getoffmyinternet Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 My buddy has a 280z that is rough on the outside. The body has a couple bruises (some filled with bondo) etc. but doesn't look like much rust and has a semi-repaired front corner where it was backed into. The inside however is immaculate. Perfect seats, all the original carpet and trim panels in great shape, a very original car all around. He's gonna try and sell it soon but I don't think he'll get much for it due to the body needing so much work and who knows what's going on in the engine bay. I've never parted a car out before so I'm wondering what you guys think about the idea. I know there are several people on here that do it all the time. I know it would be a lot of work and take quite some time to move everything, but what I'm completely uncertain of is how profitable it could be. Is it worth the time? How low does the initial investment have to be to make some real returns? I don't want to have to sell all the big items just to break even and then nickel and dime the loose ends. One reason I'm considering it though is that I could probably use a little of it for my 240z, although the majority of the stuff I I actually need isn't interchangeable so their counterparts would get hocked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19762802+2 Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 When parting out a car, you can possibly make more money then selling it. It really depends on the market at the time, time of the year (you will sell more parts in the spring then the winter or fall.) and the kind of parts you are able to sell. If its a major part that most people want it should go fast but the little parts, well plan on holding on to them for a while. If you live in an area that isn't big into datsuns and their aren't a lot of them for sale, you can either have great lucking selling parts to the few people that need them or not a lot will be sold locally (this is where shipping comes in handy). With my last Z, it was a 2+2 and pretty junky body wise so I just stripped it got rid of the body and kept all the parts as spares and sold whatever I wasn't going to use or I could make a profit on. The big thing is time, could take you a short time or a long time to sell the parts, as opposed to making all the money you can on the car at once by selling it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moltar Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 From my experience over this last summer of selling of 7 boxes of Datsun parts - I couldn't GIVE away half of my parts. When I sold one of my two Z's at the end of all of it, I loaded up the hatch with as many parts as possible just to get them out of my garage. There are a few parts that everyone wants, but the majority of it will be very difficult to get rid of. Several reasons for this, from my analysis. 1)Economy 2)Shipping costs - while the part may be cheap, after you add shipping it is suddenly out of many Datsun owners acceptable price range. The second reason leaves you with two conclusions. One you deal only locally - which is fine, but requires a lot of your time (as you are organizing meeting times with people), and can further saturate a market already filled with Pick-n-Pull "pocket parts" (small items stuffed into people pockets as they attempt to recoup entry fees) and other individuals parting out their Z's. Second is to eat shipping cost, which very quickly makes the time put into organizing and selling parts not worth it (as profit's in my case wouldn't even pay for a week's gas). In Sacramento, I had the whole Craigslist market to myself (only competing with Pick-n-Pull, which I would raid for "wanted" parts for people). Even then, I still had to drastically cut prices in an attempt to clear inventory. Didn't work... I tried selling here, and got the highly sought after parts sold within a week, whereas the rest of it sat. If you do decide to go ahead with it, I wish you the best of luck, sir! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
getoffmyinternet Posted February 17, 2011 Author Share Posted February 17, 2011 I am pretty good about shipping stuff though as I've sold plenty on ebay and have a bunch of shipping supplies already. I just don't want to find out that it took me a year to make 500 bucks and my profit was a dollar an hour, that's why I ask. Yeah I figured it would sell for more in pieces than the whole, but being that I'd have to buy it from him first narrows my profit margin. I even told him that he should part it out but he just wants cash quick. Perhaps if I wait long enough and he doesn't get what he wants for it I can lowball him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Engine X$ Trans X$ Differential X$ Send the rest to the junkyard... Saves a lot of headaches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.