At the local self serve auto salvage yard an instrument cluster is $30 for cars, $40 for trucks. I paid less than $20 for a cluster for my Plymouth but that wasn’t recently.
A trip to California for half price weekend would not save me money.
The self serve yard here has a inventory search for the car you’re looking for but not what parts are still there, @Cavell suggested the same site I use from time to time and will have prices from various yards. Usually they already have the part on the shelf or will pull the part for you and ship it upon request.
Junkyards are moving upscale these days. Used to be junkyards, then salvage yards, then dismantlers, then auto recyclers, and lately one place advertises as an “automotive reverse assembly plant.”
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Wow, I really learned so much!
Thanks so much for contributing!
To answer the gentleman, I don’t really need any particular part–I’ve just been curious about the process, apparently it’s almost a rite of passage for a car guy? I’ve never done it… maybe if I need a body part it’s a good place.
Yes, if you need a fender or hood, pick a part is a good option
I’ve done that and it paid off for me
Around herem engines and transmissions are usually good. Body panels and gas tanks are not. Enen plastic tanks are usually shot tron the rust fron metal inlets or locking rings tearing holes in them on removal. We gave businesses bring up rust freeparts from down south by the truckload.
Some years ago the PullAPart here got ridiculous on their prices. Forty bucks for a used coil pack? Not.
LKQ came in and since there was now competition the price board got revised substantially downwards.
One thing I will not buy from a pull your own parts yard is motors and transmissions. Hardly any of those cars are wrecked. This means that when the owners had them hauled off they were suffering engine or transmission failures; or both. In the more rare instances one might get lucky and get a unit out of a car in which someone got tired of throwing parts and money at it in an attempt to fix a gremlin when the engine/trans was good; or somewhat good. Gambling odds are not very good.
Someone once went to the trouble of pulling a 4R70W out of a Lincoln Mark VIII (pain in the neck) and partially disassembling it just to get a lousy speedo drive gear out of it. Fluid and parts everywhere over an item they could have bought new for 10 bucks…
There’s a chain called LKQ. They have both a U-pull-it and on-the-shelf operation at the two locations near me. Apparently they also have an online search which I have never used. $2 to enter. They will stamp your hand, so you can go in and out for more tools.
No one has ever stolen my tools although I have both loaned and borrowed tools with other clients. You can check their car inventory online before you go–although you can’t tell exactly what parts are left on the cars.
Prices aren’t bad but don’t expect bargains every time. If you are a vet, don’t forget to take some proof (in our state it’s on our driver licenses) for the 15% discount.
Generally the “Pick and Pay” lots are a bad deal and most of them have shut down in my area.
Your time has some value, especially if it’s time spent in the mud or dust in the middle of winter or summer, and then if the part doesn’t fit or work …
The Pros quickly shifted to LKQ because they specified what part would fit and offered a labor reimbursement if the part would didn’t work after replacement. More money but it beat the heck out of spending hours replacing an engine only to find that it’s trash.
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It’s sometimes worth it, if you find a same color hood or fender, for example
it’s also worth it, if you find a bucket seat in great condition
As a matter of fact, LKQ does own the bigger pick a part here . . .
I totally agree, if you’re looking for a specific part in a specific color it’s well worth the admission price.
And yes LKQ has bought out some of the larger Pick & Pay lots, retaining some of them as Pick & Pay and adding the LKW option, which is what I call smart marketing.
So if you’re looking for a 2014 Cadillac DeVille wiper motor, Pick & Pay may be a good option assuming they have one on the lot but if you’re looking for a Northstar replacement motor that hasn’t blown it’s head gaskets, go LKQ
what’s LKW . . . ?
I see LKQ trucks on the freeways . . . delivering parts, from the look of things
Never had a problem with our local yard. Got the wrong radiator fan for daughters 12 year old saturn, took it back and got the right one. Ended up not needing a circuit board for rear hatch for my 14 year old car, ended up being a broken wire, return no problem. As stated previously things may differ yard to yard.
I imagine one of the reasons U-Pick yards are disappearing is liability. Having car owners with unknown skills taking things apart unsupervised must drive the insurance companies nuts. I think this what did in the places that rented out service bays for car enthusiasts to use to make repairs.
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They’re not disappearing in my area
The high cost of liability insurance may very well be the reason why “you pull it” junkyard prices have gotten so high compared to new aftermarket parts. It’s no secret that in many industries, a huge percentage of the price you pay goes to offset the cost of liability/malpractice insurance.
That being said, it’s not my job to pay for some business owner’s liability insurance, any more than it is to pay for their outlandish rent. The fact that a restaurant, for example, might be paying $15-20k per month rent for their building does not magically make their food worth $40 per person–especially if it’s a type of food that I could cook at home for a fraction of the cost. The same type of math applies to buying car parts from a junkyard. If I can find a similar alternative for less cost, or a new or better alternative for slightly more, then the asking price is too high.
As a kid, when nothing was going on on a Sunday afternoon, a few of us would find our way rummaging through the local junk yard (auto parts recycler) just for fun. Back when they didn’t have fences or dogs. We never took anything or caused any damage, just looked around at all the stuff. In junk yards though, one thing I’ve come to consider is rodents and snakes. We don’t have many snakes in Minnesota like you’d find in a junk yard in Arizona, but we do have rodents. Before I’d take an upholstered seat or something home, I’d sure be checking for evidence of chewing, nests, waste products, and mold. No problem with hard parts as long as you watch where you are walking or reaching. Gotta consider the stuff has been out in the elements for a while.
Decide what part you need. Call salvage yard. Usually they will give price. You remove, price is usually lower. My experience with you remove, once the part is free, that’s all you have to do. Another lot I have been to, they remove, you stop at front desk, pick up and pay. An alternative at least for me has been EBay. Be sure to check part numbers. If you go to salvage yard
find out return policy or if there is warranty. Small items and electronics usually have no warranty unless specified beforehand.
No advice to give, but boy, this brings back memories from the 1980s. Early in my career, I had three kids and crappy cars: 1977 Chevy Caprice station wagon, Renault Alliance, Plymouth Valiant…
Spent a LOT of time in our local junk yard. For the past 20 years, though, all Toyotas and one Honda. No more junkyards, thanks.
Back in the late '50s-early '60s, my town had a place adjacent to the town dump where they would tow cars that had been abandoned on the streets. I used to ride my bike down there, and I would bring a few tools in order to remove hood ornaments and badges from cars that interested me.
I had quite a collection after a few years, but–sadly–just like most of those fabled baseball card collections, at some point my hood ornament/badge collection was disposed-of.
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