Perfect example of the parts car dilema. What to do?

[GT350R]

Ok, here is a perfect example of the parts car dilema.

Here we have a vadalized 87 GT.

SALVAGE TITLE. 54,000 miles.

If I dont win this, it GOES TO A JUNKYARD WHERE IT IS PARTED OUT.

But , if I win it and part it out. I look like a butcher. Fixing it is not an option because you would be buried in a salvage title Mustang.

SO then what?

http://www.foureyedpride.com/phpBB2/album_pic.php?pic_id=2335

http://www.foureyedpride.com/phpBB2/album_pic.php?pic_id=2336

I agree this is a completely fixable car. But We are not talking about getting a smokin deal on this car. You looking at a cost of about 2200-2500 BEFORE ;
Transport,
Repairs,
Salvage inspection.
Auction fee's.
Buy fee.

The car is *MABEY* a 2000-2500 car with a salvage title and thats ONLY because of the miles. You would still need to find someone to actually WANT a car with a salvage title.

Thats also ASSuMEing everything is cool mechinaly with the car.

So if I dont buy it, it gets parted out. If I do buy it, I either loose alot of money AND time. Or it gets parted out.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh. The troubles of trying to not part out good cars.

*EDIT* forgot to mention, there is body damage thats hard to see in the pics. Seems they missed the windows a few times. So you would also need paint and body work.

[Flash Gordan]

If it were me, I would buy it and fix it up. Forget about parting it out.

[mfpmax]

Moltov...

[Flash Gordan]

Moltov...

That's just so wrong!!!!!

[mfpmax]

Moltov...

That's just so wrong!!!!!

It'll solve all the problems...and whoever damaged the car obviously forgot to do it themselves.


* disclaimer
pissy mood...

[Philly5.0girl]

what else is wrong with it?
they wouldn't total the car out just because the windows and tails were busted in and a few dents.

[Travis T]

Sure they would total it for that, do you realize how much it would cost to get it fixed versus what it is worth?

[AT6svo]

Hmmm. Tough decision.

Fixing the glass & lights is cheap (I can get entire doors, w glass for $29, etc), its the paint job that would set you back $$, unless you could detail the car and get away with only painting the damaged portions... :?

Buy it sell it to someone wants to do an drivetrain/EFI swap into an older 4 eye? I'd sure love to do that with my 81.

I'd be -SO- in trouble if I had a dealer license (i.e. able to attend & bid on vehicles).

I do not envy your predicament. Buy a Factory Five Cobra replica and use that car as the donor? :twisted:

[50 Proof]

buy it and sell the car to someone who's looking to build a race car.

[f4fntm]

if I win it and part it out. I look like a butcher.
Ye gawds, I am tired of hearing this term bandied about. It's a car - we build them, we use/cherish/destroy them as suits our purposes, and that's all there is to it. The legal owner of this car and any other can do with it as he or she sees fit, period.

"Try pleasing everyone and you end up pleasing no one, not even yourself" - Aesop

[Flash Gordan]

Buy it sell it to someone wants to do an drivetrain/EFI swap into an older 4 eye? I'd sure love to do that with my 81.

If I couldn't buy this to repair and drive, I'd definitely be buying it to do the same swap into my 79.

[BetterDays]

Damn women... upset about our love of Mustangs....

IMHO, buy it and part it out... Like you said, it is a lose/lose situation....

Doors with glass for $29? What kind of shape are they in?

Imagine attempting to clean the interior from glass and the elements (thanks to no glass)

Buy it and make it run 11's!

[Philly5.0girl]

$29 with glass is about all doors cost around here too, any condition at the u-pull-its.
I paid $40 total for all the interior trim pieces (including quarter panels),a dashboard and a rear bumper at the one yard I go to.
I pay $2 each for halo headrests and sell them on ebay all the time for $40+.
You have to go every weekend, but its worth it, I find a lot of parts for our cars there.

[BetterDays]

We can't find crap here...

At least not cheap...

They wanted $100 for a door with glass....

Where I needed to replace the upper portion of the door since a tree fell on the car....

[85 Notchback]

I got my driver side door for $15 without the door panel, included power window motors arms and glass... And motors from the passenger door and arms as well... I was doing a manul to power swap 8O .... I say fix it, then dents can be delt with and paint over by yourself, go to a wreckers and get some glass. have yourself a nice GT, or Turn it into a dragster :)

[GT350R]

OK, I did not bid on it. Might in the morning, but by then you have to be "on site" and in person.

Fixing it would end up running about 500-1000 on top of the approximate 2200-2500 it would take to win it and get it here. So you could be in it as good as 2700 , to as bad as 3500.

Who would buy a fixed up SALVAGE title Mustang for 3500? The last 87 GT I sold had a black interior swap , was a low mile car , and had flashy paint. It sold for 2500.

As far as fixing it to keep it, you guys forget just how many cars I really have. Remember, I only have the 4 eye Mustangs that I own in my sig. Not all of them. So thats not going to happen. Besides, I really have no interest at all in owning a run of the mill aero nose GT , unless its a 5,000 mile prom queen , and tripple black.



I did not bid on it. So NOW it is going to be a parts car. Its going to a junkyard and no one gets a deal on the parts.

[v8only]

would make a great parts car.

Would also make a great car to restore.

Parts cars HAVE to be determined in a professional sense value wise. Never mind that WE may be handy installing windows, etc. If this wants to be fixed up, then cost has to be factored into it. Lets factor in his cost of the vehicle, then a rough quote what it would cost a body shop (not him) to repair all of the work professionally. If this cost doesn't exceed 70% (or whatever the standard is) then it isn't a parts car. If it does exceed the value, then it's a parts car.

can it be fixed? sure, is it worth it? who knows. We're fighting a battle that doesn't ultimately have a real answer. he lost a lot of money by letting it slip out of his hands, and it's still going to be stripped.

