Okay, deep breath, and here we go:
What aaron7 said about GVWR is true. From my experience your average car weight is around 3100 lbs. This of course wouldn't apply to a Honda civic but that should be ballpark for a Oldsmobile cutlass, and I would think it would in actuallity be a little higher for that car provided the engine/tranny were still intact.
Aaron7, I don't know what kind of hustle your local yards are trying to pull but even $200 for a full car is darn near stealing it when a business is buying it. Hell, thats usually what I pay for cars to scrap and still make healthy profit everytime. With prices being up right now, a 3000 lb. vehicle would bring $322.50 just in the body locally. Then of course there is the convertor(s), alternator, starter, wiring harness (copper wire), radiator and condensor, battery, tack on another $56 if it has aluminum wheels, and any usuable parts that you can re-sell.
The biggest thing to re-selling auto parts is knowing what is in demand. A fender from a Chevy Celebrity will not move near as quick or for as much money as say a Chevy Camaro. The only cars I would recommend trying to re-sell parts off of when you are just starting out are cars will a following such as Mustangs, Camaros, Just about any Honda, newer models, and alot of trucks as just about every house hold owns a truck. The more popular the car, the easier it will be to sell parts. On the flip side, rarer cars and their parts bring big bucks too. Take for instance a pre 1982 Corvette, I've got a buyer that will pay $25 for EACH brake caliper(4 per vehicle) just for a core, and $150 for EACH trailing arm assembly (2 per vehicle) in any shape.
Diesels are big money parted out. Most diesel injectors bring about $40-$50 EACH (6-8 per engine) and injection pumps are bringing $50-$200 EACH with most bringing $100 just as a core, ie. doesn't matter if its good or not. A word of caution though, diesel fuel systems operate under extreme pressure, so much in fact that a leaking system can very easily slice through skin and even bone much like a water jet would, BE CAREFUL!
There are core buyers for everything you can imagine, ABS units, AC compressors, Mass Air Flow sensors, Brake Boosters, Brake Master Cylinders, CV axles, Wiper motors, ECM's, Alternators, Distributors, Smog Pumps, Fuel Injectors, Rack and Pinions, Steering boxes, All kinds of Electrical Components, Carburetors, Water Pumps, Cylinder heads, and of course engines and transmissions just to name a few
. It's a tricky business to be in though, as not all cars have a strong demand for these parts and it's not really obvious as to which ones most of the time, and it's constantly changing. In other words, you will waste time and possibly money if you dont know what you are doing in this business.
To sum up, if you are getting this car for free or already own it, you will have no problem making a quick $400 on it even after you figure in gas for transportation. Like I said, I usually buy cars for $200 and under (sometimes more if it's worth it), and always double my money, guaranteed. Not bad for about 2 hours of hauling and pulling parts part time huh? Of course you need a truck and trailer for this though, or a rollback if you are wealthy (I'm not). There's so much more that I havent even covered yet, but hopefully this will give you a direction to start in. I will be putting up a thread on RealCent hopefully over this weekend that covers the last group of cars that I bought to scrap for more information to anyone wanting to know more about recycling/parting out vehicles. But thats all for now folks.
