My younger son has literally driven his 2005 Ford Explorer to the point of no return. The minimum repairs necessary will exceed the value and benefit of doing said repairs. He already gotten another new to him vehicle, so a trade in wasn’t a consideration. Looking for suggestions/guidance on the best approach to disposing of the vehicle. Not keen on trying to find the ideal shade tree fixer upper. Again in its current state, I don’t think selling to a used car lot/dealer would be fruitful.
So it looks like going to a salvage yard would be the most expedient. Any helpful information or insight would be appreciated. New territory for us and my son, thanks.

Is it drivable, or will it need to be towed?

Call local salvage yards & ask what they need to take a car.

Local scrap yard, maybe. But probably have to evacuate all fluids first.

You’ll probably make more by just selling the catalytic converter. Then sell the rest for scrap.

You might try calling Salvation Army. They had a deal where you could donate your vehicle whether it ran or not. They would show up with a flat bed, haul it away, and sell it at auction.

You should check with some larger car companies like Carvana. I sold a 1998 GMC Sonoma in rough condition with a broken windshield and no mirrors for almost a grand last year. It took about ten minutes to enter the data and take a couple pictures. Guy came and got it a week later. He was on-time (early actually) and had check in hand.

The only rule they had is that it had to be drivable and I had to shut it off and restart it for the guy. He was supposed to test drive it but he didn’t know how to drive stick so he had me drive around in the parking lot real quick.

It’s not much but better than nothing for sure.

50lbs of tannerite and a .308 from a few hundred yards away.

There are more than one charities (I believe) that will take vehicles, running or not, and even tell you how much of a donation they realized from it. The Nutjobs, Pinkos, and Reds radio stations solicit vehicle donations all the time.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
50lbs of tannerite and a .308 from a few hundred yards away.

While I wouldn't recommend that, you CAN possibly donate the vehicle to an explosives testing facility. I used to work at EMRTC down at New Mexico Tech; we would accept donated vehicles and use them as car bomb demos for first responder training and various other courses. 500lbs of ANFO in a vehicle was something to see. We also demolished them with the rocket sled track for Mythbusters.

Are you close to New Mexico?

Car is in North Dakota. Running/drivable but not very safe to drive on the street.

quote:

Originally posted by BGULL:
Car is in North Dakota. Running/drivable but not very safe to drive on the street.

Mine wasn’t really safe to drive on the road, like I said no mirrors and a busted windshield.

Carvana only cared that it ran.

I suggest you check Carvana, Trucar, Edmunds and Carnac. Then wait two weeks. You may be surprised as to what it is worth.

If you could get $1,000 for it, would it be worth 15 minutes of your time?

Take it to a used car dealer and see what they will offer. That is farm and ranch country. There are lots of unlicensed and uninsured vehicles all over.

One man's not very safe to drive on the street is another man's daily driver.

Donate it and take the write off.

Edited to add: keep the tags.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: MikeinNC,

if it rides and drives it will bring $500 for spare parts. Craigslist is a $5 ad and you can post up to 24 pics. A lot of pics answer a lot of timewasting questions.

Just tell the truth about condition and let the buyer decide. Nothing unethical or dishonest about that and you may do someone a real favor.

My city provides households with these bigass trashcans and they told us that anything that fits in the can, they'll take to the landfill, no questions asked.

This probably doesn't help you but I thought I'd mention it.

Donate it. That's what I did with my Honda Accord and my wife did with her Chevy Trailblazer--both drivable, but neither fit for sale.

When my 2000 Grand Prix with ~300K on it exploded its engine on the Interstate I called someone to pick me up then called a near by junk yard. They picked it up from where it sat on the side of the road and paid me 300 bucks for it. Didn't even have to find the title.

Same here. My daughters 05 Civic ground to a stop. Over $2000 to replace the motor with used one. Then it was worth about $2000 to sell. Craigslist, and junkyard gave her $250. Good enough.

If you do go the donation route, be sure to document and keep all paperwork involving the title hand over.
My parents recently donated an old van to some charity and somehow it got screwed up in the process, and they ended up getting a letter from the Oakland PD stating "their" vehicle was left abandoned and needed to pay fines to the tow yard.

A few back and fourth emails with the donation company and their lawyer straightened it out in the end.