If you do decide to ditch it, try the dealer as well. I had a similar situation about a year ago. The cam shaft broke on my 2001 A4 doing catastrophic damage to the engine. Dealer quoted me $10,000 for a replacement. Since the car was barely worth that, I thought I was up a creek. They told me they would work with me if I bought something from them. Long story short, I got about $3,000 on a "trade in" of a car that was worthless to me. Also, I think KBB or NADA will give you a value of the car if it needs an engine/transmission/etc...