Hey
I thought it would be interesting to see what doner cars people have brought and the money they manage to reclaim back (if not actually make money) from selling all the unused parts. Just out of curosity.

it depends heavily on the donor car you have i think.

If you break a sierra cosworth you will make plenty back selling the interior the wheels glass etc,

if you break a 1.6 GL ..............................................

well you see where im coming from

OK. We bought a 2.9i XR4x4 for £125. We stripped all the bits we needed and sold the car for £115 (Some guy wanted it for the gearbox). We kept the wheels and then sold these afterwards for £50. A nice little profit of £40.

Some others on here however, have done far better than this

depends on the car, i've found - the old 1.8lx has more resale value than a new xr4x4 after the diff is gone. due to the xr4x4 having useless front hubs, a power rack, the useless downlink from a power rack, the handbrake is less ideal etc etc...

older the better is my theory, esp if its a 2 litre pinto.

there isnt much money in breaking them though, you need to get them free really. but, one a day free would replace an average job.

It definitely depends on what car you are trying to sell. I've post the thread because I’m at this stage where I’m selling the unused parts of my mk2 1.3l 4dr ghia escort. Brought the car for £175. I guess the bonnet, doors, boot lid and interior (the wooden dash is surprising in good condition) will go. Because it’s a 4dr the chassis won’t worth much to the rally people. Just out of curiosity if anyone out there made stupid amount of money from selling their unused doner parts.

when ive broke cars, i never even bothered with the bodywork or interior - that all got scrapped. i only saved bits that are of use to kit builders.

problem is, doors are a twat to sell on ebay! which is where lots of it went. Local advertising is too much effort for me! maybe on the sierra forums?

actually i was thinking i would throw everything on ebay and motor spares website. there must be people who want to start in rallying cheaply and need like panels and chassis for cars. Interior wise if it is the original then it would worth something for people restorting the car. Worst case i just put the parts on ebay for dirt cheap (i.e. 99p) and hopefully someone would come and collect it instead of me having to dispose of it myself. Thats my thought

i'm just about to do the same with my escort......

let me know how you get on. Although this is less about making a profit and more about i can't be bothered calling up the scrappy and getting him to take it away!

(plus i'm not sure how happy he'll be when its missing a rear axle)

85 RX-7. Paid $25 for it, drove it home.

had the neighbor kids strip.
sold nearly $200 of parts from it.
gave the beaten/cutup shell to a scrap metal collector.

$175 profit!

Was going to break my donor ,but it came in usfull when the wifes car got nicked and again when my dad wrote his car off and again a m8 used it to go fishing in When his wife wouldnt let him use his own car....

Now I can't bring myself to get a spanner on it . I seem to pick more and more bits up for the project from others...Yeh it costs more that way ,but its less hassle..

Funny thing was the wifes car only got nicked because I made here park on the road so I could have the drive for the sierra(no tax at that time)

the only problem I could think of is how people dispose/sell their chassis after stripping the car. I mean once you taken the axle/wheels of the car then its pretty difficult to move around. I heard some people cut it all into small chunks (with a grinder and cutting disc) and scrap it that way. I was thinking putting it on some heavy duty caster wheels so I can at least move it off the drive and hopefully onto a trailer of a future buyer of the chassis. How do the scrapy people move these sort of scrap? come round with a big crane, pick it up and put it on the back of the truck? How much do they charge for this kinda service? Anyone done anything like this? Thanks

[Edited on 6/4/05 by Nightkid]

i know aguy in leeds with a hiab arm who takes the chassis free. i do try to leave soem scrap weight in it though

quote:

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Originally posted by JoelP
i know a guy in leeds with a hiab arm

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My donor was a j plate Sierra GLS - I have the engine, gearbox, steering column, diff, driveshafts, hubs and alloy wheels from it. Sold various bits on ebay and got over £90 for them and that didn't include any body or trim panels apart from the front bumper which got over £30 itself.

Local council will collect scrap cars for free, I had it resting on a bread trolley to make it mobile which worked really well.

Got my 1.8CVH for £30 and made over £200 on parts.
Pat...

Purchased my donor, 4x4 2.9i, for £175, sold all the bits I didn't need for £225. Now that may sound like good buisiness, but when you take account of the bits you have to get, front hubs, gearbox, etc. then it's not so good. If I did it again it would be a donor that I could use all the bits.