My truck broke down about a month ago. I coasted to the side of the road, and called my wife to come and pick me up. A tow truck picked up my truck, and took it to the repair shop to be fixed.
When my truck first stopped,I assumed I needed a new transmission. The engine would run, but the truck wouldn't go anywhere. When my wife picked me up, she brought 5 qts of transmission fluid.
I put the 5 qts of fluid in to no effect. Blown transmission.
I was relieved when I found out it was just a line that needed replaced, (plus 9 qts of fluid).
Two weeks later, the truck broke down again. It was towed in again,
but this time I told the shop not to do any repairs. I wanted a estimate only.
Repair costs? $500.00. I knew it was time to trade the beast in.
I had been looking at trucks for awhile, and had my eye on one.
It was at the shop that did my repairs. With the first tow-in,
I was able to talk to the owner while the transmission line was being repaired.
With the second breakdown,
I took the new truck for a test drive, and purchased it.
I financed the new truck at 100%. Nothing down.
The owner was willing to purchase my old truck.
He gave me $300.00.
My old truck had everything broken with it.
The $500.00 repair bill was just to get it running.
Passenger seat, brakes, front end steering rods,
Engine belts, (there were some major squeaks)
The drivers door was coming apart,
Turn signal lens were broken, front and back.
and this to-do repair list is just a start.
I was happy to get the three hundred.
After the deal was done, my wife mentioned her sister had a van she traded to a scrap yard.
Her sister was paid five hundred for the van.
It set my wheels to spinning.
I have always been told that you can get 100-200 for your vehicle at scrap yards.
500 dollars seemed a bit high.
Perhaps they wanted to resell the van and not scrap it.
Maybe there was a rare part on the van that was worth a lot of money.
I've seen ads in the paper, cash paid for your non-running vehicle.
I suppose a lot of people would be happy to get a few bucks to have their junker hauled away.
Knowing a scrap yard will pay up to $200.00,
I could be a middleman. And not just old cars. Any kind of junk metal.
I have a old Honda Subaru setting in my yard, gathering rust.
My wife has been on me for years to do something with it.
Its going to cost about 400 to get it up and running.
resale value 800-1,000.
I'm going to call around to different junk yards, and compare prices.
My wife's sister lives about a hour away.
Will her scrap yard pay more than a local scrap yard?
Can I tow the Subaru an hour for a couple of extra hundred dollars?
If I can get 3-400 from a scrap yard, why put the time and effort into
repairing the vehicle. I will unload it as scrap.
Do you have a car trailer, or a truck?
Put a ad in the paper, Will Haul away your Junk Metal, or Non Running Vehicle.
Its pretty easy to pick up scrap, throw it in the back of your truck, and haul it
off to the junk yard. I see ads in the paper all the time.
They must be making money otherwise they wouldn't continue to advertise.
And remember when someone calls,you don't have to automatically go pick their junk up.
If you don't like what they tell you, turn the job down.
Also I've seen ads about donating your vehicle to charity. You won't get any cash, but you will get a major tax write off. I'm considering calling them too. Which would be better, 400 cash, or a 600 dollar tax write off?
I going to call scrap yards next week, and start with my old car.
There are about half a dozen in my area.
We'll see........
I guess its kind of like Junk'in.
You could go to pick up someone's scrap and find a treasure.
Read about Junk'in here:
Trash and Treasure
Start a Junk Car Business!
