All good ideas

If it drives taking it to a local junk yard in my area its is as simple as driving it there get it on the scale and collect a couple of hundred

Selling on Craig's list or Market place is a pain but may get a few hundred to a thousand more

Donating is a good route


An idea which has not been thrown out there, if you want an adventure

is preping it and then driving it in a Demolition Derby, I did a few of them in my younger years and it was some effort getting the car ready but well worth it.

Heck driving the car with out the muffler and windows to get to the track on the back roads was a blast

When done I sold the car for $25 at the track and walked away

Just a thought

A number of years ago I was in your son's position. Had a junk car that I needed to get rid of. I called, "Pick A Part"

Was asked if I had a title for the vehicle, if the car had an engine in it, if it had a transmission, if it would run, etc. They sent a wrecker out, signed over the title to the driver and he wrote me a check on the spot.

My buddy flatout wore out a car so he managed to drive it down to the salvage yard. They had him drive it across the scale and he ended up walking out with a check for something like $250.00. This was about a year ago.

That car was such a POS it's value went up and down according to the gas in the tank.
.

I’ve donated a couple of cars to a veterans association. Just need the title and they will come and tow it away. Get a receipt and it still should be a tax write off

There are people advertising for cars in any condition, they buy it from you and tow it off.

Nismo, I had same issue in 2003 in the east bay. Donated a vehicle to kars for kids or some such. Just wanted it gone. Was an 83 van. And the local tower towed it off and gave me a stack of paper. Months later I get a ticket out of concord or other east bay town and I’m like WTF. Lot of time and follow ups to get resolved.

I had a beat up old VW golf. Good little car. With between 230-300k on it. The speedo and odo quit at 230k so not sure. Started leaking fluid. Buddy used to work as mechanic at VE dealer takes a look for me and noticed the fluid has shavings in it. He estimates about $1500 for a friend price. Cause it’s a weekend long tear down and fix. MaYbe 2500+At a shop cause what was involved. Ok. So it needs fluids like every few days and getting worse. Next weekend I nursed it to the local VW dealer, parked on the street because it just gushes oils and bought a used Jetta. I squeezed them up to $500 on the trade. Lol. Broken driver seat and all. This was around 2013 or so. Back when you could get a 2010 Jetta for 12k. And VW would run $1 down, 99$ leases. Which seemed fair for a very basic transit vehicle.

Call your local fire dept. They may be willing to take the vehicle for training.

If they take it cut the cats out and scrap them for a few bucks and write the vehicle donation off on your taxes.

Large industry that disposes of junk cars. The car actually has value, even if it isn't drivable.

I’m in a similar boat. I have a 2010 Hyundai, it was my wife’s SUV, then my son’s. Son left for the military, so I’ve been driving it for about a year. 110,000 miles on it, but it’s reliable, and keeps the miles off my car. Two years ago, KBB estimated it was worth $3500. Currently, it’s worth about $6500. A neighbor backed into a few weeks ago, causing $3000 worth of damage. I’ll keep that check, and plan on giving it to my 15y/o son who starts driving next year. Mechanically, it’s fine. Cosmetically, it has two huge dents in the driver door and rear driver side. But I’m not afraid of my kid “getting a scratch” on it.

I plan on running it into the ground, donating it to the National Kidney Foundation, and getting a tax write off. My wife’s friend scrapped a car, and got more than what it was worth.

Shop around…

quote:

Originally posted by Nismo:
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 similar thing happened to a buddy who'd sold a boat that was in poor repair. A month or two later the County Sheriff is knocking on his door telling him he'd have to move it or pay massive marine towing fees. Idiots had left it moored in a random place along the riverside. Perhaps they abandoned it. Never found out. Once he showed the Sheriff his copy of the Bill of Sale he was off the hook.

Try "Carshelpingvets.org 888_982-8387 by phone!

Maybe check with local Technical Colleges. They are always looking for vehicles to work on in the auto mechanics or auto body classes.

quote:

Originally posted by ElToro:
Nismo, I had same issue in 2003 in the east bay. Donated a vehicle to kars for kids or some such. Just wanted it gone. Was an 83 van. And the local tower towed it off and gave me a stack of paper. Months later I get a ticket out of concord or other east bay town and I’m like WTF. Lot of time and follow ups to get resolved.

I don’t know about other states, but in CA there is an “I sold it” form. When you sell to a private party, dealer, or give to a charity, fill out the vehicle particulars, the date, the odometer reading, the buyer information, any other blanks, then take the form to the DMV (I guess you could mail if you’re an optimist). If you’re a pessimist, keeping a photocopy, preferably stamped received and dated by the DMV, might not be a bad idea. That is your release of liability. Future tickets will not come to you. If the car is later in a horrific crash, not your problem.

Do not, under any circumstances, take the buyer up on their offer to take the form to the DMV for you since they are going anyway.

You can probably put it on Craigslist at $1000 as-is and you'll get run over by people with cash trying to take it from you.

Craigslist or some other classified ad would be the way to go.

There may be someone looking for a parts Explorer and they are waiting for your ad.

I found a 'junk' truck for $1,200 and it has been my daily driver for 12 years now.

Found another ride and got it for the price of the engine. No speeding tickets so far...