[85 Notchback]

Jeremy makes a good point, I know this site is crazy dedicated to not parting out cars, but this is a perfect example to what should have been an exception, I think new rules need to be put into play, or atleast discussed regarding this topic,GT350R is definetly not a butcher, nor are Corey (50 Proof) or Jeremy (v8only), they need to make money off this kind of stuff yes, but they do factor in costs of saving ect. Other people need to be given the same chance with parting out cars.. We need to talk money on this, not extent of damage, Ie. frame damage ect. but cost of repair. What is worth saving?

[EFI 4-EYE]

What's so bad about a salvage title? Maybe Mustangs are just harder to come by here in VA but a 54,000 mile '87 GT should get more than 3500 if it's in nice shape, regardless of the title status. To me the salvage title doesn't mean crap, I guess everyone is different

[Coupester]

I sold an 88 coupe with a salvage title, black interior, for $3500, no motor/ tranny/ stock everything/ no hood - it's just how business savvy you are hehe.

[GT350R]

I admit, I sell my cars too cheap most of the time. Most obvious clue to that one is that every car I have sold in the past 3 years was bought by the first person to look at it.

After selling cars for 9 year, I know how to sell a car.

Your also talking a Coupe, with a black interior. Worlds apart.

[Coupester]

I certainly believe you have the nack to sell a car. I'm the kind of guy that will sit on a car for 3-4-5 months to get the price I want. Plus, I usually sell my cars out of state, and the buyer pays for shipping to his location ...

Unfortunately, the same logic applies to my purchase of a car. Even if I'm looking for a driver, I'm completely anal about cleanliness; door dings, scratches, dents, etc. I'll pass on a perfectly good car if it appears to have been mistreated or neglected in any way.

[Hooptie]

Heres my take.

You buy it, you'll never make a dime making it right.

You can part it for a profit, its not a rare car, or a particularly desireable one either, but with new glass and tail lights, it would make one hell of a driver you wouldn't feel bad using/abusing every day.

[sleepercoupe]

i would have bought it and stripped it and sold parts then if i couldnt sell the body plasma cut it into dumpster sized pieces.

[Coupester]

Something that easy to fix ... I'd spend a weekend, go to pick n pull, and it would be ready for paint by Monday. Then, drag race it/ flog it/ sell it whatever ...

[mikejb]

I got the headlights tail lights and hatch glass. If it got the salvage title for the busted glass then whats the big deal? I can see if it got wrecked in the front end or something and someone did a joe shmo job. Take pics of the car for documentation and if you need to sell it you got proof of why it has a salvage title. If you don't need to sell it drive it forever. We all know that parts for 87-up Stangs are easily to get ahold of. Heck turn it into a 4 eye! :D

[JEEPMAN1]

I got the headlights tail lights and hatch glass. If it got the salvage title for the busted glass then whats the big deal? I can see if it got wrecked in the front end or something and someone did a joe shmo job. Take pics of the car for documentation and if you need to sell it you got proof of why it has a salvage title. If you don't need to sell it drive it forever. We all know that parts for 87-up Stangs are easily to get ahold of. Heck turn it into a 4 eye! :D

Peaple are afraid of a salvage title no matter what the damage is,you can tell someone it was never hit but they will not believe you. As far as fixing that car,I bet there is more than windows and tailight damage,If you look at the hatch you can see rust repair so if you know rusty stangs you know there is rust under the gas pedal,at the door hinges,at the rockers by the back of the door jamb,and of course the doors and rear frame rails.

So you have a salvage title car with rust,cost to fix??? All windows depends on who you are,if you pay full price you are looking between 400-1000.00 and tailights and headlights,200-350.00 depending where you get them,Ohh,RED paint! very costly usually between 80-100.00 a quart,clear and materials,700.00 -1000.00 in paint then figure labor,I know what I get to do it,500-1000.00 depending on prep work involved.

So now you have a salvage title car that cost about 2300.00 to start and add all the others in and you have a loss deal,as far as keeping it just ask Lew how many he already has,probably more than anyone on this board.

[MHISSTC]

This car would be a great project for a technical college or high school auto shop class, or someone in such a class who some skills and some time on their hands. If it wasn't in as nice shape and so expensive to start with, I'd buy it and make it a track car, or part it out for someone to use the drivetrain in a factory five Cobra as was mentioned before.

A salvage title puts any car on shakey ground. Most people shy away from one because of all the bad things people have heard about poorly repaired and unsafe wrecks. The best situation is if it is a theft recovery with minimal damage. If the buyer is knowledgeable and if the seller is honest, great deals can be had. Those are pretty big ifs.

My sister and brother-in-law bought a brand new Ford pickup with a salvage title and got a super deal. In that case it was one of two vehicles that were stolen brand new off the dealer's lot and stashed out in the country as a bank robbery get-away vehicles. The robbers were caught before they ever got to the truck to make their get-away. By the time the truck was found, the insurance company had already paid the dealership for the vehicles. That is why when it got a salvage title.

The towing company bought the truck from the insurance company for next to nothing. No one would buy it from the towing company. The company needed the space and my brother-in-law just happened to be in the right place at the right time with cash in hand when they decided it had to go and dropped the price to a point where they were breaking even.

My sister and brother-in-law will keep that truck until the day it falls apart around them because they like it and understand resale value on a "Salvage" vehicle is much less.

[FoxChassis]

As has been pointed out, "salvage" can mean many things. My Escost has a salavage title. Why? Because it was on a mechanic's lein. It was NOT because of a wreck, a sumbersion, theft recovery, vandalism, etc.