How bet to liquidate a totalted but uninsured car?

[greglepore]

My son totaled his Legacy Gt in the snow last night (no injuries). Car has no collision coverage but has many good usable parts, including a recent sti spec motor. How best to get the value out of it? I have a Copart practically next door but no way to access their system. The thought of dealing with Craigslist skeeves me but if I have no choice I'll go that route. Ideas?

[javadog]

Part it out and sell the parts either on eBay or an Internet forum dedicated to those cars. I would skip craigslist altogether.

[ZAMIRZ]

Depends on how much your time is worth. If you just want it gone, Copart will come get it, I just did this a couple weeks ago. Start here:

https://www.copart.com/sellForIndividuals/

Otherwise, start dismantling and throwing up photos and descriptions of parts on Craigslist. You can also try to have a "part-out party".

[ckelly78z]

I sold quite a few parts from quite a few rusty Datsun Zs back in the day. I used Ebay, and ZCar.com for most of my sales (before Craigslist was a thing). I imagine that you could list the parts for no listing fees (free) on some Subie sites. I would take pictures of the car/describe it, and then tell them you are selling parts....what do you need ?

You will need to figure out shipping price, and remove/package/send the parts.

[javadog]

I'll give you an example. My kid wanted to sell a set of wheels from his 2000 4runner, complete with center caps. They were straight, with no rash, but needed some new paint. The wheels typically sell for $300 to $400 for a set of 4 on eBay and the caps sell for $50 or more for a set. He put them on craigslist, and after two months the best offer he had was $50 for everything.

[Eric Coffey]

Originally Posted by greglepore

My son totaled his Legacy Gt in the snow last night (no injuries). Car has no collision coverage but has many good usable parts, including a recent sti spec motor. How best to get the value out of it? I have a Copart practically next door but no way to access their system. The thought of dealing with Craigslist skeeves me but if I have no choice I'll go that route. Ideas?

Glad he's OK.

As to your question, it sounds like a perfect learning opportunity for Junior. If you have the space (and tools), you might consider having him part the car out from start to finish. That would involve manual labor, organizational skills, sales, and basic accounting. He wrecked it, let him own it. He'll come out the other side with a greater sense of responsibility, problem-solving skills, and maybe even a little money in his pocket.

[stomachmonkey]

Parting cars can be a pain in the ass.

There will be the common big ticket items that move quickly.

Then there will be the other 80% of smalls that you'll be selling for years and require more effort to remove than what they are worth.

Sell the drivetrain, wheels, seats, haul the rest off to salvage.

[drkshdw]

Sell it as a wreck and be done with it. Parting cars used to be worth it. Now there are too many people parting and not enough surviving cars and owners who care to warrant the time and effort to make a few bucks. Unless of course it's a 911.

I used to part cars years ago as a side job and could part an entire car in 2 weeks and have everything sold on ebay in that same time. And make more than my day job. Life happened and I quit.

I decided to get back into it last year. It has taken me an entire year to sell off what I used to sell in 1 week back in the day. And at half the price (and double the fees). It's not worth it unless you have an incredibly rare and collectible car.

A Legacy isn't it. You will have parts laying around for months or even years. When you get tired of looking at it you'll take an absurdly low amount for it just to get it out of the way. Save yourself the hassle and sell the car whole and cut your losses now.

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by drkshdw

Sell it as a wreck and be done with it. Parting cars used to be worth it. Now there are too many people parting and not enough surviving cars and owners who care to warrant the time and effort to make a few bucks. Unless of course it's a 911.

I used to part cars years ago as a side job and could part an entire car in 2 weeks and have everything sold on ebay in that same time. And make more than my day job. Life happened and I quit.

I decided to get back into it last year. It has taken me an entire year to sell off what I used to sell in 1 week back in the day. And at half the price (and double the fees). It's not worth it unless you have an incredibly rare and collectible car.

A Legacy isn't it. You will have parts laying around for months or even years. When you get tired of looking at it you'll take an absurdly low amount for it just to get it out of the way. Save yourself the hassle and sell the car whole and cut your losses now.

Agree, let it be someone else's headache.

[greglepore]

Yeah, I'm going to sell it whole, the only thing worth anything is the engine and drivetrain, and I can't pull it, and he doesn't have the skills. Not the time to learn, he's just got his life back on track and I don't want to distract.

