Wrecked Car Prices

I wasn't sure where to post this; sorry if it is in the wrong place.

What would you consider an attractive price for a wrecked Impala SS, hit hard in the front? Drivetrain supposedly good; LT1 w170k on it, ran after the wreck. Seats and interior supposedly good except for dash; wheels supposedly good. I need to go and look at it in person. My mechanic has it and said it has my name on it after I went to his shop today to get a sticker for my RMW. He told me to come look at it and make an offer. But, I have no idea what the ballpark even is, so I look to you folks.

It's not really what the prices are. It's more like, what your mechanic thinks will get him a deal. I'd say... $800 at the most if its totaled, no title, etc. I've already dealt with this same scenario and passed. Post up some pics. Make sure it's a real ss to begin with. SPID label in trunk will have RPO WX3 if its not a clone. Make sure that the vin in the SPID matches the one in the windshield. The drivers door stickers will say it calls for 17" tires, not 15" like any other B or D. I'd say that's your FIRST order of business. Too many clones out there!

All else fails on verification, post here and we will figure it out.

Believe none of what you hear, and only half if what you see...

Excellent info on the codes and door sticker. $800 is less than I was thinking, and if that is your max figure it's even better news. My objective would be to keep some parts that I can use on m car, sell the rest, and break even or pocket a few dollars. He thinks the car is either a '94 or '96 so I know there are some things to investigate about using the engine in my '95.

MASShole9C1 wrote:

Believe none of what you hear, and only half if what you see...

I like that qoute, very true.

First thing is first, why are you buying it? For parts for your car? To sell parts for profit?

I have bought 9 or 10 wrecked or rusted Impalas on top of the ones I have bought to drive. I have paid as much as $2000 for a wrecked car, however it was a MINT, rust free car before it was rear-ended and I used many parts on my own car then turned around and parted the rest for more than i paid for it. I have paid as little as $700 for one that was very clapped out, but was still a WX3 car.

It all boils down t what you want it for.

I guess I'd want it to keep some parts for myself and have enough other good parts from it to sell and break even or make a few bucks. My dad has a '96 SS that could use some parts, too, although that isn't a primary motivator.

I'd like to have a spare, good engine that I could clean, refresh, and detail and then drop into the RMW at some point.

Bull wrote:

I guess I'd want it to keep some parts for myself and have enough other good parts from it to sell and break even or make a few bucks. My dad has a '96 SS that could use some parts, too, although that isn't a primary motivator.

I'd like to have a spare, good engine that I could clean, refresh, and detail and then drop into the RMW at some point.

Fair enough. I would say it all depends on condition. Get us some pics of the damage, and the rest of the car. If it is only a mediocre condition car before the accident, but it runs and drives, you have about $750 of value in the trans, motor, and rear end. Everything else can be sold willy-nilly on the big board, but those are the big ticket items.

What parts do you need for your car? I have a running, driving 95 DCM SS that I am selling for $1000. All body panels are rough, but it's not wrecked, check the for sale forum. If nothing else, it will give you an idea of what can be had for $1000, so unless this is a REAL nice wrecked car and it has ALL the parts you want, I wouldn't go higher than that.

I have made money off parting cars, every one I have parted, but it is A LOT of work, and sometimes I wonder if it is really worth the time I put into it.

Doug

I was going to say $800-$1200 depending on how much is really salvageable. The mileage is a big factor to me. Brian, and Doug's posts are dead on. But it comes down to what you want to spend, what you plan to use, and what you can sell off, and get from scrap on the rest. Decide what you want from the car. Fix, and drive, or part out for yourself and to sell, and scrap the rest. If you plan on using for parts, figure out what you want from it, and window shop those parts on the internet to see what it would cost you to buy them, and or sell them. How much you can scrap the remainder for. I would say if the numbers are higher than the purchase price, then it is worth buying. Also try and get the VIN, and run it on comp 9 http://www.compnine.com/vid.php . This will give a break down of what it is and what options it has. Also a rust free car is going to be a better investment, even wrecked. The body itself can be chopped up and sold, like rear quarters, roof skin and floor pans should fetch good money.

Good luck either way

I'm going to look at the car at around 9:30 tomorrow morning. I'll bring a camera and take some pics as long as the owner doesn't mind.

If I drag this home I'll have to find some room inside to put it to strip. I have a '76 TA living on jack stands that just takes up a whole bay.

If you grab it, I call first dibs on parts ( I shouldn't spend the $, but you know...)

MASShole9C1 wrote:

If you grab it, I call first dibs on parts ( I shouldn't spend the $, but you know...)

Yeah, I do know, parts acquisition and hoarding goes with the car sickness.

What stuff do you need?

Lower door/body trim and wheel well arches. That's it.

I went over there as planned, but the shyte weather made it a bad time to crawl around a car parked outside under a tarp. I just shot the breeze with the guy, checked out his new 40x60 barn, and looked at some cool projects. I'll return at another time to look at the Impala.

I only have time to post the pics now; I will be able to write more later. Short version: car seems to be a real SS; I did hear the engine run, and there were no bad noises, it ran well. 175k on the clock, I believe.

Looks 100% legit to me!

You will make a $$$fortune$$$ selling off all those interior parts.

I still call dibs for the above mentioned items if they are in good shape.

