Parting out or selling as whole

Hello everyone. Have a question

I purchased a 2006 Jetta TDI with 155k miles for cheap because a knocking under the hood. It ran perfectly fine and had much power but I took it to a tree shade mechanic because he could fix the knocking. He took the head off and disappeared literally nothing was missing but now my car is in pieces and I'm not skilled enough to put this back together. To top it off the hood is damaged now and last night after I had it towed to my house someone stole the radio. I was going to just sell it but I believe if I part it out I can get more of my money back. What would you do if you were me? A unskilled mechanic. If you would part it out (everything except the radio is there) what are the parts I need to take off and what should I leave? Thank you all in advance

If you're not a skilled mechanic then I'd figure you wouldn't really want to be disassembling a car: you can risk messing something up.

Sure, you can get more money parting it out, but at what time cost?

Might just be better to sell the entire thing and cut losses short.

The trouble with parting something out is you can wait months or perhaps years for folks to buy the parts.

If you have no clue on how to work on cars, maybe just walking away might be your best option. You probably could find some savvy individual that could give your car a good home.

Will you make a lot of money? No. But you will probably get what the car is worth in it's current condition.

I noticed your reference to a "shade tree mechanic". The problem with allowing someone with no clue to work on your car is the results usually end up being far worse than if they had never even touched it.

The "knocking sound" you heard may have been nothing to do with what Freddy Fumbles was chasing by removing your head.

I'm a semi-skilled mechanic, and in the midst of parting out a Jeep. I can tell you with certainty, that if you don't have the skill and most importantly the patience, your best bet is to sell it as is for whatever you can get.

As for the moron who stole your radio, you can take comfort in the fact that the radio will never work again without the key-code for your car, which, of course, the thief does not have and can't get. Basically, he got himself a brick.

Random thought. DMF knocking?

If thats what was happening, poor car for having all this happen.


I suspect its the original flywheel and clutch?

YUP, bet it was either a bad DMF or a bad cam.

I already have this on my kitchen table

I don't know what is what but I ca figure it all out. I have been offered 500 dollars for the car I know I can get more for this right here. If I do not part it out how much should I ask for the car as a whole? It's fully loaded new tires 8/10 interior and 8/10 exterior minus the hood and radio

I generally see people asking (don't know what they end up selling for) $1k or so. If the motor is really trashed then it'll be less, though body parts (if those are good), interior parts and suspension bits are likely worth upwards of $800.

I was ready to buy a GREEN 2000 Golf 4dr gasser with a clutch(?) issue for around $800 for interior parts (I'm struggling to find heated beige cloth seats!) and body parts (wife's car could use a front bumper; mine could use a rear bumper and, of course, both front fenders and front rocker sections). I'd contact a wrecking yard not too long ago and was quoted something like $950 just for the body parts I noted.

I see a turbo in that pile. Kind of depends on whether it's still good or not, but most folks replace stock ones with something better (if that's stock then it's not likely going to fetch much). Probably get $300 to $400 for the engine parts (condition isn't readily known so it would be hard to ask for very much).

I have everything
And everything worked. I plan on selling the turbo, cam, head, pump, a.c. compressor, wheels and a few other misc things then calling a scrapper to get the rest. I don't think I'll get more than a thousand if I sell the car whole. I trust this websites wisdom completely however the advice I am getting doesn't compute. I respect the opinions 100% and appreciate them very much. I am being advised that selling the car whole is smarter than parting it out but I can get good money for these engine parts, wheels and other parts like the leather seats. I know it will take time but I have time. I have never parted a car out before tho so may I ask for a little more elaboration as to why it is a bad idea to part it out? Thank everybody in advance I deeply appreciate your time.

Since you have already done the hard work of pulling all those parts, you are ahead of the game as long as you can store them till sold.
For me with 3 old tdi's, a parts car is a must.

Maybe have Run-on-beer in Austin have a look and see if he can get it going.

Should have been there to start with. You might still contact him for buying parts. He may be interested.

http://www.runonbeer.com/

I always wonder if the whole story isn't being shared somewhere along the line - I bought an engine from somebody (not a TDI) where the story was "my girlfriend was driving and the engine just stalled, so we replaced the entire engine. Neither of us knows anything about mechanics so we haven't done a single thing with it and have no idea what is wrong."

Yeah, right.

When I started digging, I could easily tell that somebody had been in the engine - there were bolts missing several layers deep. Found that it had dropped valves and trashed the head and a piston.

This situation seems oddly similar - You have an engine / vehicle that runs, but take it to someone that disassembles it, and then you just give up? You are already here where you can get the best assistance for any TDI... If all the parts are there, I'd contact the closest guru (RunOnBeer is a great choice) and see what they can do for you.

For the Jeep CRD, I'm the travelling mechanic guru. I have had several people bring / call me about Jeeps that STEALERSHIPS have given back to them with half the engine in the cargo area, and all the bolts in random bags or boxes. I've got the skill to be able to identify all the bolts simply from memory, and I've restored each of these to running condition.

Give someone here a chance, and you may find a lot more money in this car if you do still decide to sell it.

I thought he was here clearing out parts a while back.

Lightflyer1 said:

Should have been there to start with. You might still contact him for buying parts. He may be interested.

http://www.runonbeer.com/

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If I was trying to pull a fast one I'd put it back together and say it needs a fuel pump Geordi. Thanks but no thanks. As for hiring another mechanic I've already spent 2k on the car, 600 to the mechanic, 140 filing law suit against mechanic, 360 for the impound and 250 towing it home. The hood is damaged and the radio was stolen this has become a nightmare. I tried selling the car whole and 500 dollars was my best offer. When I Google these parts used they are pricey so I figure parting it out is the best option. I just wanted to know why you guys have warned me not to do so I know the majority of you are much wiser than I when it comes to vw diesels so I respect your opinions very much.

You were told that because of your unskilled mechanical experience you stated. If you have the room to store the car while you disassemble everything you want to sell and can do it properly without ruining anything and you are willing to go through the chore of listing and trying to sell everything, go for it. It really isn't for the faint of heart though.

Well I have decided to listen to you guys and sell the car conplete. Ihowever I have discovered a engine 1.9 tdi with 86k miles on craigslist. I love this car and really want to keep it and I am slightly mechanically inclined therefore I am wondering how difficult it would be taking this engine and installing it into my car? Sorry for all the rookie questions I greatly appreciate your responses

He's asking 800$ for the whole engine

This is not something for a slightly experienced person to do either. If I were you I would contact Robbie here in Austin and ask him what the cost would be to swap. You would still want to do a timing belt change on it, which might be easier when removed. Not something an unskilled mechanic does in one day either. Your car will be down for a while doing this. Do you have alternate transportation while you do this? $800 for the engine and another $350 to $700 for the timing belt swap out and a few other things and you are rapidly approaching $2k. Are you prepared to spend at least this much on it?

Listen to them. I am definitely smarter than the average bear with a wrench, and even though I took my time swapping the engine on my TDI... I still took 4 days to do it.

Granted there were breaks involved and I was doing other things at the same time, but I probably had about 15 hours in the swap.

You will become experienced very quickly if you attempt this, but it will not be a fast lesson - I would expect to have the car on jackstands for at least 2 weeks, and you will be making many purchases of tools that you weren't planning on. I have 2 engine cranes that were used to drop the engine and transmission together, plus large sockets for the axle nuts, an ATV jack from underneath, levelling hoist attachments, impact guns, and a host of other tools that I already had.

Crawl before you walk - It will be cheaper to pay a guru to do this for you, and WAY faster and more successful.