Parting out vs. selling whole car
 

I'm just getting fed up with dealing with DSMs. I guess maybe I'm just not made for it, but when daily driving a 500AWHP DSM I guess it can get a bit tiring. I already have a project/fun car so I really don't need both.

Here's my dilemma: sell the car as is or part it out? I'd want at least $10k for the car as is. Parted out I think it's worth a LOT more.

3rd owner
98,000 miles
1998 GSX AWD
No rust (NONE on strut towers at ALL)
No major dings, scratches, etc. other than a dent on the hood

If I were to part out the car, do the following prices seem reasonable?

Engine:
DSMlink version 3 (with ECU and cable) - $700

6 bolt 2.4L (Eagle forged rods, Wiseco forged pistons, 8.8:1) - POSSIBLE bad head gasket (compression and leak down are both good though) - $3,000
Felpro PermaTorque headgasket
ARP head studs
1G head (ported, polished and gasket matched)
Forced Performance dual valve springs
Forced Performance FP3X cams with adjustable cam gears


Tial 44mm external wastegate - $100
Forced Performance HTA GT3582R - $1,200
SFP exhaust manifold (it has been welded previously) - $100
Polyeutrethane engine mounts - $40
Magnus intake manifold - $400
Road Race Engineering 3" downpipe - $150
Apexi 3" catback - $300
Setrab oil cooler - $200
Apexi Skyline FMIC with tubing - $800

Fuel:
Walbro 255LPH in-tank, Bosch 044 in-line, -8AN feed and return - $200
Aeromotive FPR - $75
Aeromotive stainless fuel filter - $50
FIC fuel rails - $90
FIC BlueMAX 1250cc injectors - $300

Drivetrain:
Shep Stage 4 transmission (with 4 spider center differential) - $1,750
PPT twin disk clutch and flywheel with Isuzu slave - $600

Suspension:
Tein Flex coilovers with EDFC controller - $1,100
RM front sway bar - $100
RRE custom rear sway bar - $250
13" Baer Claw brakes (rotors, calipers, mounting brackets, hardware, pads and stainless lines) - $750
Rear strut tower brace - $50
17" Motegi Tracklite (flat black) with newer Goodyear Eagle F1 225/45/17 - $900

Interior/Miscellaneous:
AEM Huego digital wideband - $150
Autometer 30PSI boost gauge - $150
Greddy Profec B Spec II digital boost controller - $300

Re: Parting out vs. selling whole car
 

IIRC, it also has front and rear Cusco diffs.

I'd be interested in the shell if you did part it out. The pricing seems a little high for some stuff though.

Re: Parting out vs. selling whole car
 

That would suck to see that car get parted.

Re: Parting out vs. selling whole car
 

The Cusco stuff is gone, just a 4 spider up front and an LSD which I forgot to list.

As for prices... I don't know DSMs like I do RX-7s. If someone would quickly revise my pricing that would be cool :)

Re: Parting out vs. selling whole car
 

I'm going to try selling it first. I guess I just assumed a $10k DSM is hard to sell.

Re: Parting out vs. selling whole car
 

You usually get more when you part a car out, but it take a heck of a lot of time.

Prices seemed pretty good on some stuff but a little higher than I think you'd sell some of it.


Why do you want to sell it so bad?

Re: Parting out vs. selling whole car
 

It's just not practical. I knew that going into it but a few months later it has finally dawned on me. I have my RX-7 for a summer toy. It's always something with this car. Never anything big, but it is ALWAYS on my mind when driving it. That bothers me. I just want a 4Runner to daily drive - something boring. I can't justify having two "fun" cars.

Where are my prices high? I really don't know the market well at all. I just spend 30 minutes doing Google searches.

Re: Parting out vs. selling whole car
 

With parting out, you would get a lot more in the long run. I thought about this before I sold my Galant. Not sure if space is a problem for you but I know some people who have parted out their cars and space tend to be an issue. Maybe I should buy your Eclipse? lol. But right now, I can't imagine myself buying a car like that even though I know I would love it. I'd just rather invest that money into something newer. But if sold for under 10k, I'd say it's a heck of a good deal.

Re: Parting out vs. selling whole car
 

I've got space. Time is obviously a bigger deal but if I could make a couple of grand over what I paid for the car it would probably be worth it. Since people can't get loans for these cars usually and definitely not ones like this, I just suspect I'd be holding onto it for a while. That's why I'm considering a part out.

Re: Parting out vs. selling whole car
 

I'd say the longblock price is kinda steep for a possible bad head gasket although it's got some good parts in it. DSMlink v3 can be found for around 600ish. FMIC with tubing is a lot compared to what you can get out there brand new. Just letting you know on the market the I've seen some of these parts go for. Most of the other parts are priced decently.

Re: Parting out vs. selling whole car
 

I wondered about that when I saw you also had the RX7, having two project cars as drivers really sucks. The whole reason I detuned mine from that power level is I also got sick of fixing little things all the time and bought a nice reliable Tahoe for a daily. At 400whp, my GSX should be pretty reliable and comfortable, but then again, it's still a 20-year old car that's been rebuilt a dozen times.

Re: Parting out vs. selling whole car
 

Good point on the long block. Maybe drop it $500. DSMLink - good point. And for the FMIC the only reason it's so high is because it's the unicorn Skyline FMIC.

Yeah... exactly lol. You'll be fine with that setup, mine is just a little more extreme of a setup thus I would imagine the stress. Like I said, I haven't actually had any major problems with it - just little shit.

Re: Parting out vs. selling whole car
 

I couldn't even get $7k for my 600hp rust free/clean 1G. Ended up making 10-11k after parting it out. And I feel like I priced my stuff to sell because I wanted it all gone fast. Sold everything within maybe 2 months. Probably could have made more if I was more patient and tried to get top dollar.

Sucks to part out a clean car, but in the end I'm glad I did. I'm pretty confident you will make a decent amount more.

Re: Parting out vs. selling whole car
 

^Your prices were good.

If this is about money and you don't care about how long it takes and have the space part it out.
Someone will pick up the shell and do it justice, but oh well I'd rather see that 7 on the road.

Re: Parting out vs. selling whole car
 

It's the little shit that gets old, I never had any major failures with mine either. BTW, I'm putting your sister motor back in my car, decided I needed some 2.4 goodness again, just with a lot smaller turbo and corresponding crap. :D

Re: Parting out vs. selling whole car
 

Sucks to see nice cars get parted thats forsure. But as others have said and yourself included, unless you find a buyer with 10K cash its gonna be a hard sell. Not to mention your only a few thousand off what an evo 8 can be had for these days.

My suggestion would be take a few parts off it that are easy to swap out (maybe offer a trade for stock parts) like wheels, trans, turbo, fmic, ect. The things that could potentially sell quick for the right price but still could keep the car running. Then when your comfortable and made enough sell for around 5-6K.

So at the end of it you could still reach your 10-12k (4-5k for parts sold/5-6kfor a clean 2G) that you want for the car, and not have to completely part it out.

Clean 2Gs sell all the time for around 6K expecially if they run good and have not been modded a ton.

Who knows after you detune it a little maybe youd wanna keep it to. They are pretty reliable if kept closer to 300-350hp
Again this is just my opinion.

Re: Parting out vs. selling whole car
 

This is exactly what I did a few years ago, sold off all the high performance stuff, was going to sell my car as a slightly built dd and decided to keep it once it was completely streetable again. It's still a weekend car though, I can't really picture driving this thing everyday, but then again I'm not 25 anymore either. :D