay nearly as much as if they had some sort of guarantee its gonna be worth paying for. A monthly payment plan splits the difference.
} haven’t sold a car on Craig’s list, but having tried to sell some car parts there, I wouldn’t bother. While there are plenty of honest people out there, there are also a load of scammers and complete idiots. What kind of idiots? Way too many conversations go like this:
Idiot “Will those tires fit my car?”
Me “What size are the tires on it?”
Idiot “It’s a BMW from the 80’s.”
Me “What size are the tires?”
Idiot “I think the wheels are aftermarket.”
Me “What is printed on the tires?”
Idiot “I dunno. I’ll buy them and if they don’t fit, I’ll trade them back to you.”
Me “I’ll call you back.”
Is there a Carmax near you? I’m pretty sure they don’t pay top dollar, but if you are not trying to buy another car, selling to them is painless and quick, plus no worries that they will come knocking on your door if the car blows up the next day. I sold them a 10 year old Toyota Corolla about a year ago. It was more or less the same condition as your car-ran fine, scratches, couple of big dents, over 120K miles. I got $1500.
I figure a car that runs okay can bring at least $500, some times a fair amount more even if it’s a beater. There are plenty of ways to advertise it: word of mouth, bulletin boards at schools and grocery stores, newspaper ads, even shudder Craigslist and such.
As for parting it out (selling parts off of it), that works great for salvage yards but is not feasible for individuals. Really, don’t even consider it.
} haven’t sold a car on Craig’s list, but having tried to sell some car parts there, I wouldn’t bother. While there are plenty of honest people out there, there are also a load of scammers and complete idiots. What kind of idiots? Way too many conversations go like this:
Idiot “Will those tires fit my car?”
Me “What size are the tires on it?”
Idiot “It’s a BMW from the 80’s.”
Me “What size are the tires?”
Idiot “I think the wheels are aftermarket.”
Me “What is printed on the tires?”
Idiot “I dunno. I’ll buy them and if they don’t fit, I’ll trade them back to you.”
Me “I’ll call you back.”
Is there a Carmax near you? I’m pretty sure they don’t pay top dollar, but if you are not trying to buy another car, selling to them is painless and quick, plus no worries that they will come knocking on your door if the car blows up the next day. I sold them a 10 year old Toyota Corolla about a year ago. It was more or less the same condition as your car-ran fine, scratches, couple of big dents, over 120K miles. I got $1500.