need to sell 1988 Toronado Trofeo for parts or repair

[koohiisan]

I have a non-running 1988 Toronado Trofeo that I regretfully need to sell. I've posted it for sale in my local papers, but the best offer at this time is to sell it as scrap. This was a good car, and I'd much rather put it in the hands of someone who could fix it's issues or at least put the parts to good use, instead of crunching it for scrap metal or letting it rot in a junkyard. So, I found this site and am going to let the Toronado experts of the world decide what to do with it!

Basically, I had some issues with the VIC working intermittently. I took it out and it looked like some of the pins weren't being retained in the dash connector properly, so they were pushing out the back a bit when I plugged the VIC in. But, the car still ran fine. Then, one day I came back from the post office and it died as I turned into my driveway. I coasted to my garage, but never was able to get it started again. I checked for fuel at the rail, and spark, and the coil pack and module...all of those checked out fine. Well, there was fuel at the rail, but I don't know how to measure whether or not it was sufficient. The car starter spins, but never turns over. So, I've left it in this condition for a couple of years, and now I need to sell it.

The headliner was falling a few years back, so I thought I'd pull it out and re-cover the board with new material. It crumbled away, so this car has no headliner. I took out the a-pillars as well at the same time. The gear sensor didn't read properly in some gears, so it would flash the gear list lights on the VIC. Cruise worked, but stopped a month or two before the car stopped. Engine was always great, as well as transmission. I don't recall any rust, and it's a speckled dark gray color with dark red interior.

I haven't the skills to troubleshoot the issue that is preventing this car from running. But, maybe it'll be of service to someone here. It'd need towed, of course. Right now it looks like I'll get $500 if I scrap it and I need to decide within about a week or so. I can post some photos, but it'll be a day or two.

Thoughts?

Edit: Oops, forgot to mention I am in the area of Greencastle, Indiana, USA.

[Twilight Fenrir]

Are you sure it is an '88? VIC's were introduced in '89, I had one with one... If yours IS an '88, someone may have gone through ALOT of trouble to add it in... I have seen it done before....

Anywho, I only got $800 for my very driveable '89 with no significant issues... $500 scrap is likely the best you will get for the entire car. However, if you were to part it out, you could make much more. Parts for those cars are hard to find, and expensive. I did not have the heaet to do it to mine, I sold it to someone who was fanatical about the cars, and was going to rebuild it all.

Just my $.25

[koohiisan]

Oops, sorry. I'd been reading the forums and had VIC stuck in my mind for some reason. I was meaning to refer to the digital instrument cluster.

I didn't have the heart to part my '88 out either. One person offered to buy it because he needed to strip it for parts for an '89. Another fellow offered the same amount, but wanted to fix it up. The guy who wanted to fix it up was the guy who got it. I got around $400 for it, so it sounds like I didn't do too badly.