I have a 2000 olds silouette. it has a head gasket leak ( had it replaced 5 years ago and not doing it again) I was thinking of parting it out. The radiator is new and the seats are in great condition. Is it worth it or junk it for scrap.

 

In my opinion, a 14-year-old minivan in non-running condition is worth more as scrap metal or simply sold whole to a junkyard (and let them part it out) than as a restorable vehicle. Who would want it? If you part it out yourself, what's your market? How long will it take? How much advertising, free or not, will you have to do? How many people out there are trying to repair one of these? These are all things to think about.

Putting it on craigslist and hoping for the phone to ring is probably your best bet, and even with that, my guess is you'll be waiting for a while before the phone actually rings, if it ever does.

How about donating it to charity, taking the tax deduction, and just plain getting it out of your life?

The Salvation Army would probably take it and put it to good use.

http://satruck.org/donation-value-guide/automobiles

 

X2 what Jaunty said. I had a similar vehicle once that was actually in better condition but almost nobody wanted to spend the time or money to fix it. Ended up selling it on craigslist for a couple hundred. I'd list it for a few weeks and it all else fails sell it. Some people might want the seats, but its hard to know.

 

You guys are right on it.no recylce yard wants it and won't take it. I can only get scrap metal price for it. One sight told me this van and the pontiac and chevy models were the number 1 cars junked during cash for clunkers program. There is very little demand for any parts. So a week or two on craiglist and then off to the glue factory with it.

 

If the chairs are nice, put them in the garage on a 2x4 base and you have beer slamming man garage seats. Or a lap dance chair, if your wife is open minded.

 

Very cool ideas...and the wife WILL NEVER KNOW

 

It's a real shame, coz that really is the bee's knees for minivans. But GM really screwed the pooch in the engine bay.

 

Even in its bad shape the van is great in snow. It still has giddy up. Most everything works on the interior. The added plastic trim along the bottom only collected salt and dirt and quickened the rust issues. I made a point of spraying the area a dozen times a year and waxing the van 3x a year. We were religious with LOF and basic preventative maintenance. It ate front breaks in under 25K no matter the pad quality or drive style. Engine compartment does suck. Just thermostat replacement was $300 bucks and $400 for a radiator replacement. Changed rear tailights over 2 dozen times. If GM had spent just a few more months of design updates I think the van would have been historocally one of GMs finest. But they just went for the quick fix and used the " we will fix it in the next year model" philosophy. Too bad

 

I would check out the local high school and see if the auto shop would replace the head gasket for you then you could either sell it or donate it as a running car to a charity that can use it.