Selling a Car to The Wreckers Advice

Orgazmo on 22/10/2021 - 17:43

I have a Daihatsu Sirion for a cheap runabout that has come to the end of it's life. The clutch is slipping, cv's clicking and the brakes are down to 10%. It also has panel damage from a hit and run.

I have managed to buy another Sirion in A1 condition.

Ideally, I would like to keep the near new tyres and battery from the old car to use at a later time.
The issue I have is I don't have the room to store them or the old car.

A local wreckers have offered $300 for the whole car but the tyres and battery are worth that alone.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Automotive

Comments

  • spackbace on 22/10/2021 - 17:49
    +4

    but the tyres and battery are worth that alone.

    To resell, no they're not.

    Just get rid of the old POS

  • Hithere on 22/10/2021 - 18:06

    If you think the tyres (used) and battery (used) are worth $300, and you can find someone to give you that much, just remove them and tell the wreckers they can have to rest of the vehicle for $50 = profit.

  • apsilon on 22/10/2021 - 18:19
    +3

    Tyres have a life regardless of tread wear. Typically it's 5 years. Similarly, an unused battery will self discharge and reach a point where it can't be recharged. By the time you want to use either it's likely they'll be too old.

  • pharkurnell on 22/10/2021 - 18:23
    +2

    Did you say $300 and your questioning it? For a sirion? You sure it wasnt $3.00 ?

    I must have woken up on the wrong planet

  • [Deactivated] on 22/10/2021 - 18:47
    +4

    @OP if the tyres are near-new , i would swap them over with the tyres currently on the new car (depending on brand/tyre type). otherwise its just too much hassle and running around to get everything sorted yourself. it seems like it already is hence the post in the first place. Wreckers will pay a fraction more if the car is able to be turned on and driven and without a battery in it they will offer you less..it won't be much to begin with but $50 or $100 is still money in your pocket.

    Whatever you do , don't fall for the old bait and switch scam the Wreckers in conjunction with the Tow Operators pull on people when they come to collect cars.

    Typical scenario plays out like this

    1. Person calls wrecker to sell car , wrecker offers X amount dependent on condition (mostly if it can still drive or not)
    2. Wrecker sends tow truck driver around , suddenly there's an "issue" and he has to call the wrecker
    3. Wrecker then talks to you over the phone and says "we can only offer you a less amount for the car"
    4. Towie will try to pretend hes the victim and encourage you just to get rid of the car and will offer you cash on the spot

    Whatever you do , hold firm. if the agreed amount was say $300 then only accept $300 and no less. do all your due diligence and communication before hand but I've encountered this scam many times.

    Eventually the Towie will cave and give you the amount initially agreed upon and take the car away from you , mostly because he doesn't want to waste his time as he has already made a trip out to you.

    • apsilon on 22/10/2021 - 19:17
      +1

      That's too much effort these days. Typically they make an offer over the phone which you accept. Towie turns up and says no, it was only $X and shows you a message from the office with the lower amount that you "agreed to".

    • Orgazmo on 22/10/2021 - 19:22

      Thanks for the info mate.

      A local wreckers offers a minimum $300. That's all I've seen so far.

      To clarify, the tyres are near new on both vehicles. The new car has tyres that are showing some cracks, so they're likely old tyres with plenty of tread still but they'll probably wear out quicker. The new car was owned by an old lady hence the new condition of the car.

      I would prefer not to get rid of the old set of tyres as it has the Mycar offer of free puncture repair and rotation. Regardless of anyones opinion of their service, they were great to me. They matched the cheapest tyre price I could find and did a free alignment.

      I'm thinking I might try and get someone to swap these tyres for some crappy ones before I sell. I do a lot of driving so I'll go through tyres.

