Would it be worthwhile to part-out Dad's F150?

[Xist]

We need to get rid of Dad's truck that a "friend" drove 100,000 hard miles in one year, when Father took it back. Since vehicles are generally worth more in parts than as a whole and 130,000 miles is excessive for a 2,008, I thought that this might cost us less than paying off the loan and selling the pickup.

Esteemed colleagues, what do you think?

[user removed]

With a "friend' like that he sure does not need any enemies. If it were me I'd use the body to rebuild one with low miles that got smashed and salvaged. A rollover would be the ideal donor.

regards
mech

[Cobb]

Hard miles? Does that mean its trashed or does it look pretty good for an 08? 130k miles is low now days, maybe sell it as is? Is it a generic f150 or does it have all the options?

[Xist]

You just cannot get good help nowadays.

A restored salvage title with low miles is worth more than a clean title with high miles?

Here is probably the closest truck I will find, the same year, configuration, and even color, with 53,917 miles, in California, and it says the minimum bid is $200, but:

Actual Cash Value $ 23,412 USD
Repair Cost $ 31,462 USD

The blue book on Dad's is $6,600.

Salvage 2008 Ford F150 Truck for Sale

It looks like everything but the tailgate is damaged. Hey! Dad's tailgate is damaged!

Here is a white one with almost as many miles:
Salvage 2007 Ford F150 Truck for Sale

Yellow with 103k:
Salvage 2008 Ford F150 Truck for Sale

Here is a black one with 63k in Nevada:
Salvage 2008 Ford F150 Truck for Sale

A tan one in Utah with the same number of miles:
Salvage 2006 Ford F150 Truck for Sale

and finally, a destroyed red one in New Mexico:
Salvage 2007 Ford F150 Truck for Sale

More than anything, it was dirty. I hosed it out and repeatedly attacked it with air freshener. It seems like the water rehydrated some ancient evil because I heard sloshing sounds when I turned and braked or accelerated. I did not drive it long enough to determine more specifically. I was told that I needed to remove the seats and floor, which I was going to do, but Dad only lent it to me until I fixed the AC in my Forester. Then he had me drive it back.

He lent it to a summer program a couple of weeks ago and he tried to clean it. He taskd me with cleaning out the cup holder, which seemed to have countless cups of coffee spilled on it.

I took a girl to dinner with it and took it to a car wash. There were piles of pine needles in the bed, so I sprayed those out, only to discover there was manure underneath, so I sprayed that on myself before going on a date.

The "friend" somehow damaged the tailgate, as I mentioned here: http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...0-a-26041.html

Here I mentioned hammering the tailgate until it opened and included pictures. Also, the cigarette lighter and OBD-II port did not work. I found and replaced the fuse, but it blew immediately. Before loaning out the truck, since it only had one key, we paid $175 for a new key, and they replaced the fuse, which at least lasted until we got back.

It had the largest engine and cab (I think), but aside from that an an automatic transmission, it did not have any features, which probably would have broken.

Aside from the tailgate, there are a few other dents, but not terrible. We needed to replace the windshield, though.

I forget why, but Dad took it to a shop, and they showed him a shard of metal they said they pulled out of the differential, which Dad said would cost $1,000 to replace. I said that I would like to help, but felt it was above my skill level. He responded that he thought that I could do it, I just might not be comfortable with it.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Who would be able to do so much damage on a truck? Anyway, seems like parting it out would be more cost-effective than repairing...

[vskid3]

Why not throw it on craigslist as-is and see what happens? Parting it out may have better potential, but you could end up with a pile of left over parts in your yard.

[redpoint5]

Throw the truck away and part out your Dad's "friend". I hear kidneys go for a pretty penny on the black market.

[Xist]

Originally Posted by vskid3

Why not throw it on craigslist as-is and see what happens? Parting it out may have better potential, but you could end up with a pile of left over parts in your yard.

Engines on car-part.com go for $3,000 and transmissions for one thousand, while it's blue book is $6,600; shouldn't I be able to get at least that much from parts? I have read that places will come and get your scrap without money being exchanged.

Originally Posted by redpoint5

Throw the truck away and part out your Dad's "friend". I hear kidneys go for a pretty penny on the black market.

But that is called "harvesting," my dear children, and is in fact frowned upon in most societies.

Besides, he is an alcoholic, and I would hate to have a pile of left over alcoholic parts in my yard.

[redpoint5]

You can likely get more out of parting it out, but that is a ton of effort.

If the car runs decently, then I'd just clean it up as best as possible and fix the little issues such as the bad wiring. 130k miles isn't too many for a modern vehicle.

[kir_kenix]

130k on a 2008 doesn't seem like that much to me. I live in a pretty rural area, often 70-100 mile round trip to town and/or work for a lot of people. Add in a vacation or 2, weekend trips to the lumberyard/inlaws and 130k would be pretty easy to do. If they were mainly highway mileage, I wouldn't be too afraid of a truck with that kind of mileage as long as it hadn't been beaten on...maybe yours was judging by the differential.