U pull ripoff

[volaredon]

Tgev$3 admission wasn't the deal killer but what's next? $5? Then $10 just to get past the counter? And how damn many times do they need to look in my toolbox? Maybe ONCE not 3x.
Well I was limited being Sunday, I haven't been around the area this yard is located in a couple of years for multiple reasons, but there used to be a junkyard every few blocks, under about every other clump of trees, I still say that extra charge for the warranty should be option not just slapped on everything and changing 80% of new price on smalls (with their bogus warranty would take cost of them higher than buying new) and changing for every "small" when it's part of an assembly is also bogus. Now if all I want was those actuators I could see them charging maybe $4-5 ea.... I have to return to do something about that radio but otherwise will not be back.

 

[RAT ROD AL]

Yall all should be thankful you have these type yards. We have zero yards around here with anything old. There are SOME you pull it yards around Atlanta, but about ten years is the limit on age. The days of finding old cars on yards around here are long gone.

Rob, you need to go up to White GA, to old car city ! North of Atlanta. They do have a web site.

Car Museum | United States | Old Car City U.S.A.

Old Car City in White, Georgia contains the worlds largest known classic car junkyard. Visitors enjoy the beautiful vegetation of the deep south that is intertwined with the hundreds of cars that reside in Old Car City. Old Car City started as a small general store in 1931 and is still family...

www.oldcarcityusa.com

 

[diymirage]

We have several parts yards around here besides LKQ. Reeds, Montys, Adams, to name a few I've visited.
I don't think there would be a chain like LKQ if not for Obamas "Cash For Clunkers" program. I've visited LKQ maybe 3 times since their opening.

I dont think that is true
I seem to remember LKQ being around and buying out local junkyards long before that America hating muzzie came along

If I'm not mistaken, their MO is to buy old cars and strip the "valuable" parts off of it and toss it in thier warehouse to sell to bodyshops as "like kind and quality"
Then they leave the bones out in the yard for us hobbyists to pick over

 

[Steve welder]

I dont think that is true
I seem to remember LKQ being around and buying out local junkyards long before that America hating muzzie came along in 2016

If I'm not mistaken, their MO is to buy old cars and strip the "valuable" parts off of it and toss it in thier warehouse to sell to bodyshops as "like kind and quality"
Then they leave the bones out in the yard for us hobbyists to pick over

A couple of thoughts:
As usual the chosen few continue to make everything about politics but no surprises there
The price of salvaged car parts is directly related to the price of steel, the availability of certain parts and the overhead of running a yard
Every removable part represents a return on the investment of a salvage yards, so decades ago if I needed a heater core and pulled out the heater box, id probably pay nothing or next to nothing for that box, not so today
Ive been in yards that if you could pull the oil from junked cars thats in the ground, you could heat a home for the next fifty years, today EPA regulations are more stringent
As a example a yard I work in has heavy dump trucks/ trailers, the EPA made the property owner put a type of drainage system all around the yard to prevent runoff from the dump bodies from polluting near by wetlands
Finally a cover charge to get into a pick and pull seems to be excessive, maybe the owner is trying to discourage the weekend window shopper who just wants to stroll about the yard, I have no other idea
When pulled my own parts from a yard, I located the part, went into the office, told the guy I found what I needed, were it was and asked how much...Dam if I was going to pull some part and walk into the office part in hand and ask how much, thats a invite to paying to much

 

[hemi71x]

This company is probably the largest that we have out here in Commiefornia, and some other states.

Pick-n-Pull

 

[junkyardhero]

i don't see what all the grumping and groaning is about. even as somebody who skews toward the younger demographic on here even i remember when these yards were cheap and littered with cars that had useable parts for our hobby.

that's shifted now. everything there is early 2000's and late 90's with some 80's stuff. but if you sit back and have a think on it, not much has really changed. in the early 2000's it was all 80's crap and 70's with some late 60's stuff.

LKQ is a massive corporation who's been around forever. they are in business to make money, not enable hobbyists. to think that they initiated the CARS program is just silly. it was a federal bill intended to provide economic incentives toward purchase of new fuel efficient vehicles; so saying they had a hand in passing the legislature is some grade A conspiracy ****.
don't like their prices? buy reman, buy off ebay, buy a whole car and part it.

i don't know about your situation, but they've always charged an entry here in socal. it used to be a dollar. now it's 3. big whoop. if 3 bucks is gonna break you, then stay home, you'll use more gas getting there. also, if you look at your receipt, there's a line item on there where they refund your entry.

last weekend i hit three yards, it was about 100mi loop. i saw some cool **** and pushed my tool box laden dolly thru the battle grounds, but ultimately came up with zip. sometimes you win. sometimes the yard hangs a donut on you.

if you're still put off about it all, you an always tie another onion to your belt and write a very strongly worded letter.

 

[RAT ROD AL]

I may be wrong, ( wouldn't be the first time ) but I figured the entry fee may cover their liability insurance on dummies hurting their self .

