My local PaP is $2 bucks to get in ($5 bucks on half off sale days) . I try to go once or twice a month just to walk through but the tools are in the car if needed. Sometimes you never know what you'll come across but you have to look.
The wife and I used to go to the local u pull it just for the entertainment. Walk around and look for stuff you can't live without and if you don't find something it was well worth the admission.
Mid-Night auto supply. Used to be a fella called Wimpy that had a junk yard where I lived. For whatever reason his dog liked me, I think maybe I didn't smell edible. I can think of more than once that I jumped the fence in the middle of the night to get a part to get me to work the next day or to get me home. When I would go in to pay him he walways laughed. he alwasy said if the dog let me have it he wasn't going to charge me for it. he used to close down for two weeks every year and take a vacation. I was the one that fed the dog while he was gone.
I don't mine the $2 entrance fee, since most of the of other wrecking yards price their parts at 75% of what a new part would cost (or worse) Here is a specific example. I needed a set of new rear bumper brackets for my OT GMC truck (I got rearended). I went to the dealer on a Saturday AM and they had to order them, $11.90 for two. I decided to go to the local truck wrecking yard and they quoted me $25 for 2. This is a 210% mark up. I told them that the dealer only want $11.90. They guy just shrugged his shoulders. Of course I went straight back to the dealer and ordered them.
Not many walkabout auto wreckers around here anymore and even less with old stock.Seems Auto recycle or dismantler are the terms in vogue . They don`t charge a fee because you arn`t going in the yard. They are super organized and have all their stock on a database. I sure do miss doing walkabout in junkyards .
I don't mean Walmart exclusively. Virtually every retail or wholesale store doesn't charge you to shop at their facility. How about your local NAPA store? Do they charge admission? It just bugs me that they charge me to buy their stuff. The $2 isn't a burden, it's the whole idea of an admission fee..
Theres a u-pull-it yard here that charges $2.00 to get in. Problem is if you call to check on a part they wont tell you if they have it or not. You gotta go and pay your $2.00 and chance it. Kinda sucks.
To anyone who doesnt like it i challenge you to open up your own wreaking yard and make a profit. Try not to get sued. Try to comply with all the regulations. Find valuable employees. Pay for the cars. Pay for the towing. Put gas in everything. Then let people in for free at the risk of being sued, fucking up your shit, or just stealing. Lots of people throw shit over the fence. The city constantly trying to close you down, the cops harassing you. Border patrol harassing you. People breaking in at night to steal all your tools or aluminum wheels. Then to top it all off, people bitch about having to pay 2 fucking dollars to come in and tear up a 100 dollar dash for a 2 dollar stereo. and good quality oem parts are always worth more then the chinese repos. People understand this with a early for axle, but not with a late model door handle.
Been doing it around here for the last 15 years or so with the U-Pullit yards. gladly paid too! Where else can you go to buy Finned Buick brake drums for 15.00 each on a regular basis? Or grab stuff off of a '60 Ranchero as a I did a week ago today. Off topic here, But Hot Rod Ron scored a '68 VW long axle transaxle for 100.00 complete, and I grabbed a wiring harness for the increadible miss Judy's somewhat late model Mercedes that was 300.00 at the dealership for less than 12.00. All in the same trip. Oh, measured up about ten different rear ends for her Falcon wagon too!
I guess you've never been in a BJ's or CostCo warehouse store then where you get to pay an annual fee for the privilege of shopping there. I suppose car shows & swap meets with admission costs are off limits as well? Those who say it isn't about the money...um... it is.
I made about $1000 in profit on top of what I paid on stuff out of the you-pick yards last year. The $10 or so to get in seems worth it. The only one you're going to hurt by being a cheap bastard, is you, when you miss out on some part at a bargain price.
We've got a local pick & pull that charges 2 bucks to enter also. I'll gladly pay 2 bucks for a days entertainment even if I don't buy anything.
I agree with you and on principle I would not pay ! I also would not p[ay to shop in Walmart or Kmart and as far as I am concerned it is the same thing !
Everyone who said they wouldn't pay is woofing. If you need a part bad enough, you will pay...then bitch about paying.
The yard I go to is free to get into. And heck they will even bring the car up to the shop and help you take stuff off if you are getting a bunch. They have quite a bit of old stuff and know where it's all at.
Two buck? Shit time are changing... Us to be able to walk around one for nothing but I guess if I needed something and I know it was there then I would pay it. J
I always find parts for a bargan......heck i find all kinds of shit im not even looking for. My wife and i go at least once a month or so just for the entertainment. Sometimes i just find some little clips or hardware and show it to the guy at the counter and most of the time they just give it to me just for being honest. I will gladly pay 2 bucks just hopefully to insure that the yards stay open for me to get the stuff i need without going broke. I only paid 12.50 for a stearing column out of a chevy van for my 55. I had to shorten it but its a tilt and looks good to. Count me in for 2 bucks Rod
How many spare bulbs, fuses, relays, nuts, bolts, badges, etc. fit in your pockets for $2? Hint: German cars frequently have decent tool kits in the trunk.
I really didn't want to respond to this dumbass,but I couldn't stop myself. You're telling us that you're a fucking thief. Don't bother to answer my post,there's nothing you can say,anyway. They own it,you steal it,that makes you a worthless bastard as far as I'm concerned. Go away,asshole
Did someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed today,I always have the bolts to what ever I bought in my pockets after leaving a junkyard.
Like a previous poster said, show em the small stuff at the counter and they usually don't want to bother ringing it up but appreciate your honesty. It helps when you actually buy things now & then and know the folks a bit. My earlier comment was meant facetiously but is the philosophy of some who think a couple bucks is some sort of outrage for the simple joy of browsing a junkyard.
There is a wrecker out here that was called "Pick your parts" and they got bought out by the American Pic-n-pull chain, more then quadrupled their prices, made it so you are not allowed to buy certain parts like anything for the fuel system other then the pump, they scrap anything vintage that comes in now and charge $1 to get in... so I pay them with pennies... it pisses them right off too!
I'd gladly pay to get in. They wont let you in the yards here in SE Mi. They stand behind the counter like "car gods" and raise their eyebrows when you ask from something out of the ordinary.
What's a junk yard? Oh yeah, I remember some old guy telling me about those... a long time ago. I'd pay good money to have a junk yard to walk through again. Some of you guys don't know how good you've got it (or what's coming).
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