Car Question

Hi guys, it has been a crazy few weeks! Thanks to all for with the help answering my e-waste questions. I have a new question today.

I've been putting up CL ads about scrap removal. Today is my first hit. I had a man ask me how much I pay for cars. He said "I have an old Mercedes diesel with title to get rid of." I've never done a car. I do have a place to put it for now, my parents are letting me store stuff in their yard while I work on it. So I would be able to take a few things off it before I take it to the yard to maximize profit.

My yard is paying $280.00 per net ton for complete vehicles. I will have to drain all fluids otherwise they will charge for that.

My friend has a trailer with a winch so even if it doesn't run we should be able to pull it up on the trailer. I could borrow the trailer from him.



My question is should I ask for more details before I offer him a price? If so, what more do I need to know? I was thinking is it accessible (i.e. we just got a ton of snow so is it buried at the bottom of a hill), make, model, year (do I need to know these?). What would you ask and/or offer?

Thanks again for the help!
erg

we always ask if the car is complete with out the engine and transmission you are losing a lot of weight so you will what to pay him less we also ask if we can get our trailer into where the car is because you do not what to find out that you have to drag it out of there back yard and not have someone with you to help. Find out about tires if they are aired up this will tell you if you will need the air compressor so ask anything that you will need to know before you give them a price just do not forget that you will have to do the work to get the ready to turn in and your time is worth money so don't cut yourself short.

Those mercedes are fairly heavy for their size. I maybe wrong but most older diesel converters arent worth much at all. So take that into consderation when making a offer.

Those mercedes are fairly heavy for their size. I maybe wrong but most older diesel converters arent worth much at all.

Thanks! I thought that mercedes were heavy. I didn't know about the diesel converters though. I'll research that to make sure.

we always ask if the car is complete with out the engine and transmission you are losing a lot of weight so you will what to pay him less we also ask if we can get our trailer into where the car is because you do not what to find out that you have to drag it out of there back yard and not have someone with you to help. Find out about tires if they are aired up

I didn't think to ask if the car was complete. Thanks, I'll add that to my list of questions.

Is the car worth fixing and/or flipping? Some of the diesels MB's are still pretty popular even as beaters...Veggie oil conversions and hi MPGs are 2 reasons. Good luck!

Also they have an aluminum valve cover - save that, and maybe grab the injection pump for resale. If it still has the original Becker radio in good shape it could be worth some $$ too. Depending on the model, interior switches and trim are still in demand also.

UPDATE: I just found out it is a 1980 240d and the tranny has been removed. The tires hold air and I can get my trailer to it. According to Google the Sedan's curb weight is 3,582.5 lb. Does anyone know approximately how much the tranny weighs? I'm guessing a few hundred pounds but so far no luck with Google.

Ptscrapper is right about googling the curb weight.. I own a scrapyard and I have people calling everyday asking what their car will be worth.. I have came within $4. Pretty close. The tranny would weight under 200Lb but to be safe round it off to 3000Lb for the car.. The radiator is well worth taking out on an older car because they are copper.. I pay 1.50 LB here. Diesel converters aren't worth much because diesel burns cleaner and more efficiently. That old beast will have a copper heater core, if you're lucky it is under the hood up by the firewall like most older cars.