[Chocaholic]

Donate it and take a tax deduction.

[trekkor]

Do this:

https://www.facebook.com/trekkor/videos/10156019077164329/

[asphaltgambler]

When your son wrecked it was there loose gravel and a curve involved?

[onewhippedpuppy]

Glad he’s ok!

With the upgrades I would try listing the entire thing on a Subie forum, maybe somebody would take the entire car to salvage the good bits? If that doesn’t work, I would go Craigslist.

[john70t]

Glad everyone is ok. Most important.
With the 2.5L turbo, that car was a potent sleeper especially in snow and was a nice ride I'm sure. My old 2.2L Legacy will dust most anything through the icy drifts.
That is a hard loss for any kid.

That engine is sought after I believe.
If you want to dump it hard and fast and cheap..the fish will be biting hard.
Try 'cash local pickup only' ad in Subaru forums? https://forums.nasioc.com/
Or keep it and make him rebuild it years later? It's expendable now.
The options and cards are yours.

[greglepore]

Originally Posted by asphaltgambler

When your son wrecked it was there loose gravel and a curve involved?

Ha. I'm going to sue the county for having a pole too close too the road. And for allowing black Audi's...ah, never mind. Youthful indiscretion and snow on untreated pavement, but thanks.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by javadog

I'll give you an example. My kid wanted to sell a set of wheels from his 2000 4runner, complete with center caps. They were straight, with no rash, but needed some new paint. The wheels typically sell for $300 to $400 for a set of 4 on eBay and the caps sell for $50 or more for a set. He put them on craigslist, and after two months the best offer he had was $50 for everything.

Originally Posted by drkshdw

Sell it as a wreck and be done with it. Parting cars used to be worth it. Now there are too many people parting and not enough surviving cars and owners who care to warrant the time and effort to make a few bucks. Unless of course it's a 911.

I used to part cars years ago as a side job and could part an entire car in 2 weeks and have everything sold on ebay in that same time. And make more than my day job. Life happened and I quit.

I decided to get back into it last year. It has taken me an entire year to sell off what I used to sell in 1 week back in the day. And at half the price (and double the fees). It's not worth it unless you have an incredibly rare and collectible car.

A Legacy isn't it. You will have parts laying around for months or even years. When you get tired of looking at it you'll take an absurdly low amount for it just to get it out of the way. Save yourself the hassle and sell the car whole and cut your losses now.

Yes, it's not like the good old days. And the good old days were not too long ago.

CL is still an ok place to buy things, (sometimes), but selling is hardly worth the trouble. Same w eBay, I've sold a couple items lately and got $500 in my PayPal acct but stuff moves slooooowly.

One of my PU trucks burned to the ground in last week's wildfire, was not driving it on the road so not insured for this. Even if I'd been driving it, I would not have had full coverage, just high limit liability. It's a 1995. It was a mint F-250 4x4 Powerstroke w manual transmission and a freshly rebuilt 7.3, 2 new batteries, just thousands down the schitter.

I'm wrestling w whether to try to salvage anything from it, (drivetrain is mostly ok in hard parts), but I dread the whole process. I'm also the type of stubborn Irishman who will throw the parts in a fking dumpster before I'll sell them for pennies to some mooch from CL. I price things to sell and just wait...

[ILXLR8]

If the value is in the engine and drivetrain, I would market the engine and then as they are interested, let them know that they get the whole car. If presented properly, the buyer may get excited about the benefit. Removing it at their own location. If they sell enough parts, they can get back a lot of their motor money, etc.
Years ago my brother purchased a wrecked Toyota pickup, just for the engine and it worked well for the seller and also him.

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by speeder

One of my PU trucks burned to the ground in last week's wildfire, was not driving it on the road so not insured for this. Even if I'd been driving it, I would not have had full coverage, just high limit liability. It's a 1995. It was a mint F-250 4x4 Powerstroke w manual transmission and a freshly rebuilt 7.3, 2 new batteries, just thousands down the schitter.

Oh man, that blows. Sorry for you.

[john70t]

Originally Posted by speeder

One of my PU trucks burned to the ground in last week's wildfire, was not driving it on the road so not insured for this.

That used to be a very nice truck from the pics.
Worthy of another decade or two of vintage travel.
Not the same as a human loss or complete financial ruin but significant all the same.
I hope you are recovering well.