That's encouraging. I think that some of the trim pieces you need will be on this car. But the crash effed up the front PS panels, so those pieces are going to be gone or tweaked. DS door edge is tweaked, too.

What are the big value items in the interior? What might the drivetrain be sold for?

If you B-body experts could help me determine how much value there is in parts here, and what a "good deal" price would be, I'd love the help. I don't want to try to lowball the seller; he's a good guy and I've known him since I was a kid. I do want to be able to make my money back and then some by parting the car. The new plan would be to keep the front seats (for my dad) and the wheels (for me) and then sell anything else that I can from the car before scrapping the guts.

The interior is the $$$.

You've got door panels, window seitches, plastic trim, carpet, rear seat, coat hooks, even the steering wheel minus air bag if its in good shape.

You can get a few hundred bucks right there. Same with the rearend givèn the gears and what not. Good for swapping out a rear from a b4u or 9c1.

The rear quarter glass is special to the '94 and can be sold for a mint.

Exterior door handle (I'd be interested in those)

Trunk lid/spoiler

Tail lights $$$ specific to ss

Drive train between $200-$500 depends on circumstances.

It's all the small breakable stuff that's not made anymore that makes good money. Trust me, I know and so doesn't my pay check.. Post here first, then the big board IMO.

I don't want to give up hopes, but there looks to be alot of good parts there and I'd be extremely happy to be able to buy it, so should you be.

If you are keeping the wheels, front seats, and the front door panels are messed up, there is not HUGE money in the can unless you want to nickel it out. I would says the biggest money left is the rear quarters if they are 100% clean ($100 a side), 1/4 windows with plastic and inside piece ($250 or so for both), and maybe the rear at $150 due to mileage. Motor/trans might be $400 combined if you are lucky with that mileage. Once you start selling all the little pieces, like TS module, inside plastics if they are decent, steering wheel, lower dash, trunk carpet and net, etc. you will be able to make some money on it, but you wont retire. I am willing to bet that a fair amount of interior plastic is webbed from that wreck, looks like a good hit.

I still think its about a $1000 car considering that you will be keeping a bunch and still able to sell that much off pretty easy, I just don't think you will make a killing on the parts that are left. You also have to take into consideration that it is a LOT of work to strip a car down. I often have a parts car for months in my garage as I will myself into working on it. I bet I get a solid 20 hours into a full part-out, just food for thought.

Doug

Thanks for the input, guys. I'm not committed to an action yet. Dropping $1k for this thing and then having to fill up one of two bays in my garage to put it, where it will sit while I find spare time to strip it, and then dealing with the general public to make money doesn't sound too great. If I could sell all the parts to local people from forums, that would be better. To Hell with Craigslist and having tweakers come to my place for large items.

Only the PS front door panel looks bent; the other three panels looks very nice. I see in the completed listings on eBay that some very nice front panels sell for $200 or more each, which is nuts. But seeing as how these things are so fragile and I am an ape, I can see myself breaking something and hurting my slim projected profit margin.

How do you get a car shell out of your garage after you have stripped it and removed the rear so it has no way to roll?

Bull wrote:

Thanks for the input, guys. I'm not committed to an action yet. Dropping $1k for this thing and then having to fill up one of two bays in my garage to put it, where it will sit while I find spare time to strip it, and then dealing with the general public to make money doesn't sound too great. If I could sell all the parts to local people from forums, that would be better. To Hell with Craigslist and having tweakers come to my place for large items.

Only the PS front door panel looks bent; the other three panels looks very nice. I see in the completed listings on eBay that some very nice front panels sell for $200 or more each, which is nuts. But seeing as how these things are so fragile and I am an ape, I can see myself breaking something and hurting my slip projected profit margin.

How do you get a car shell out of your garage after you have stripped it and removed the rear so it has no way to roll?

Good parts buyers and free pizza

To go off of what Pooge said about the time commitment, its big. I spent like three almost four weeks getting a complete car down to a rolling frame and I did that without a truck and hauling parts across two towns to get them home. The parts take up space while you keep them/get them off to sell. Pictures and posting and cleaning up parts to make a better profit takes time and effort. Of course if you just hoard everything like I did then you should be all set with just taking it off and stashing it in the rafters.

For a grand it would be worth it. You get nice seats, a second set of nice looking wheels, an engine you could tear down and build a monster out of for a future project or your RMW. Its a big decisions making process. If I was in the position to buy a parts car to tear down, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Just my $0.02

Bull wrote:

...

How do you get a car shell out of your garage after you have stripped it and removed the rear so it has no way to roll?

You just pick up the left over pieces and carry 'em out.

Doesnt matter how many times I've seen that pic...still makes me

boojum wrote:

Bull wrote:

...

How do you get a car shell out of your garage after you have stripped it and removed the rear so it has no way to roll?

You just pick up the left over pieces and carry 'em out.

LOL, that is one way.

I happen to have an excavator, so I leave the front wheels on, locking the steering wheel, and hook a chain to the rear bumper and yank it out.

The other option is take everything you need off except the front and rear suspension, then roll in the yard, jack up the car and pull the suspension apart (A 2-3 hour job max for all of it), then call the scrappers to pick it up.

I do think the car is worth it (I have purchased much worse to use parts and then part out)I just wanted to be honest about the work that goes into it and that it wont be a goldmine, but rather you should be able to easily break even while hoarding a few parts for yourself.