Getting rid of my car... Opinions?
 

My father is retiring soon and is going to pass me his 2006 corolla with somewhere between 150 and 180k miles on it. it is in great shape and he drives the crap out of it (just like I do mine) at around 75-100 miles a day.

My cavalier has been good to me but now I am in a dilema of what to do with it. At first glance, the obvious solution is to sell it. I wonder if a better solution would be just to take it to the junk yard instead.

here is my situation...

it has 257,000+ miles on it and has been totalled twice (rebuilt title). It currently has an emissions code and a cylinder 3 missfire code which are intermittent. It will need tires pretty soon (and needs an alignment now). it has developed an oil leak that is more than I want to fool with currently. I just keep refilling though it isn't that bad over time (check it once weekly). The tax value of the car is $388... literally.

I know I can get $200-$250 for the car at the junk yard and I was thinking that is a better solution than putting it on craigslist and having everyone (and their brother) call me about the car. I also worry about calls after the sale given the age and mileage of the car, it is likely to need some repair soon.

my father retires in december so that is when I get the corolla and I have to do something about the cavalier. I currently drive it ~80 miles daily so the miles keep adding. Other than the emissions stuff (which is required for inspection), the car runs fine.

Thoughts?

I agree with your analysis. You could get $500 for it around here but it would certainly be easier to leave it at the junkyard for $200.

Even if it was perfect, selling it with that much mileage and a salvage title will be difficult, and you probably won't get much. Sad to say, the scrapyard is going to be your best bet.

I talked it over with my wife and she agrees. The county next to mine doesn't require emissions inspections but it would still need tires and the oil leak would need to be addressed.

at the end of the day, I feel like I would get around $300-$400 and that extra isn't really worth all the hassle it would come with for me.

I do plan to drive it for a few more months. I debated on whether or not to get it realigned. the fronts were worn on the inside and the backs were perfect. I rotated the tires and am just going to keep an eye on it. the inspection is due in april so I won't hit another one before all this transition takes place.

I have had it for 9.5 years (april would have been 10 years) I definitely got my money's worth out of it.

Put it on craigslist first with a value of $800.00. Take the first offer of $500.00. You can get that for a rust-free daily driver, regardless of salvage title. If you live near a race track, someone will buy it to put it into a cheap FWD enduro.

Not a big deal for some but a pretty big deal for me. I've had her since 95,000 miles...

https://i42.tinypic.com/2gtdd7a.jpg

:thumb:

That is a LOT for a Cav

That is with original motor and trans. i dropped the trans pan to change the filter and fluid bit that is about it for major repairs. it also had a recall notice on injectors when i first got it.

It has been extremely good to me.

I'm on another forum with a guy whose Cavalier had 394,000 miles last June, not sure what he's up to now.