      • slick7 on 23/10/2021 - 10:41

        new car has tyres that are showing some cracks

        Dude I think that answers your question about which tyres to keep and which to put on the car for the wreckers - you're not going to save a lot of money if you lose traction in a roundabout in the wet and hit something. Choose the best 4 and just ensure the front axle and rear axle have matching tyre brands/patterns

        I've got an almost perfect looking 225/45R17 spare on one of my cars (done 15K km) but 6 years old. Rest of the tyres are 215/45R17. I'm about to buy 4 new tyres and I will be getting rid of the spare (swapping spare) because of the different size and the fact it's old (you can see small cracks up close). Seems crazy to waste 4mm+ thread but even buying a second spare from wrecker with 22545R17 to use on rear axle is still going to mean using an old tyre that won't be good anymore…

        • Orgazmo on 23/10/2021 - 12:49

          The cracks are on the tread, not the sidewalls. The guy at Mycar looked at them and said they should okay but will likely wear faster.

          Depending on who you talk to, some say they need replacing due to age, some don't it seems.

          • slick7 on 23/10/2021 - 15:19
            +1

            @Orgazmo: some say they need replacing due to age, some don't it seems.

            That' something you can work out yourself - https://practicalmotoring.com.au/car-advice/check-age-of-tyr…

            Don't exceed 6 years from date of fabrication - they're made of rubber and it starts to degrade even if you have quality top of the range stuff. You'll pass rego checks if there's sufficient thread depth but you'll know about the degradation in performance when you're using the tyres a bit more like if it's wet.

      • brendanm on 23/10/2021 - 11:15
        +3

        Just swap wheels and tyres over with the jack and wheelbrace in the car for free. Then get the wreckers to come take it away. Done.

        • Euphemistic on 23/10/2021 - 13:04
          +1

          Agree. It’s not hard to swap a wheel in the driveway. If you have two jacks, you can easily do a straight swap between two cars one corner at a time.

  • Euphemistic on 22/10/2021 - 18:47
    +2

    Did you try selling as is to other than a wrecker? You can probably sell for a bit more, especially if it’s registered (and you are in a state that doesn’t require roadworthy to sell) someone who can fix it might buy it for a commuter car or for a first car for someone.

    Swap anything good off the old one onto the ‘new’ one. Eg pick the best wheels. if you don’t have room to store, just sell the rest. An unused battery isn’t worth keeping, it’ll just die. Tyres age as well.

    • Orgazmo on 22/10/2021 - 19:23

      Not yet. The clutch and body damage issues are probably going to attract a lot of tyre kickers.

      • Euphemistic on 22/10/2021 - 19:33
        +1

        Rego? I’ve no idea what a decent one is worth, but IMO a diy fix on the clutch and cvs is worth about $1500 off the going rate. Panel damage depends on how hard it is to patch up but a new panel from the wreckers isn’t hard to fit.

        I keep an eye on local cheap cars and damaged or mechanical issue cars still appear to sell, and often quite quickly. I’d still buy if I could do necessary repairs and the price was right many others are the same.

        • Orgazmo on 23/10/2021 - 12:50

          1 month left

          • Euphemistic on 23/10/2021 - 13:03
            +1

            @Orgazmo: There’s a bunch on gumtree. Good ones seem to be around $3k. List it for $1200 note the issues in the listing, let them beat you down to $700 and you are $400 in front of selling to the wrecker - but you need to deal with tyre kickers and low ballers.

            • Orgazmo on 23/10/2021 - 21:47

              @Euphemistic: That's right, $3k is what I paid for the new one. It had only done 9976 km when I got it. Besides the tyres, it's A1.

  • AndyC1 on 22/10/2021 - 19:09

    Gumtree?

  • dattodaniel on 22/10/2021 - 21:17

    Is it a GTVI by any chance?

    • Orgazmo on 23/10/2021 - 12:39

      Unfortunately not.

  • Orgazmo on 23/10/2021 - 23:20

    Another thought, the 'new' car doesn't have power steering while the old one does.

    Is it viable to change it over?

