How to get rid of a car

[zahc]

My minivan just blew a head gasket and it's not worth the $4k it would probably cost me to get it fixed.

But what do you do with a minivan with a blown motor? Call junkyards a see who will come get it? Is there any chance of getting money for it or should I expect to pay to have it hauled away? It's got 4 brand new Michelin tires on it (of course it does) and no body or glass damage.

[WLJ]

Many scrap yards will pay you whatever it's worth in scrap metal value to haul it off. In some cases it can be several hundred dollars

[grampster]

Try to sell as a sound older vehicle as a project.  Be up front and say willing to negotiate in ad.

[Ben]

You can try putting it on Craigslist if it's in otherwise good condition, and somebody might take if for a few hundred bucks and fix or stick a new engine in it.

Otherwise, a lot of charities will take a vehicle working or not, and you might be able to get a good tax write-off.

[Bogie]

Most of the "taxi" folks here drive Chrysler/Dodge minivans... There is a garage a few blocks from me that can do an engine swap overnight.

[BobR]

Kars for Kids, Visiting Nurses or maybe a few other charities will take it away and you can get a small write off. Check local charities.

bob

[bedlamite]

https://24hoursoflemons.com/

I could see APS doing an A-Team theme.

[Boomhauer]

Dump the mechanic in a bottle for this situation- water glass in it and sell it quick.

[Perd Hapley]

Pull out the seats, and you have a few options:

Towable camper, with radio and 12V power.

Can also be used as an Air B&B.

Meth lab.

The last 2 options may net you enough cash for repairs, to get the old girl back on the road.

[Angel Eyes]

Just park it in Oakland, CA.

Problem solved.

[K Frame]

Over the years I've donated two cars to charitable organizations. One ran just fine but needed work, the other had a blown head gasket like yours.

I forget which organizations I donated them to, but in both cases they knew exactly what they were getting and I got a nice tax write off in both cases.

[HankB]

Park it illegally and it will be towed away.

[MechAg94]

Park it illegally and it will be towed away.

Just make sure no one will try to come after you for fines or storage fees.

[Tuco]

Determine your replacement options before getting rid of the van.  Those tires might be worth switching to the new ride. 
I regretted junking a pickup that just so happened to have relatively new, same sized tires as the replacement vehicle.

[K Frame]

Just make sure no one will try to come after you for fines or storage fees.

Given that it's almost impossible to eradicate all of the VIN and partial VINs on cars... yeah. They'll come after you.

[Bogie]

Oh, and... What leads you to think "Head Gasket?"
 
Oil in coolant? Coolant in oil? Coolant/Oil going out the tailpipe?
 
6 cyl or 4 cyl engine?
 
Do you need to pull the engine to change the head gasket? Can you dedicate a weekend to muttering, cussing, and skinning knuckles? This is NOT rocket surgery, and the magic thingy under the car's hood is not actually magic. A head gasket and the stuff to do the job (like tools...) will probably cost under $500.
 
Google, youtube, find a couple of friends, get some beer, and have a learning experience. Take pictures. Take video. Document everything. I use a big white table and baggies for little parts. Take your time, be patient, and a hammer is not a precision instrument. There are a surprising number of neanderthals in the mechanicking business, and they somehow stay in business.

[French G.]

Pull the battery and tires sell on facebook or something as scrap or parts.

[zahc]

The battery is also new and I just put a new radio in it. Of course.

It's the rear bank head gasket. Leaking oil and water both plus low oil pressure. Pretty disappointed because it only has 140k and didn't use any oil or have any codes at all. But regardless the engine has to be removed out the bottom to get the heads off. Official Mazda quote for engine replacement is 12 hours not including engine prep. Quote for head gasket is 16 hours. So fixing it will be a $3-5k proposition which is the market value of the van. I could still do it but I'm thinking it's better to roll that money into another beater van. Maybe someone else could get a van for free or dirt cheap and undertake to the repair themselves.

If I could do it without a lift I'd park it in the garage as a winter project. I rebuilt the heads on my Dodge can myself but that was possible with the engine installed.

[Kingcreek]

If the vehicle is in otherwise good condition I would either fix it myself or find a small independent shop to do it. Buying another beater van just gets you into unknown risks maybe not better than where you are.
Sometimes community colleges have mechanic programs where they do the repairs for less than shop rates.
There are a few guys around here that have pretty good side jobs doing this kind of work.

[Kingcreek]

When my F250 was 22 years old and falling apart, I considered driving it to the scrapyard and pulling the battery and having the wife pick me up.
Instead I advertised it. Bad rust, broken exhaust manifold bolts, rear diff needed work, front end steering and suspension shot, 186k miles on the triton V10.
I sold it to a young farmer for $2400. He said he was going to fix it up and use it for pulling a stock trailer. I saw it a couple times but I suspect he gave up on it.
The scrap yard was going to give me about $1200

[Tuco]

Depending on the make and model you may be suprised with a DIY.
It baffled me how easy it was to replace the head gasket on a Honda 4cyl.
Protip- Use oem gasket and bolts (if it requires new bolts). And a good torque wrench. Bogie probably rents 'em

[zahc]

Local junkyard said they'd give me $300 cash for hauling it away. And I have a line on a replacement beater for $12,000 that's 7 years newer and lower miles. Time for a tech upgrade.

[Kingcreek]

Tech upgrades can be both good and bad.

I just spent several hours downloading update temp files, copying to a usb drive, and then uploading to the amazing wondrous new vehicle. I think it is still doing its thing in the garage right now. I care not.

I swear, if I ever replace my Jeep JKU Rubicon (secondary vehicle) it will be a CJ7, an old bronco, or maybe even an IH Scout. As long as it is something I can work on, it doesn't include sneaky gremlins and doesn't use NASA level tech to start the engine and back out of the garage.

[bedlamite]

Yep, tech is great until it's on the fritz, then you might have to replace the whole thing again.

IMO, quality of vehicles has not gone up the last few decades, the pinnacle was late 90's and early 00's. ECU's and ABS were sorted, and nothing else was or needed to be computerized.

Ditto on the Jeep. I'm currently replacing the Dana 30/35 axles under my TJ with Dana 60's :)

[Bogie]

Honda? Chrysler? Toyota?