Buying a car to break for parts

iamtony

Hi lads a neighbour of mine is selling an 03 petrol avensis with 200,000 kilometres on the clock but it has a loud knock in the engine. I haven't investigated properly so I don't know what's wrong with it.

He asked did I know of anyone who would be interested in buying it for a few hundred and it has me thinking if I can get it for say €250 would it be worth stripping it and selling for parts?
It's in very good condition bar the engine. It has no Nct or tax.

Has anyone any experience in this field? Is the market saturated with avensis parts?

YbFocus

Certain cars are great for that.
An avensis I'm not sure.
You could be stuck with it for a long time.

iamtony

YbFocus wrote: »

Certain cars are great for that.
An avensis I'm not sure.
You could be stuck with it for a long time.

Well if I got sick of looking at it is just call one of those scrap places to come and collect it. There seems to be a lot of avensis's listed on partfinder.ie but at the same time there are a lot of them still on the road it's hard to know if it's worth the effort.

DakarVert

You'll sell body panels, Bonnet/Boot/Doors/Wings/Bumpers.
Say someone has a dented door, Buy yours and bolt on for €50 or so. (Cheaper than painting but car would NEED to be a 'Common' colour)

Lights should also sell.

Interior, Be hard enough to sell if it's common.. Something like upgraded seats or leather. Will sell.
Odd stuff like, Steering Wheel, Interior Clocks, Heater Controls will all sell eventually.

Mechanically, Engine bits will sell... Starter/Alternator etc.. Shocks/Springs, Brake Callipers, Gearbox and drives should all sell. (Really helps if you have a previous NCT results sheet to show they're not ****ed)
Cat will also be worth money.
Wheels will sell, Alloys with good tyres could pay for the car!

BUT you will need to have the car up on blocks The car will probably be there for 6/7 months to get proper value from it.... So don't park it in your driveway, But if you have a big yard out of view that'd be fine... Preferably a shed though, It's not fun trying to get a door off in the rain because Johnny is on his way out for it. You'll also need to cover it if it's outside.

Other way of doing this is stripping the car in a week or so, Storing all the parts and getting the shell gone ASAP.

How will you get rid of the shell and how easy accessible will it be (Consider it won't be rolling)

Advertise on Facebook groups/Adverts and DoneDeal.... Be prepared for a LOT of timewasters offering stupid money.
You will need to post small things like interior switches, So PayPal is a must.

I find Adverts the best, it does have its share of timewasters... But take a part off, Price it, Take pictures, Part numbers and stick the ad up.

TBH at €250 it's a good cheap way to learn how a car is put together and how things work, you can't really lose at that money.

You won't become a millionaire, But should double if not triple your money at least.


ETA: I'm still selling parts from a car I parted out 15months ago.

Also consider tools! You'll need random spanners, socket sets, assorted screw driver bits... Trim remover etc... Oh and a big hammer.

Toyotafanboi

i wouldn't, you'l struggle to get your €250 back.

the most desirable part of the vvti avensis is the engine (as you can tell ) and yours is already bunched.

problem is (fanboi-ism aside) not much goes badly wrong in those avensis for people to be needing replacement items.

it's a fantasy thinking you will make more than €250 selling panels and odds and ends in any sort of reasonable time frame, while you have a rotting avensis greeting you at the front door every morning.

if you actually wanted to make money off of it in a d.i.y. manner, i'd buy the car for €250, then i'd buy a replacement 1.4/ 1.6/ 1.8 vvti (all interchangable) engine for €500 and get the car running and NCT'd, advertise for €2k, take offers over €1500, collect €500 profit for carrying out an engine swap.

cajonlardo

DakarVert wrote: »

You'll sell body panels, Bonnet/Boot/Doors/Wings/Bumpers.
Say someone has a dented door, Buy yours and bolt on for €50 or so. (Cheaper than painting but car would NEED to be a 'Common' colour)

Lights should also sell.

Interior, Be hard enough to sell if it's common.. Something like upgraded seats or leather. Will sell.
Odd stuff like, Steering Wheel, Interior Clocks, Heater Controls will all sell eventually.

Mechanically, Engine bits will sell... Starter/Alternator etc.. Shocks/Springs, Brake Callipers, Gearbox and drives should all sell. (Really helps if you have a previous NCT results sheet to show they're not ****ed)
Cat will also be worth money.
Wheels will sell, Alloys with good tyres could pay for the car!

BUT you will need to have the car up on blocks The car will probably be there for 6/7 months to get proper value from it.... So don't park it in your driveway, But if you have a big yard out of view that'd be fine... Preferably a shed though, It's not fun trying to get a door off in the rain because Johnny is on his way out for it. You'll also need to cover it if it's outside.

Other way of doing this is stripping the car in a week or so, Storing all the parts and getting the shell gone ASAP.

How will you get rid of the shell and how easy accessible will it be (Consider it won't be rolling)

Advertise on Facebook groups/Adverts and DoneDeal.... Be prepared for a LOT of timewasters offering stupid money.
You will need to post small things like interior switches, So PayPal is a must.

I find Adverts the best, it does have its share of timewasters... But take a part off, Price it, Take pictures, Part numbers and stick the ad up.

TBH at €250 it's a good cheap way to learn how a car is put together and how things work, you can't really lose at that money.

You won't become a millionaire, But should double if not triple your money at least.


ETA: I'm still selling parts from a car I parted out 15months ago.

Also consider tools! You'll need random spanners, socket sets, assorted screw driver bits... Trim remover etc... Oh and a big hammer.

Flippin hell.

Talk about a comprehensive, informative and helpful answer.....

One of the best posts I've ever read on boards

dgt

What shape avensis? Old or new shape?

On both the best seller would be body panels, especially the newer shape. For the newer shape: Good arch liners are gold dust and the front would be a huge seller. Lights if the brackets arent broke. Washer motor. Then its starter and alternator. Engines are hard to get as a lot of them have that bottom rattle. Doors/regs also give bother. Backs of the mirrors often get stolen, don't sell the back as the mirror is worthless without it. Ecu kit for people who lost keys. Drivers seat if not worn. Then its rear bumpers as they are easy pulled off (flimsy). Towbars are sought after. Heatshields at the back rot away too.

That's really for the 2nd generation avensis and what sells the most from them. I'm not going to divulge how i got that experience

5ub

Yeah like toyotafanboi says you'll struggle to get your money back in any reasonable time frame. Breaking one car for parts is usually a very slow process, and 250 for a breaker that isn't anything special is rich enough

iamtony

Sorry for the delay in getting back I was up to my eyes in work.

Thanks for the detailed reply. I think I will leave it alone for now. I do have a big space where I could leave it and I know my way around a car and have the tools etc. but I don't think it would be worth listening to the missus moaning about having half a car at the side of the house.
So if anyone is interested in it let me know and I'll pass on the details, the €250 I quoted was just my guess as what I'd get it for not what he said so bear that in mind if anyone is interested.