    • Euphemistic on 24/10/2021 - 06:00
      +2

      Yes, bit only if you can DIY. I suspect that because you are asking here about it you probably don’t have the skills. It won’t be an easy job.

      • pegaxs on 24/10/2021 - 08:51
        +1

        Up next… the old one has air con, the new one doesn’t… should I change it over?

  • SlavOz on 24/10/2021 - 09:40
    -1

    Please don't be that person who tries to haggle and get cost price for his scrap of metal. Car wreckers have a lot of work to do in salvaging a profit from your unused trash, just take what you can get. $300 is very reasonable.

    It sounds like the new battery and tyres are the only thing of immediate value. Other components can probably be sold off as well but the wrecker will need to take them all apart, refurbish, store them, plus factor in cost of transport etc. If you want to get more for your car, feel free to do that.

    • Euphemistic on 24/10/2021 - 15:18
      +2

      Car wreckers have a lot of work to do in salvaging a profit from your unused trash, just take what you can get

      You are kidding right? Not sure if serious. The wreckers off as low as they think will work. They’ll probably still make money off it at $600. There’s hundreds of pieces in a car worth at least $50 and most of them are easy to remove.

      • SlavOz on 24/10/2021 - 15:55

        Not sure on what your experience is with mechanical construction and running a profitable wrecker yard, but I would say you're wrong.

        Even so, removing hundreds of individual pieces off a car and then selling them for $50 each is not something the average person is going to do, especially in between their regular job and taking care of children.

        • Euphemistic on 24/10/2021 - 16:48

          Your post indicated that ‘the poor wrecker’ can’t afford any more than $300. They offer the minimum they think will get them an car and keep a customer reasonably happy. It’s a business, you don’t owe them any favours by accepting less than expected because thy need to stay In business.

          My experience with wreckers is they charge pretty good prices. Wreckers can strip the good bits out of a car pretty quickly, they do it all the time. $50 was a rough figure, large parts will sell for more than that and funnily enough are the easier to remove.

          • SlavOz on 24/10/2021 - 17:45

            @Euphemistic:

            Your post indicated that ‘the poor wrecker’ can’t afford any more than $300

            This certainly wasn't my angle. My angle was that OP has absolutely no use for the car. It's unwanted scraps. Bargaining over it is a waste of time. Of course everyone wants to get as much as possible - I too would ask for more, but there's no way I would leave that conversation without a sale, lugging my unwanted trash with me. This is the work of people who often flood classified ads/Gumtree trying to charge retail shopfront prices for their used goods.

            Wreckers can strip the good bits out of a car pretty quickly, they do it all the time

            Yes, THEY can. The average person probably cannot, nor would they bother.

            large parts will sell for more than that

            Then you have to find a buyer for these parts as well, OP is then back to the same spot he was before - haggling over unused scrap metal.

            For old cars like this, there's not a big market for original parts. The wrecker will probably keep them for months or even years until one of their clients needs it.

            So does OP really want to wait that long and then do this whole selling/haggling game all over again, or is it perhaps wiser to just sell it and move on with his life?

            • Euphemistic on 24/10/2021 - 20:01
              +1

              @SlavOz: Perhaps I could have been more clear. it’s not worth stripping it yourself. It is worth more than $300 to the right person and isn’t just scrap. There is one listed online at about $1200 needing a new clutch. The car could be worth $3k in running condition, plenty listed online at that, and more.

              Changing a clutch and some cv joints is easy enough for a home mechanic, but not worth paying someone to do it.

  • Orgazmo on 11/11/2021 - 07:53

    Ended up keeping the new tyres and battery and sold the old car to a mechanic for $600

    • LeBron23 on 11/11/2021 - 16:51
      +1

      Wow That's good deal !! . I am in same as your situation from Melbourne though car still functioning with some ABS issues and dents .If your Mechanic is willing to buy VW Golf Polo car I am happy to sell him for better price then wreckers.

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