How far to go to fix a car?

May 5, 2006 9:01 AM

I need to fix up my brother's POS car to sell it. How much effort should I go to? My brother is moving out of state, and since my parents are also no longer in the area, it has fallen on me to sell the car and send the money on to my Dad. (My parents actually paid for the car.)

It's a 92 or 93 Saturn 2 Door Coupe, with a bunch of miles. The Blue Book value is around $1200 for a car like this in fair condition. But, the car is not in fair condition.

It is dirty and gross, and while it has been running OK, there are many little things wrong with it. There is one door that won't open from the outside, one window that won't roll down, various slight dents and nicks (no major body damage though), the upholstery is not in good condition.

I will need to take it in and get looked at for mechanical flaws, it is not yet in my possession but I know there might be other things to replace, brakes, etc. My brother has not saved any paperwork proving car maintainance was done.

I plan on thoroughly cleaning the car, but what else should I take care of? Just sell as-is? I'm afraid of spending more time and effort than the car is worth, but I also want to do right by my parents.

posted by voidcontext to Work & Money (21 answers total)

You're going to end up dropping in more money than it will be worth very, very quickly.

Clean it, yes. But don't spend too much on repairs, unless you can do them yourself really inexpensively.

Sell it, as is and save yourself alot of hassle for now return (I'm assuming your parents and brother aren't paying you to sell the car).
posted by fenriq at 9:08 AM on May 5, 2006

Sorry, that should be "for no return".
posted by fenriq at 9:10 AM on May 5, 2006

Yeah, in that situation I'd take it to the nearest used auto parts dealer and see what they'll give you for it.
posted by crazycanuck at 9:13 AM on May 5, 2006

Response by poster: Thanks, that's confirmation of what I was thinking. I had doubts though, afraid that I was just being lazy to want to avoid getting involved too much in repairs. I would get paid for anything I had done to the car, so I wouldn't be out money. But if it was a useless endeavor, I don't want to waste my time.
posted by voidcontext at 9:26 AM on May 5, 2006

If you live near a CarMax, clean the car up and take it in. They'll give you a firm offer, which you can then take or leave. No cost, little hassle.
posted by MrMoonPie at 9:33 AM on May 5, 2006

I think CarMax may pass on a hoopty that old and in the condition you describe.

If I were in your situation, I'd spend $10 bucks or so on a good full service car wash, with the vacuuming and some sort of polishing or wax, and put it in the newspaper or CraigsList.

A mechanic or someone with a damaged Saturn might buy it for parts or to fix up.
posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! at 9:51 AM on May 5, 2006

Response by poster: I haven't really thought yet of where and how I was going to sell it, and unfortunately there is no Car Max near where I live (Buffalo, NY).

It's too bad the doors and windows are all messed up, that's the sort of thing that makes the car seem completely worthless. Who would want to climb into their car through the window?

I've never sold a car before, is it typical to get offers soon (within a week or two) on a car like this, or might I have to shop it around a bit? Assuming I post ads in Auto Trader, Craigslist, newspapers, etc.
posted by voidcontext at 10:04 AM on May 5, 2006

Anecdotally, my brother sold his BARELY RUNNING pos car last year for $500. He put an ad in the paper and had people beating down his door to buy a car, any car, at that price. If I were you, I'd clean it out, list it for a cheap price in the paper (+craigslist, whatever) and see if you get any bites. If not, come down on the price. Someone will want it. There are plenty of people who need transportation, don't care about condition, and will pay between $500 and $1000 for some crappy car that will get them to work and back for a while.
posted by bonheur at 10:08 AM on May 5, 2006

If it were me, I'd donate. One call, and someone will tow it away and do the rest. Your parents can claim charitable deduction on actual sale/auction price of the vehicle. If the deduction doesn't recover enough of their purchase cost, consider adding a few hundred from your pocket as a gift to parents. You'd end up spending a lot of time to sell this, cleaning, listing, coordinating logistics for showing, etc. I recommend this especially because I'm under the impression Saturns aren't popular for resale. How much is your time worth?

If you must sell it, clean it, but don't do repairs. You won't recover the cost. Take it to a shop for an estimate to restore to a "fair condition", and use that to price the car, and also use that to explain why your pricing is worthwhile, to any potential buyers. List on cars dot com or similar sites. Costs about $40, and some packages will allow endless free renewals until sold. For that price range, craigslist is also a good place to list for free.
posted by MD06 at 10:09 AM on May 5, 2006

Step up to the plate and drop $60-80 bucks on a decent inside and out detail, including the engine compartment and get a smog certificate if that is required for an auto sale in your state, then sell it as-is. Any car that runs will sell easily for $750-1000 and no matter how much work you do to the car, it ain't gonna bring much more than that. A clean POS will bring better money and sell faster than a dirty POS in better state of repair any day of the week.
posted by buggzzee23 at 10:11 AM on May 5, 2006

Response by poster: Every single piece of advice in the thread is good, so you'll have to forgive me not marking all of you as best answer. Thanks for all the advice, I feel much better about what to do now.
posted by voidcontext at 10:21 AM on May 5, 2006

Second the donating. Have your brother sign it over to the parents, if they don't have title already, so they can take the deduction. In my experience, they can deduct the BB value.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 10:33 AM on May 5, 2006

Note that donation/deduction laws changed significantly last year.

