Scrap? Sell? How to get rid of my old Cruiser?

[Hoser]

The car: 2005 PT Cruiser Touring Convertible, around 140K miles on the clock. It has a cooling system problem, and I was quoted $2500-3000 to fix it. I decided that was more than I was willing to spend and just bought a different car. The car runs just fine other than the cooling system problem, and the body and interior are both in reasonable if not perfect condition.

Now I have a car lounging around in my garage and I need to figure out what to do with it. I called the local recycler and they quoted me $100 if I drove it in. That seems... low.

I'm not in a position to part it out, so that's off the table. What are my other options? List it on Craigslist as a parts/project car? List it on here? It's in the San Francisco bay area, if that matters. (Anyone want it?)

[ptcruisersteve]

I would suggest trying to get it smogged and sell it as is.

[rckstein]

Hate to see a 'vert go to the crusher. Hopefully you just had a not-so-experienced shop look at it, and give you an inflated repair estimate, just because they don't like working on PT's. Hopefully someone will get it as a project car and be able to fix it for a reasonable amount.

Are you the original owner? Had the timing belt work ever been done, or where the water pump had been replaced?

Some history of it may help someone make a decision to take it on, and get it back on the road.

[Carnut]

Well gee, I'll give you $200 and come get it out of your garage.

[rob302]

I would call a few local towing companies and see who they use for scraping cars. Around here​ my friend tows and scraps 100+ cars a year and makes about $300 per car. 400 is about best when scrap steel is at $200/ton. This is pick up price, not you driving it in. Estimate you got was definitely low.

If throw it on Craigslist for a grand and list it honestly.. if there's no takers, scrap it.

What kinda car did you replace the PT with?

[pasadenahotrod03Dreamer]

Since it is a convertible you should be able to get a fair price for on Craigslist.
It appears the pickapart yard price is pretty well settled nationwide at about $300-325 for any car which has a battery and a radio, delete the $25 if either is missing, ha.
A decent but needing work convertible recently sold near here for $900 against a $1500 asking price, this for a GT standard shift. I called after it was up a week but it was gone. I saved myself!
A plain old PT would draw half that in the same condition.

[vermontpetey]

Why are they always on the wrong end of the country...

[03PTCrewser]

I see non-convert PT's for sale around here in your condition for about $400. A convert should bring more.

I originally bought my PT with the intention of flipping it. In my twisted mind a reliable, well maintained, good looking commuter car is worth about 3K to anybody no matter the make/model. I figure that's the price you have to pay if you want that level of car. Nothing is free in this world right? Wrong. People expect you to give away certain cars, despite their condition, yes they do.

I got news and I had to learn the hard way. Though we on this forum love and respect this car, no one else in the world would be caught dead driving it. Sorry that is just the reality of the situation. The market place for this car is tiny. Nobody likes the PT Cruiser anymore, sorry. I don't know why, but that is the reality. I'd have stayed far away if I'd known ahead of time. I based my decisions on the fact that at first glance I loved it and thought others would feel the same. Wrong.

I tell you that story so you don't get the idea of dumping a couple thousand into your's in hopes of being able to get your money back. I've had mine for sale on craigslist for 2 months and had one person contact me. He showed little interest to begin with despite all the work I've don and when he found out the heater core had not yet been replaced that was the end of the conversation.

[rsrocket1]

Sadly yes.
It's worth a couple thousand for you to have the work done IF it solves all your problems and gives you worry free driving for a few more years. I don't think your mechanic can guarantee that putting that much money into the car will fix your problem. Someone who knows what he's doing could probably tell you how to fix it for much much less. The problem is finding that person where you live.

Your mechanic originally said it had a cracked head or blown head gasket and for $2500-$3000, now he wants to replace the cooling system for $2500-$3000. Does he have an impending boat payment of $2500-$3000 coming up soon or does he intend to rent a slip in McCovey Cove during baseball season?

If I had a tow truck and a car port, I would buy that car from you and take a shot at fixing it myself but it may be too much of a gamble to get it to drive 100 miles out to Sacramento.

Your other problem is if you want to sell it in CA, as the seller you would have to get it smogged but to do that, you have to drive it to a smog station. You might want to consider donating it to a non-profit organization. No, you don't get much of a write off because in CA they now allow only for the actual selling price of the car rather than blue book or whatever they used to to.

My wife and I got rid of 3 of our cars that way during our adult lives. We didn't even take the write off, we just didn't want do deal with the frustrations of haggling with lowballers who might come back for retaliation if something else went wrong with the car after selling it "as is".

Good luck and best wishes with your new car.

[Hoser]

The $2500-3000 quote was the cracked head/head gasket quote. I just said screw it and bought an E46 BMW 330i. Having it fixed just isn't on the table right now... I don't care enough.

I am not the original owner. I don't think the timing belt or water pump have been replaced. And I had totally forgotten that I would have to have it smogged in order to sell it unless I register it as non-operational first. ... or sell it to someone out-of-state, which is probably not worth it.