 

[volaredon]

The entry wasn't my beef.tge 30-40% automatic add on for a "90 day warranty" is. I detailed what I bought earlier. CERTAINLY NOT $84 worth..... And again there's nothing in their price sheet that says anything about ac actuators
They were trying to charge me for the heater box and 5 blower motors. So I took just the piece I absolutely needed off and left the rest behind. I could have used that housing as I had a few cracks but JB weld fixes those, just meant another night sitting in pieces while it cured. And nobody will see that once the dash is back in to cover it up. .. if more people buy less from them maybe they'll learn.

 

[hemi71x]

Out here when you purchase something, and are at the check out counter, they then even ding you sales tax, on the two dollar entry fee.
Go figure that.

 

[d5667]

Entry fee is just to pay for parts that fit in your pockets. When you sign a waiver that is just to show the court you acknowledged the danger. Most people ruin more than they buy. Go to work at a yard and you will see the other side. Better yet buy one and you will find that friends and relatives are the first to get into your pocket

 

[bcschief]

I have had good luck with LKQ and they have yards all over the country if your local yard doesn't have it and they have it in another one they will get it to you I am sure for a cost. I have a choice of yards in my area I usually go to Daytona and occasionally Orlando, there is also one in Gainsville although I have never been to that one.

 

[Back in Time]

Yall all should be thankful you have these type yards. We have zero yards around here with anything old. There are SOME you pull it yards around Atlanta, but about ten years is the limit on age. The days of finding old cars on yards around here are long gone.

Back in my old Home town there was a yard that had cars clear back into the 30's. A corporate Salvage company wanted the land and since the owner was ready to retire he sold it to them. They went in and crushed every single one of those old cars.

 

[gunbunny]

If you don't replace that blower motor, you're going to keep replacing resistors.
Also there is an adapter pigtail for the radios.

 

[volaredon]

I did replace the blower motor while I had the heater box out. this will be the 2nd timeive replaced that in about 5-6 years. Both previous ones were taken out "working". I can't say whether the chronic blower resistor blowout changed in frequency with the first replacement blower motor vs the original one that was in there when I bought the Durango.

My guess as to why they are such an issue with these things??
2 fold
1) is the teeny pins they use for the resistor and it's connection, not enough surface area to absorb the heat of electricity, especially on a resistor which builds up heat by it's very nature anyway.
And 2nd, is that I cannot find replacements that come from a country that gives a damn about quality.

 

[TF360]

I feel your pain. Every time I go into a yard now and have to pay an entry fee, I get upset. You know it's the corporate thing in the back of your mind( they only care about making a profit.) It's because all those years, I didn't have to pay. The Yard used to be a different place. A junk place. Throw your stuff on the counter, and the guy made a couple bucks on junk. "Gimmie ten bucks." Now the bean counters have taken over. It's a different feel

 

[cosgig]

One of my “pick-n-pull” yards on my regular route! Old cars are still in abundance if you know where to look.

 

[barbee6043]

Back in my old Home town there was a yard that had cars clear back into the 30's. A corporate Salvage company wanted the land and since the owner was ready to retire he sold it to them. They went in and crushed every single one of those old cars.

Heck, back in Missouri I saw one old yard after another close year after year and crushed. For decades/ It is everywhere. BUT here in Tx, I know of only one old yard. Still some hobbiest with a pasture collection though!!!! There are a few home owned yards left in the country. A few cater to classics and some have a spot in the back where the few classics are. You have to know the owner and where they are usually.

^^^^^ Maybe there in Mi. there are old car yards because these cars there have rusted to dirt and not buildable!?

 

[340sFastback]

I bought a dash for my beater Pontiac car a while back from LPQ. $24 for just the dash but $6 each for each dash vent which is another $24. I liked the non-faded vents from what appeared to be a wrecked car that used to live in a garage so I said sure go ahead and double the price thats fine....

 

[YY1]

I have had good luck with LKQ and they have yards all over the country if your local yard doesn't have it and they have it in another one they will get it to you I am sure for a cost. I have a choice of yards in my area I usually go to Daytona and occasionally Orlando, there is also one in Gainsville although I have never been to that one.

Does Orlando have more than one LKQ?

I went to the one on IIRC 50 and was disappointed.
Very small.
They even had more than one car I needed parts from listed online, but none were there when I arrived.
This was a 97-03 Dakota and they had NONE.
The Tampa/St Pete area has four LKQ yards and they are littered with Dakotas and Durangos.

 

[volaredon]

Yeah but down there id expect the roads to also have plenty of non rusted, still running ones on them.
Id like to find another 01-03 that's rust free and has the 360 in it too, no 4.7 equipped ones need apply.

 

[bcschief]

Does Orlando have more than one LKQ?

I went to the one on IIRC 50 and was disappointed.
Very small.
They even had more than one car I needed parts from listed online, but none were there when I arrived.
This was a 97-03 Dakota and they had NONE.
The Tampa/St Pete area has four LKQ yards and they are littered with Dakotas and Durangos.

Only one that I know of Hwy 50 at the Greenway SR417.

 

[cudamike13]

When I lived in Duluth,Ga, a "Pull-A-Part" was close to me.
They started charging $1.
Then they upped it to $2.
Then they said Military and VETERANS get in FREE!!!!
Not too bad. Thats where I found my 8 3/4 rear in a 65 Coronet.
Somebody had started to remove it but left.
I had it out and in my truckbed in 20 mins.
I bet they were shocked if they came back for it.