So I have been looking at these two 51 mercury four doors for the last four months. This old timer has a whole bunch of tin on his property he is trying to sell for too much money. Pretty much none of it is salvageable. Any way he wanted $1200 for the two mercs which is way too much for the condition they are in. So today I shot him an offer for $400, too which his response was "I could get double that from the scrapyard and If they dont sell by tommorow thats where there going". Well I tried What do you guys know about the scrap prices? I heard they took a dump in Ohio lately.
Prices are down to nothing almost, and probally won't go back up for a good while.......we sell to a bunch of over seas company, and we haven't had any big orders in several weeks....
I just checked our sheet from Fri., autos were bringing 5.00 per hundred pound. Back in July we were giving 11.50, I don't seeing it getting up that high again anytime soon, if it ever does period.
Price of scrapmetal is down bad here, scrapyards are laying off folks. Look at the prices they are paying. http://www.recycle.net/Metal-I/index.html http://www.recycle.net/Metal-I/scrap/index.html
$20 a ton for autos here now. We were getting $240 a ton for unprepared iron 6-8 weeks ago. The price for that same iron is $50-$70 right now. Just dropped a load off Friday and was shocked by the pricing (and will likely just start stashing it away again to see what happens). The funny thing is that the big auto companies were paying roughly $600 a ton for galvanized sheet metal in Jan 08 and it was up to $1450 a ton a month ago. This month it is down to $1150 or so and they are happy for the break. The cost of new doesn't really match what is happening with recycled metal though... Maybe you need to help him take the mercs to the scrapper and then when he gets a super lowball offer from them, you should easily be able to send him home with a few more dollars cash and be ahead of the game...
Also keep in mind this is Ohio and not california or the southwest. Im sure I can part them out and make more than my money back, but I can also buy a much straighter four door for about $1500.
Tell him you'll drive his ass and the fenders to the scrapper of his choice just to see if he can get it.
I saw those same cars. Hes nuts for wha the wants for them. Theres hardly anything to use. You probably were buying them for the engines? I saw his other cars he has for sale and he scrazy over priced.
Yeah sorry about that, I dont know what I did wrong. I just talked to the guys kid or whatever, and I explained to him the price of scrap and that he would have to dig them out and transport them to the yard. He asked me what parts I needed from them. I told him I really wanted to just get the two cars because my wife really wants a four door merc project. He told me he would get back to me. Maybe the old guy is softening up. I told him to let me know what scrapyard he's taking them to if he decided to go that route so I can just buy the cars from them. Ill keep you posted. If I get them I will have plenty of cheap parts in the classifieds Cross your fingers!
Local yard has set a 500 pound minumun and pays a penny a pound now. I'll be stacking stuff in my yard until the price turns around.
Not sure. I would have to look them over to see If one could be salvaged out of the two. If not I would probably just yank the motors and pull off all the useable parts. I dont know why but I really like buying and working on really rough cars, in my driveway, in the middle of winter......what the hell is wrong with me?
I saw those cars on ebay...twice. Its obvious he has been tipping the bottle with those prices. There wasn't a usable panel on either car.
Either one have an overdrive transmission? I see those in average used shape bring $300 all by themselves. A core late Merc flathead isn't worth $200-$250 just for the crank? That's $500 and still leaves you two shells to scrap. Trim? Dash? Steering wheel? I can't tell much of anything from that tiny picture, anyone have a link to one of the eBay listings? But I'd be shocked if you can't do $500 per car parting them out without a lot of effort, if you're willing to pack and ship parts. And again, still have body shells to scrap, be it at about $50 each or at about $300 each. Scrap prices are usually published in the newspaper, too.
show up with cash in your hand. if he still gives you the "i can get $$$$ for it at the scrapyard" tell him to go fuck himself!
Then as you leave empty handed you won't have to wonder why old guys with old cars act like dicks, you'll know why.
I talked to the guy helping the old man sell them again today. Turns out he also thinks the guy is nuts for his pricing. The only reason he is helping him sell them is because the guy said he could have his pick of any of the cars if he helped. He is going to let me know what scrapper he's sending them to if he decides to do that. I will keep you Ohio guys posted in case you want to make a group HAMB trip to the yard to pick over some cars.
Sounds like the old coot is going to be in for a big surprise when he cashes in his iron 401K. I've noticed at my local yard that NOTHING vintage is coming in any more. -Brad
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