Thanks. This is helpful. Objective is for it to be easy vs. getting the most money. It sounds awful, and the mechanic thinks the sound is that timing belt is ready to go, which would also mean a water pump. Leaking oil (I know this is common at that age), tires won't pass inspection, DVD player broken, AC would need to be recharged, something wrong with an engine bracket or something, and probably other things I forgot. The mechanic suggested getting rid of it whereas a year or 2 ago, he thought it was worth it to repair things. I'd rather get some $ than end up with the timing belt dying and having to have it towed away. It does not feel safe anymore, and we have pretty low standards.

Donate it to the local high school car program. Edison in Wheaton, MD has a program. We donated ours there for students to work on and they sell to help pay for program needs.

When I got rid of my last car which was on its last legs and wasn't likely to be resold, I donated it to charity. I know I didn't get as much for it, but it went to a good cause and they came and picked it up from my house, so I didn't have to take it anywhere, didn't have to haggle with Carmax, etc.

I took a former car that was also on its last legs to Carmax and because of the condition, there were not going to be able to resell it, so it would go to auction, likely for parts. At that point, the offer was low. I found that charities will give you a much better KBB value for the write up that will be higher what the resellers will give you. With the higher value, even at our tax rate, I got about half off my taxes what the car would have gotten me from Carmax and I felt better about giving the the charity and it was nice that they came and towed the car away.

So, after that earlier car, I drive my cars into the ground and then donate them to charity. They resell the cars to auction, much like Carmax and other places, but at least the value goes into a charity instead of into the profits of a a large business.

At 200K, sell it privately. Honestly, though, it might not be worth your time/hassle and selling it to that place in MD that has cars out to be picked for parts might be your best bet.

Carmax gave us a truly stupid amount of money for our last minivan that was just under 100K and had been in a major accident, but the assessor who did the estimate for my husband mentioned that it would drop significantly once it hit 100K miles.

Craigslist. Carmax will not give you a value that is worth your while.

Properly describe the condition on Craigslist and someone will want it.

What's going to die on it? Its made of parts that can be replaced, unless there is extensive rust of the unibody...

It depends on your objective. To get the most money, advertise it on your neighborhood listserv, Facebook and Craigslist.

To just get it done, realize that the resale market has a specific value for your minivan. Give the model, age, mileage, whether it runs and condition (great/good/fair) and these folks will give you a $ figure on the phone or through a website. When I did this, I found they all gave the same number because they are basically using the same software.

NicoBuysCars, Carmax, WeBuyAnyCar, Brandywine Auto Parts. I sold my 200k minivan to Nico because they came to my house and took it away. All I had to do was type in my computer, wait at the front door and be handed a check.

Which is better to sell a used minivan that is almost ready to die? It has about 200k miles and hasn't died yet but the mechanic says it does not have much time left. Carmax or a junkyard?