Selling a Suburban to a junkyard?

My brother (former MGB and Jaguar owner, but most assuredly not a car guy) is the original owner of a 300k mile 2004 Suburban. It's an LS=something and I'm pretty sure that it has a bad timing chain tensioner or guide. He's ready to move on and asked me what's the best way to sell it. At first I suggested either Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace (and detailed the various risks with each) but then it occurred to me that with a vehicle like this, that still moves under its own power, he might actually do better just driving it to the junkyard with title in hand.

Opinions? Suggestions? Foolishness?

Ummmm, there's plenty of us who are 'always' in the market for ls=something swap donors.

A junkyard is probably the worst option for something that can still move under its own power, especially something LS powered. 

The simple option is either sell it to Carmax or donate it and your BIL gets a tax deduction. Or as suggested post it for sale here.

I sold a rusty minivan with a badly slipping trans to a the big junkyard in town. I was pleasantly surprised to get $350.

It was real nice to just walk up to the window, tell them what the van was, and walk away with a check.

In reply to Woody :

I had a Chevy short box step side  4x4 with nearly 400,000 miles on it.  mechanically excellent but serious rust issues.  I felt selling it would be a dis-service to the next owner. 

I called one of those guys with a tow truck and he gave me a couple of hundred dollars for the tittle and truck.   I know it was scrapped and I might have gotten slightly better taking it to the junkyard myself but the few dollars more would have required me to find my own way home from there.  

Sometimes the last few bucks just isn’t worth it. 

it is a $1000 truck all day long in my area especially if it is not to rusty. may even get $1500. Timing chain repair I's not that big a deal. My GMC has 340k and just keeps on keeping on.

Reply to Robbie, RealMiniNoMore, Jimbbski, Jon, Frenchyd, and Dean:

It's the 300k part that's making me wonder about this. While he views that number as a testament to the Suburban's reliability, I think about all the other systems on the vehicle that may be nearing the end of their life.

Would you want to start your LS swap project with a 300k mile donor? How many Craigslist shoppers will he have to deal with before he finds the guy willing to pay up for something with that many miles on it.

He's a tax guy, so he understands that aspect of it.

And a few years back, I had a Subaru Legacy GT wagon that was missing its engine, had dings on every panel and a fully dogged interior and the local Subaru junkyard came to my house and gave me $1800 for it. That's the event that changed my way of thinking on this.

I hadn't considered Carmax, but I wouldn't expect a very big number from them anyway.

If I had time, which I don't, I'd buy it from him and make it my summer project, but I just can't afford the time or garage space right now. And I'd kinda like to play with an LS engine, though I don't have anything that needs an engine swap.

He still drives this thing up to Connecticut from New Jersey every week.

I have been using https://www.peddle.com/ for selling junk vehicles, and have always done better than I would have expected to just calling a scrapper or a junkyard, or even dragging the vehicles to a JY myself. (200-300ea for dead Saturns and stripped/rusty Malaise era coupes)  You can figure out how much they will offer on their website without any obligation whatsoever.  However, I think you would likely do quite a bit better selling it here or on FB Marketplace as a donor.

In reply to Cooter :

I just sent that link to him.

Just for giggles, I went ahead and did a hypothetical "offer" with Peddle.   I didn't know the location, so I threw a dart at CT and came up with 06088 as a Zip code.  300k as mileage, runs and drives all interior, lights, and glass present, all tires filled, no damage larger than baseball size on any panel, no fire or flood damage.  They offered $415...

In reply to Woody :

In my case the rusty aspect of the truck made me scrap it.  I would have driven that truck anywhere in the country and back because of the maintenance  I’d given it.    Regular oil change, anytime it was as little as a 1/2 quart low I filled it back up. Transmission fluid was changed according to schedule.  Etc.  It was still very reliable. 

When the rear brake line rusted through I started looking for its replacement.  While it only cost me $65 to have it replaced I knew the rest of the brake lines weren’t far away.  But mechanically it was still a real workhorse. 

In your case though the timing chain issue tells you the Suburban was run low on oil too often. Timing chains will last well over 500,000 miles if kept filled with oil. But they operate on splash lubrication.  Too low and they are running without oil. ( except under real hard braking when oil surges forward ) 

In reply to Woody :

I have never tried the "ask your price" option, as I was always happy with the offers they gave me for what was basically scrap. The drivers always came out as scheduled, and never tried to haggle me down to a lower price than the online "offer"

I think the offers aren't high enough when something is "nicer".   A complete running, driving 'burban should draw more than $415 in an ordinary market.  But that still covers a wide range of condition, and they are basically offering a bit over scrap value, as most any JY would do.

I paid $1000 for a probably runs 6.0 hit a deer van with 311k for a donor, the engine is going into an rx7.  If it’s a 5.3 I would probably do the peddle thing and be done.  Sometimes, with something the size of a suburban, it’s better to get the $ now and have it gone today than jerking around trying to get a few hundred more dollars 

In reply to Patrick :

That's a very good point.  If it were me, (and I know it isn't) I would run the Peddle offer a second time, and see how much they would give for it without an engine and trans.  But that is just because I want an LS laying around... for Reasons

In reply to frenchyd :

To me, it sounds like a bad tensioner. But his mechanic won't even work on it with that many miles.

In reply to Woody :

Sweet Jesus... it’s a GM small block. They all come with bad tensioners from the factory so the chain can just flop around and make noise.

I'll give him $450 and can pick it up near NYC next Thursday the 27th.

Where in Jersey is he?

XFurious_E said:

Where in Jersey is he?

Not far from Philly. 

Woody said:

In reply to frenchyd :

To me, it sounds like a bad tensioner. But his mechanic won't even work on it with that many miles.

 

I have a cheap stethoscope I can hold on the timing cover and know in 15 seconds if it’s a chain or a tensioner. But I’ve seldom heard a bad tensioner without the chain being worn out.    

Run a pushrod V8 low on oil and the chain is running dry except under hard braking.  The chain is splash lubricated, no pressure to it.  

In reply to frenchyd :

I agree.

Biggest issue with selling a low priced 'burban is they are the preferred vehicle of basically every ne'er-do-well and bottom feeder of society.  Think of the boxes they check...

• Truck - appeals to all the down and out construction or landscaper guys just needing to do enough work to buy that next 30 pack.
• Big family mover - appeals to someone with 10 kids and no money
• LS donor - Flatbrimmers, brodozers, and wannabes will try to trade you a PS3 for it
• Easy to fit subs/tint the glass/add 26" wheels - use your imagination.

The messages you get on any online marketplace will come from every corner of society that is unpleaseant to deal with.  I would scrap it just to not have to deal with the hassle.  

Woody said:

XFurious_E said:

Where in Jersey is he?

Not far from Philly. 

That's not Jersey.  That's South Jersey!

1988RedT2 said:

Woody said:

XFurious_E said:

Where in Jersey is he?

Not far from Philly. 

That's not Jersey.  That's South Jersey!

It all smells the same 

That's well within striking distance and I have been entertaining thoughts of LS swapping my truck, but the blowback from SWMBO for parking an inoperable Suburban in the driveway probably isn't worth it right now.