The nearby junkyard has over 450 Clunkers, with a couple hundred more to go. Explorers, Suburbans, Town Cars, Durangos, Rodeos, and Expeditions are literally growing like kudzu. You want parts? Forget the dealership. In fact, you can even forget the parts store and mail order companies at this point. The gravy train of cheap has come to feed the hogs of yesteryear. For John Q Gearhead, this may mean that the economics of beaterdom have changed forever. Namely . . .
You can now get a loaded up 10 to 15 year old SUV’s for the price of a mediocre pickup only a few years ago. I sold over a dozen Suburbans wholesale over the past week. They all had one thing in common. They all sold for less than $2,000 at the auction. Now the retail ‘cash’ price may be around the high 2’s to mid 3’s. But keep this in mind. This was where the $20,000 full-sized pickup used to find itself after about 10 years of good ownership. Now it’s the $30,000 to $45,000 SUV. For those of you who want a pickup with an enclosed bed, seating for eight, and a ton of creature features… the next few months are looking quite good. Just please don’t ask for one with a Toyosan nameplate.
A few years ago I got a 2000 Expedition Eddie Bauer, 5.4l V-8, high mileage (137,000 at the time), for $9,000. Other than some minor electrical glitches (caused by a windshield letting water in behind the dash) it’s been a very good tow and haul vehicle, and nice to take short trips in with the family and friends. Gas mileage is bad, in the 14 mpg range not towing, 10-11 towing Maybe it’s time to look for a cherry ’03 or newer?
I have been looking for a beater Durango, Tahoe, 4×4 for mild off-roading (e.g., beach driving). I wonder about whether the cooling systems in older (poorly maintained?) 4×4’s could handle it. Which of the D3 4×4’s is more low maintenance in old age?
geo, look for Tahoe’s and Yukon’s that have the factory oil cooler installed just behind the grill. That and a factory class III hitch indicate the presence of the factory towing package, which also included a heavy duty radiator. At least around my parts this is a common option. According to the normal duty maintenace schedule you didn’t have to flush the cooling system until 100k miles, so chances are most of what you’ll find will be good in that respect. Especially considering that most of these Yukahoes probably never towed anything. The 4×4 systems in these didn’t need much maintenance either. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that if you plan on installing taller tires or wheels than what was available from the factory you may need to upgrade the differentials. Word that I’ve read is that the factory units don’t handle that well.
geo-compare 2wd and 4wd drivetrain problems in CR on GMT800 platform trucks. They had front drivetrain issues throughout the entire run (even my bro-in-laws carfully maintained ‘rado got hit).
With a few years under the belt now it will be interesting to see if they bothered to fix this on the GMT900’s.
Bunter
With an engine? I thought they had to trash the motor
No, less the engine. Most of the engines used in the SUV’s mentioned were also put on pickups, cars, and other similar model SUV’s as well. You can find plenty of engine spares at the junkyards.
The big thing now (pun intended) is that exterior panels, interior trim, and hard to get parts have now become easy to get. A lot of folks who also couldn’t afford a new car ended up getting a used one instead during the C4C time.
If do you need a vehicle occasionally for hauling or don’t do a lot of driving in the first place, a mid to full-sized SUV will now do just fine. They have effectively become the new beater vehicle.
I’m confused. Didn’t CFC destroy the motors of these trade ins? I can understand the plethora of parts from these killed cars. But how can you buy a CFC trade in for actual use?
Let me emphasize the following…,
Not every C4C vehicle was traded in for a new car.
During the C4C period there were plenty of SUV’s traded in for used cars as well.
Even now I’m seeing plenty of SUV’s at the auctions and at the sealed bid sales ‘post C4C’.
They are going for cheap enough prices that they are becoming a de facto substitute for the pickup equivalent that was half the price of the loaded up SUV when new.
CFC didn’t destroy the parts from these clunkers. You could pull an awful lot of engine parts as long as you killed the powertrain. The whole engine wasn’t destroyed. Salvage yards that are smart are making a killing off CFC for that reason.
Where can I get a big block Suburban for $2k? Please tell me!
$30,000 to $45,000 SUVs selling for $2k after 10 years? How many of these things were sold originally?
Some Common Sense® carrying people have the gaul to suggest that C4C destroyed valuable property! Look at the owners of all those POS and the private wealth destruction they inflicted on themselves….
My calculator just exploded trying to work out how much PROPERTY value has been destroyed. $20,000,000,000,000,000 at least. Gazillions. It’s gotta be tons of digital cameras or oil or something…..
Max, on a WHOLESALE level you can get them for $2 grand or less. The last 1998 Suburban with leather I bought was for $1600 and that was with 60+ dealers looking at the same property.
Retail it will be in the high 2’s to high 3’s. Keep in mind that with most wholesale vehicles you have to spend money repairing and reconditioning the unit.
That particular Suburban I ended up trading straight up for a 2002 Nissan Altima with 135k. The Burb’ had 180k and it was a dealer kept vehicle. Both were reasonable since I’ll end up having to spend considerable money on the Altima to get it front line ready.
This reminds me a lot of the Grand Caravan market; it’s amazing how cheaply you can get into an early 00’s 8-passenger van. Not to mention, you can be fairly choosy about it, as there are only a few billion of these contaminating our streets and highways. Sure, you have to Dodge (yuck-yuck) the “momma gunned and groaning” transmissions, and of course, many of these never saw paste wax or upholstery cleaner (in spite of all the leaky diapers, spilled Capri Sun’s and upchucked fish sticks). But what kind of gripe can you have when you’re spending $3K on a 2001 Grand Caravan? Two sliding doors, some limo tint, enough tread to pass the Lincoln penny test, standard power options, a single-CD stereo, built-in toddler/pet-monkey seats…it’s a lot of value.
And the best part? Drive it for 5 years, put 75K miles on it and then sell it for what you paid! Crazy. Cuckoo crazy.
Of course, it is a ManVan…so you’ll have to get past those issues. But again, it’s got factory limo tint. And, if you are really sly, you could score some VW badges off of Ebay and make your own “Classic Routan.” Hell, throw a few of those generic Ebay “Hybrid” badges on it too…you’ll be scoring some serious hipster-doofus love at the next stop light.
Yeah, ManVan…er, ManValue!