"Under tighter Internal Revenue Service rules, taxpayers are allowed to claim as a donation the amount the donated vehicle sells for [usually at auction]. If it’s less than $500, the taxpayer may claim up to $500. Before 2005, donors could claim whatever amount they thought reflected the fairmarket value of the car, up to $5,000. "

So you are probably looking at the $500 deduction if you donate it.
posted by mikepop at 11:00 AM on May 5, 2006

CarMax will in fact not take it. Their limits are fairly strict when it comes to resaleability. The last one I sold a car to said 6 yrs/100k miles, but I think it varies from place to place. It has to be wholesaleable, since that's where most of the cars go.

I'd second the donation route, since if you can find a good group that does this as a primary function, they will provide the paperwork (i.e. for taxes, and title) and tow the car for free. That alone for your hoopty is worth the money.
posted by kcm at 11:01 AM on May 5, 2006

my brother sold his BARELY RUNNING pos car last year for $500.

I recently sold a car that simply didn't run (threw an engine rod, needed engine totally replaced) for $500.

I put it in Craigslist and Uncle Henry's (a local book, like a published Craigslist) and marketed it as "great student fixer-upper car"
posted by anastasiav at 11:05 AM on May 5, 2006

I can reiterate the selling of a POS, sold an old nissan with a blown head gasket for $500 bucks. Put the ad in the paper as a fixer upper (head gaskets are cheap it's the labor that kills you). I had the first call at 6am the day the ad ran (unfortunately) and off my hands at 8am. There's a fairly big market for these cars suprisingly.
posted by bitdamaged at 11:17 AM on May 5, 2006

voidcontext: "It's too bad the doors and windows are all messed up, that's the sort of thing that makes the car seem completely worthless. Who would want to climb into their car through the window?"

Those are, bar none, the easiest things to fix on a car. Seriously. Do not pay somebody to do it. Get a screwdriver, open the door, and take off the cover. Look around, and see what isn't working. If you need a part, call around to scrapyards, see if somebody has a Saturn, and go get the part; it shouldn't cost more than a few bucks.
posted by koeselitz at 11:50 AM on May 5, 2006

kcm, I just sold a 13-year-old Accord with 160,000 miles to CarMax for $1100. So they do take POS cars. Not that it matters in this case, since voidcontext doesn't live near an outlet.
posted by MrMoonPie at 12:09 PM on May 5, 2006

Don't pay anyone else to fix it, it's not worth it. One of the most low-skill things you can do to improve your odds of selling it is clean it really well. The other is to gather up ALL the receipts you have access to for work done on the car, particularly any major maint/replacement, but that isn't something you can do since bro tossed it.

What might be worth a few bucks is a bill of health from a local mechanic. Odds are you could get one to do a workup on it for $50-75. That report plus a willingness to let potential buyers have their mechanic check it out (at their cost, of course) will go a long way on improving your odds of sale.

There's plenty of people out there like me who prefer to buy cheap autos with cosmetic and secondary flaws if they can be convinced the car is in good running order. After all, if you need a vehicle and it's not something that's important to you a $1200 car that only lasts 12 months is still way less money per month than something new.

I'd definitely list it on craigslist with a "book value $1200, asking $1000 OBO" - what's the worst that happens? koeselitz is right about fixing those bits if you wanna improve your odds of sale. RockAuto.com doesn't seem to have those door parts but someone else will. Or you could do what I did many years ago - tie a rope to the actuator. It's ugly but it opens the door. The window could be a hung-up cable if the handle doesn't turn or a broken regulator if it turns freely. Regulator's not a cheap part but its not too pricey either. Here's a how-to from a part maker on how it's done - not too horrible if you have some skill with a screwdriver.
posted by phearlez at 12:49 PM on May 5, 2006

Response by poster: I will definitely clean it, and look into fixing the door-issues myself. I'm handy enough that taking that on wouldn't be out of the question. Donation is out, I think the money from the sale is going to go towards paying off something. That would be easier on me, but didn't fly when I brought it up.
posted by voidcontext at 12:59 PM on May 5, 2006

Response by poster: Follow up: my brother ended up getting rear ended shortly after I asked this question, and his car was totaled. He is fine, and I no longer had a problem of what to do with his car.

Thanks everyone!
posted by voidcontext at 11:26 AM on November 29, 2006