Best way to get rid of car...

Ok, my mother has a 2000 ford exploder that we need to get rid of.

2 door, 4wd, v6 (edit, DOH!), right about or under 100k on it.

Problem is... RUST..

There are actually holes in the lower doorframes. (car has spent its whole life in a high salt area)

We are in Maryland and there is NO WAY it would pass a safety inspection (required when cars change hands, one time only in western-MD where the car is)

It would be good to get as much as we can out of it, but I dont have the time/inclination to part it out. I might be able to weld in some new metal over those holes to make it more saleable. (Time is limited, starting new job and living 3 hours away from mom, the shop, and the car) (is it really worth my time to drive out and spend that time working on it?)

What would GRM do?

Will be able to get pictures this weekend, but as far as hole size, think baseball.

Is still insured?

Leave it in a high crime area with the windows down and keys laying next to the car.

Cops can't prove you didn't accidentally drop the keys.

Look at the safety inspection requirements, it likely would pass the MD inspection that way. It's only if the holes go into the passenger compartment and could let exhaust in that you need to patch them.

The Maryland safety inspection is insanely difficult on some fronts, and absurdly lax on others. Rust holes are a lax point.

PHeller wrote: Is still insured? Leave it in a high crime area with the windows down and keys laying next to the car. Cops can't prove you didn't accidentally drop the keys.

Until they stumble across this thread.

Being the straight laced guy I am, part out what is good and scrap the rest. The Back 40 guys in Columbia MO run rust buckets until they break. No need for safety inspections. Find someone in your area doing the same. If nothing else, the engine is useful as long as it runs.

I'll agree with Sperlo. Part and scrap is your best bet.

If you can't part it out, put it on CL for $500, maybe $600. It's a running/driving car. You'd be shocked at the number of people who will respond and snap it up. They don't care about MD inspection, insurance or anything like that. Just be sure to legally transfer the title before releasing the car to them. I've sold a few car this way. Never takes more than a few hours to get tons of responses.

foxtrapper wrote: Look at the safety inspection requirements, it likely would pass the MD inspection that way. It's only if the holes go into the passenger compartment and could let exhaust in that you need to patch them. The Maryland safety inspection is insanely difficult on some fronts, and absurdly lax on others. Rust holes are a lax point.

Was thinking the exact same thing about VA, I think their concerns about rust are about as strict as you described of MD.

Plus, srsly, its an Explorer, should be pretty easy for someone else to snag a few doors from a junkyard if necessary. Just sell it as is.

I drive past an 80's toyota pickup every day (VA), more of the bed has rusted away than remains, and its a registered vehicle.

That V8 is worth a little bit, I'd actually like to have one were my situation pretty different than today's, and I bet the 4WD components have some value. Part it.

N Sperlo wrote:

PHeller wrote: Is still insured? Leave it in a high crime area with the windows down and keys laying next to the car. Cops can't prove you didn't accidentally drop the keys.

Until they stumble across this thread. Being the straight laced guy I am, part out what is good and scrap the rest. The Back 40 guys in Columbia MO run rust buckets until they break. No need for safety inspections. Find someone in your area doing the same. If nothing else, the engine is useful as long as it runs.

As one of those guys, I concur.

pres589 wrote: That V8 is worth a little bit, I'd actually like to have one were my situation pretty different than today's, and I bet the 4WD components have some value. Part it.

Opps, meant to type NOT a V8.

Thing is that other then the rust and needing new balljoints there is nothing wrong with it.

The rust is in the door FRAME, not the door itself.

Is it really only worth a little more than scrap? I was thinking more like $1500 at barest minimum. (motor, trans, rear, are all in great shape with under 100k miles)

In reply to singleslammer:

We gotta stick together.

In reply to Apexcarver:

You want more than slightly more than scrap value for a truck that likely wont pass MD inspection your best bet is still to part it out.

If I have a truly junk car that no one wants to buy, I donate it to the local fire department. It's a tax write-off, and they use it to train on cutting cars apart to save people's lives. Seems like a good use to me.

They also don't mind if you strip it of parts beforehand.

I have first rights to a 43 GMC pickup that would fit that chassis....

I will get some pictures this weekend.

I DEFINITELY dont have time to part it.

I MAYBE have time to patch the two holes.

Just gotta get rid of it.

If you need to get rid of it quick, it'll have to be at just a little higher than scrap value prices. The market is flooded with Explorers...in a big way. They're not worth a ton to begin with. One with a lot of rust will be a hard sell at $1500, but you can sure try.

If its too rusty to be legal, your top price will be scrap price. Put it up on Craigslist as not street legal and when you must, have a scrapper pick her up. But really. Dropping her off at the Back 40 is definitely and option. We wont pay you though.

If it can be driven into some recyclers they'll give you more for it than scrap cause they can resell the drive-train as a known quantity. Call around. Or do CL for $500.

Check craigslist, half the Explorer ads I just looked through were people parting out Explorers. The doors all looked good (in the 5 ads I randomly found) Many people in MD to choose from, if you look enough going through year by year I wouldn't be surprised if you could find the right color doors.

Oh yea that sounds like a lot of work. Sell as is and advise buyer to buy doors lol.

The car is daily driver reliable and is currently on the road.

It is not the door.. meaning that the rust holes are on the chassis side. I guess rather then door frame we are talking the jamb?

Those are the only holes / rust in the car. I dunno, crappy protection spot from the factory or something?

Will get pictures while I am up there this weekend. I think I am making it sound like much more of a basket case then it is.

I guess I should see if I can find someone parting one that would let me use a sawzall on it to get the section I need, plan a good weekend with the welder, paint, bondo, and then sell.

I dunno, I will get pics to clarify the condition and we can all see from there.

that thing still has a good 5 years of useful life up here in MN, and would probably be one of the nicer examples of that particular vehicle in the area...

Several pounds of tannerite and a high power rifle...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hxl6nAVCHvU

Grtechguy wrote: I have first rights to a 43 GMC pickup that would fit that chassis....

Did GMC actually build pickups in 43 (deuce and a halfs don't count)?

sell to someone in west virginia?

Well, IIRC a friend of mine in the UK once disposed of a car by cutting it into small pieces and throw a little bit of it out with the trash every week .

Not that I recommend that method...

I'd bite the bullet and plate over the holes so you can sell it on if that's the only problem with the truck.