Stop selling to partout buyers

[Pedalsteel]

In the process of looking for my first b4 I'm noticing people who are practically giving decent cars away to guys who want to just part them out... when you pair that with the guys who just want to flip them, you have the perfect storm for overpriced scarcity... just an awareness post/ mini rant

 

[Steve Addy]

There's not much to be done about the partout situation but I don't care for it. Eventually you exhaust the supply of cars that need your parts and your stock becomes worthless. The mustang guys figured this out about a decade ago and so there's much less parting being done in that arena.

Who wouldn't want to sell a project car that needs a lot of work....and needs a lot of parts that you have already? It's a win win...you sell parts you have and someone gets into a Stang at a more reasonable price and one is saved from the squisher.

Right now in the general junk car market the prices are being driven by scrap processors but how long that lasts is anyone's guess, it tends to ebb and flow.

I will say though that a lot of people doing the parting are writing off cars that aren't all that marginal. They might claim that there's rust but when the pictures show up it really ends up being an excuse.

The mid-west isn't a good place for older cars though, the bodies don't last and people don't want to invest in anything, at least in Iowa.

Steve

EDIT: I do know of a B4 in Iowa that unfortunately got to a parter and it wasn't in all that bad shape...much better than the B4 I bought a few years back.

 

[Pedalsteel]

Yeah I live in Ohio so it's slim pickings here...I see cars on marketplace that shouldn't be parted out and there only way to stop it is to spread awareness within the b4 crowd and soon to be mk4 crowd so that we aren't left with 50 cars running and a bunch sitting in yards collecting rust... in the mk4 arena you have these kids with their stupid hood stacks thinking they are cool ruining good cars bc they are too young to know better... all I want is a good running b4 with no rust or major dents I can fix the paint and other bs and keep it going hopefully as long as my alh wagon

 

[garciapiano]

Can’t control what others do with their cars. So buy all the ones you can!

 

[ToddA1]

I see them locally and don’t want them. You can’t find them locally, and want them. Go figure…

Be willing to drive. These were only made 2 years, so I’d imagine the numbers weren’t great, to start with.

A local reached out to me, to pull parts from his car, then the car was being donated. I didn’t have time, but can only imagine the donation place was going to scrap it, so I’d imagine nothing was saved!

-Todd

 

[turbodieseldyke]

Do buyers openly say they're going to part it out? Last mk3 i bought was wrecked on the front end, and the guy asked if i was going to use it for a parts car. I lied and said "yes", even though i intended to fix it and drive it. And did.

 

[Pedalsteel]

I'm not sure to be honest if people openly say they are going to part out a car but I would have to think that anything in the $1500 range that barely drives might be fair game to someone who wants to part it out...I guess it's an awareness thing where you have to suss it out but yeah you are right and people can just lie about their intentions...I have also inquired about cars that people want to junk and bc I knew how to fix it they wouldn't sell it to me Haha so I guess it goes both ways...

 

[TDIDaveNH]

I've had 9 B4's over the years. One I wrecked, a few I sold whole, one I still have and 3 I cannibalized for my own parts collection. It's the nature of the beast to keep these things alive. If you're thinking about keeping yours running for the next 10,15 20 years.... the guy that parts it out has to be YOU....today.

 

[GTiTDi]

I have parted out countless VWs over the years... from type 1 beetles to Mk5s....every car has a value, and when the repairs exceed that, part out is inevitable. Be happy there are people out there who take the time to not only part these out but determine value, advertise, and haggle with buyers. Most of said buyers who gripe about price have no clue what it takes to do all of the above, and the dismantling part is the hardest of all when dealing with old brittle rusty stuff. Take the time to disconnect wiring or carefully remove fittings and flanges, and getting a fair price is difficult. Buy some junk yard stuff and see what I mean. Cut wiring harnesses, cut this, cut that. Whatever saves time.

TLDR... Good, used, tested parts aren't cheap!

 

[MORE_MPG]

I am a few days from parting with my 2 B4V's. One was running, but has been sitting and now needs help, the other was rear-ended and totaled (titles in-hand this time).

