I NEVER get parts from a pick n pull that are already partially worn out....it's fine if your getting a bracket, panel or something mechanical....but to buy an altanator or window regulator that already has half or more of it's life worn out? Why? Unless you like doing it twice.....
Have to respectfully disagree.
Yesterday, EGR for a friends Buick. New, 180 with tax, off line 165 10 days shipping. Wrecking yard 5 bucks, plus 2 bucks to get in. Twenty minutes to pull (five to find, five to pull, ten to look for interesting MG parts for another friend).
That valve will last the year or two at least, the lady will keep the car.
Got a starter out of a Metro with 18k miles on it, cost 10 bucks, put it in the Metro my wife uses around town two years ago. Still works fine. The stock Metro starter was ruined at 40k miles when it got soaked. Mostly those starters last 200k plus. New one is 160 locally. Rebuilt is 100, Local rebuilder (there is ONE) gets 80% of new as a standard pricing structure.
Needed a throttle valve controller for a friends nephew a couple years ago. New 368 bucks, only one place had them. Got two, at local pick a parts, one for 1.00 the other for 5.00 The 1 dollar one is still working, the 5 dollar one is in my spare parts shed, in case the first one ever fails.
When you look at the price they charge your....your labor remove the part twice (from the pnp and then the old one from your veh) and then to install it....and hope it works.......with no assurances that it will last long.....not a good deal.
Prices must be a lot better here on the desert, but I buy in San Bernardino, Ontario, Etiwanda, Fontana, etc. and prices are pretty good there, especially on half price days…
Really, I made many of the same arguments back when I ran autoparts stores… But prices on new parts have doubled and tripled on anything except very common parts.
Prices from the dealers are plain psychotic.
Also, parts last much longer than they used to. Cars last many times as many miles as they once did.
When an engine was worn out at 60k miles (back when I first got into parts) a starter needed replacing several times in that period.
Now a starter should be good for 150-250k. So when you lose one (parts always wear out on a bell curve) picking one off a car with 60k is not like it was in the 60s.
Get the window regulator on the internet....
Bought a bunch of them on the Internet, I like to add power windows/locks/keyless to anything that gets near my shop. Frankly, prices on the Internet are often higher than locally. Quality on new off line is often lower than used OEM.
Not always, but often enough that you could make a case.
For the alt....go to your local starter and alt shop....in many cases the guys can rebuild your alt for more output or they will take yours as trade in...not to mention that that they will give you some good advice as to what does and does not work.
Rebuilders used to be cheap. Labor costs, liability, business expenses, cost of money to keep the inventory, etc. have gone up to the point that rebuilt is more expensive than new import in almost all cases. And rebuilt import is totally out of line.
Around here we have one surviving rebuilder. He isn’t cheap, isn’t friendly (more coldly polite) and doesn’t give advice. Now down in Riverside there used to be a half dozen good ones, but I can’t testify to them still being there.
Just remember the phrase...."You learn by your mistakes".......hence, why I am so frecking smart.....
Seems to apply to lots of us LOL
My reasons to buy at wrecking yards, (self pull, as old style are often more expensive than new parts) include sweat equity. My time is less valuable since I am retired.
So I can save big bucks investing time that when I was putting in 100+ hour weeks wouldn’t have.
Other reasons; Many small parts are CRAZY expensive. Starter relays for 100 bucks, injectors for 160 bucks, etc. When you can get those for 1 or 2 cents on the dollar, you can afford to spend some time and take a few minor risks.
Recently I was bug hunting a Suzuki injection system. The six components cost 1600 bucks new. Or 25 total at the yard. At that price I could swap parts till I found the problem. Total cost, a couple hours and 25 bucks. The part that was defective was 900 at the dealer, the only place that sells it.
You have to have a LOT of disposable income before you can toss 1600 bucks (these parts are not returnable) at a problem and not care about the cost.
The dealership (closest is 95 miles away) wanted 300 just to diagnose it, and up to 3000 bucks to fix it.
I enjoyed spending the morning doing it. The savings I also enjoyed.
I mostly use Pick-A-Part for cars I am fixing for friends and family. The ones with lots of money use the dealerships, the rest of them just plain can’t afford to toss 1000 bucks at a minor problem, something I usually fix for 50 bucks worth of parts and free labor.
I couldn’t afford to help them if I was getting the parts at retail, as I am donating the time, and often the parts.
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