I am about to sell my 2006 Dodge Caravan, but before I do I want to fix the broken cup holder on middle row the passenger seat. The dealer wants $150 for the part and another $180 for labor. I looked for the part online but can’t find it. Someone suggested a junk yard might be an option, but I don’t know where to start. They all seem pretty shady. Any tips for a cheap fix for this would be appreciated.
I’ve used junk yards plenty of timse and did not find them to be shady at all. You can try looking up junk yards in your area. Give them a call and see what they have. You might be able to call the dealership and get the part number to look up online also. That might offer you better results if you do not want to deal with a junk yard or they do not have what you need.
I have had good results when I have called recycling yards for parts. Recycling yards often give discounts to repair shops. If you work with an independent repair shop, see if the shop will make a call for you and get a price.
I am not certain how much repairing the cup holder will add to the value of the vehicle. If you are going to sell it anyway, maybe it would be better just to leave it alone. You are talking about a seven year old vehicle and nobody expects it to be perfect.
Thanks for the comments. I thought it would be a quick fix but it was a lot more expensive than I realized. Any tips on where to start looking for junk/recycling yards online? The ones I found seem more interested in buying cars than selling parts.
A recycling yard by all means. You will likely be able to get the entire assembly that’s connected to the cupholder for very little.
Someone cracked one of my rear view mirrors in the parking lot, and a new one is $325 plus installation. The mirror is black plastic and I’ll likely get one from a parts yard for about $30 or so. This is not a wear item, so there is nothing to worry about.
Just google pull a part, car recyclers etc and also look on car-parts.com; The easiest way would be to go to one of these places and pull the part you need. This was you also get to practice on the “junk” car, in case you are going to brake something in the process, then you learn how to do it on your own car.
On a side note, on our 2000 va, we have almost never used those cup-holders. Are you sure the buyer would car much?
Thanks for the comments!
You can try looking for your part at http://www.car-part.com/. They list all sorts of parts from salvage yards in your area. They list the price, part condition, color etc. They even list that particular salvage yards website, address, phone number distance from your zip code etc. so that you can contact the yard directly. I use this site for all of my parts needs.