I recently found out that another car I thought had sold is in fact mine again- the buyer backed out due to lack of funds. I'm considering keeping it (a Volvo station wagon) and getting rid of the Montero. However, the Montero has enough issues that it would be HARD to get rid of on the used vehicle market- a phantom transmission electric issue that comes and goes at mysterious times, body damage from a previous accident, and 210k miles. I am currently using it as my daily driver, but I wouldn't expect someone else to do the same unless at least the tranny issue was fixed. If I lived closer to a large city I might be able to find an interested party, but I'm in rural Iowa.

Because of this, I'm thinking of selling it piecemeal. I'm sure the engine and transmission are both worth something, as are all the bits on it- but given that I currently live in an apartment, I can't exactly part it out myself. Sure, I could take it to a salvage yard, but it seems completely wrong to drive a functioning vehicle to a salvage yard under its own power to have it wholly scrapped just because of an intermittent electrical issue and cosmetic ugliness. Is there any kind of middle ground between the used vehicle market and the scrapyard if I don't have the ability to part it out myself?

Well you know what my response would be right? Fix the monty.

If you need help, there's plenty of support available right here. Only thing you need is patience and a willingness to figure out the problem with our help...

Of course, maybe you already tried that and we weren't much help... electrical problems can be like that and it's even worse when it's intermittent!

Buy a factory service manual and read it ALOT and sleep with it under your pillow. Only way to get electrical "gremlins" figured out is to keep trying/testing it

I tried to fix the Montero for several months back when I lived within biking distance of work. I spend hours and hours out there with the FSM and read everything I could find about the transmission electronics. Now it's my daily driver, and working fine. If I mess with it trying to fix an intermittent problem that hasn't showed up in a month, I could lose my only vehicle, which I need to commute. After all the tinkering I did with it before, I don't even know where I would start now- I've done everything I can think of short of tracing each wire from the trans to the TCM, and I don't even think I could do that.

Between this and the situation of having to get rid of one of my two vehicles, I am rather leaning towards the reliable one.