I loved my first wagon (green), was a sad day when it was smashed, though my young daughter and I walked away essentially unharmed.

I was about to call local junkyards when I noticed this thread. What do you recommend?

Ref. https://forums.tdiclub.com/index.ph...-tdis-salvage-sw-sw-sedan.465363/post-5681280

 

[Steve Addy]

I am a few days from parting with my 2 B4V's. One was running, but has been sitting and now needs help, the other was rear-ended and totaled (titles in-hand this time).

I loved my first wagon (green), was a sad day when it was smashed, though my young daughter and I walked away essentially unharmed.

I was about to call local junkyards when I noticed this thread. What do you recommend?

Ref. https://forums.tdiclub.com/index.ph...-tdis-salvage-sw-sw-sedan.465363/post-5681280

My decision is often based on body condition. If the body is nice then the rest I can resolve, but I can't afford to pay for paint in this environment where insurance dictates what body shops get for compensation. The mechanicals and electrical can all be resolved pretty easily.

Just about a month ago I traveled to Columbus IN to drag home a 2005 MB E320 CDI. It's sort of outside my wheelhouse although I've had MB before, but I curse them a lot. It had belonged to a friend and the body was quite nice. It needs about $1000 to make it a DD. I may regret having bought it...we'll see.

What help does the storm grey wagon need and how is the body?

Steve

 

[MORE_MPG]

At this point, I think that the grey wagon is going for recycling : (
It's got a lot of rust - https://1drv.ms/f/s!AiTBzAIelTqDjNgfg2ye6SWZvgu5Ag
Plus I wanted to check on the 'does it run' question and saw smoke from the cluster, I suspect the capacitor issue discussed in a recent thread.

 

[ToddA1]

Shame… getting tough to find these clusters in working shape. When it let out the smoke, did you just connect a battery, or did you also try to crank?

-Todd

 

[ToddA1]

Take the time to disconnect wiring or carefully remove fittings and flanges, and getting a fair price is difficult. Buy some junk yard stuff and see what I mean. Cut wiring harnesses, cut this, cut that. Whatever saves time.

I always go through this and end up throwing parts in the dumpster. I recently spent a boatload of time cleanly pulling all interior, wiring, door seals, etc, from a Jetta, and they suffered the same fate, if it wouldn’t work on my B4s.

I kinda think low prices are part of the VW owner mentality.… nobody realizes shipping parts is expensive, and a lot of time. I’m usually not factoring my time to pack these parts, to ensure safe travel.

-Todd

 

[Steve Addy]

At this point, I think that the grey wagon is going for recycling : (
It's got a lot of rust - https://1drv.ms/f/s!AiTBzAIelTqDjNgfg2ye6SWZvgu5Ag
Plus I wanted to check on the 'does it run' question and saw smoke from the cluster, I suspect the capacitor issue discussed in a recent thread.

Unfortunate, clusters are hard to come by and I have a friend about 100 miles away bought a B4 wagon that was missing a bunch of interior stuff too. There aren't many around here anyway, not that there were to begin with TBH.

Steve

 

[MORE_MPG]

Sorry to say that I did end up taking my cars to the recycling yard - Nesters Autoworks – Car Dealer in Bally, PA

 

[GTiTDi]

I have a ton of B4 parts still and will be partially parting one out soon, a customer's GLX B4V that I did an AHU swap to many moons ago...crashed and repaired three times, many road trips, a few 1,000 mile tanks (when he could keep it under a 100 ) and succumbed to rot...well I have another customer who just picked up a 40k mile B4 that wants to do a 5 lug swap....

 

[kemalik84]

I see them locally and don’t want them. You can’t find them locally, and want them. Go figure…

Be willing to drive. These were only made 2 years, so I’d imagine the numbers weren’t great, to start with.

A local reached out to me, to pull parts from his car, then the car was being donated. I didn’t have time, but can only imagine the donation place was going to scrap it, so I’d imagine nothing was saved!

-Todd

You think too much

 

[Mongler98]

You think too much

A little late to the party!