Is $500 good for a ‘99 Camry that has potentially major mechanical issues(more context in body)?
Posted by MissYouG@reddit | askcarguys | View on Reddit | 3 comments
I sold my ex my Camry in CA and she drove it to NY. She made it there fine but when she actually got to NY, the car now has issues, it takes a few tries to turn it over and start it and I guess has issues starting it after long drives (I will grab more details from her shortly, sorry)
Before she left, a ton of work was done to it, I know the battery and tires are new.
NY mechanics apparently said they cannot figure the issue out and haven’t even tried replacing spark plugs which could be the only issue. But it could be a lot worse than that.
So I want her to sell it to my parents who live in NY who have transportation issues, but if it is something more significant, is $500 worth it? I’m sure a scrap place would take it and they could privately sell the tires to make up the difference? What do you guys think. Is this something we could sell to someone who enjoys working on project cars, in case it is too much for my parents to handle?
I know it’s impossible to say what could be wrong with it, this is just the info I have right now. Thank you
Alrjy@reddit
Well, if the catalytic converter is still on the car a scrapyard should offer $300-$500 for it, depending on location. That's thanks to the price of the metal by weight + precious metal of converter + some parts they may recover and sell like battery and tires.
So there is not much risk for your parents to buy it for $500 since they can recover most of that cost at any time in the future with one phone call. It will be up to them to see if they can find a mechanics that can make the car reliable at a reasonable price or give up on it and recover what they paid for.
congteddymix@reddit
Find a good mechanic that knows how to do diag. Being that’s a 99 car in NY there is a good chance most mechanics don’t even want to touch since most that age are barely safe for the road. But if it’s a cali car then it should be solid so a mechanic may work on it
But it sounds like something that should be fixable and not a major mechanical issue as it’s intermittent.
ChrisGear101@reddit
Have the car inspected by a mechanic. It is called a pre-purchase inspection. It'll cost you a few dollars, but it is the only way to really know if it is a good buy or not. Many good mechanics will offer this service.