U Pick Parts search upon leaving......

Parts profit far exceeds scrap value. You are going to the wrong yards.

 

Since when is giving a person a "lifetime commitment" for either the employee or the employer? If someone works there and the job sucks, or is worried about "getting fired" then they should find a new job.

Sometimes folks have their priorities all screwed up....

 

Lets see,, Fuses are 5 for 3.99, or a dime each. When I do electric I can dink around alot for dimes. Full up motor, Pinto to Mercedes, $100. Tranny, $75.
Stealing a fan belt? Huh?
Go take things apart so you can do yours right, FOR A BUCK COVER CHARGE???
I spill more than that on any given Saturday night.
Wand away Julio, I'll be back next week.

 

I have just visited the yard mentioned (U Pick Parts, Sun Valley, CA) from the post starter. And, I too was searched. In general, I don't have a problem other than make sure you don't have any parts in your pockets going in!!!

That said, there seems to be a lot of nationwide misunderstanding about these yards. First, the self serve yard mentioned (U Pick Parts, Sun Valley, CA) is an independent yard (that has separate American and a Foreign yards). You pay a $2 fee for the "privilege" of touring one of the yards. It is an additional $2 fee to enter the other yard. Note that if you buy something that $2 gets taxed and you pay and additional $.19 on top of your parts bill.

This yard has decent prices on most parts and they are often not picky about charging for small brackets, bolts etc. attached to the parts you buy.

A better know yard is the nationwide Pick A Part . There is one also located in Sun Valley, CA. They are about a mile apart and people often confuse the two.

Pick A Part is owned by a corporation (LKQ). Pick A Part also charges the $2 entry and an additional $2 or $3 for their "Primo" section. I rarely ever go "Primo" because I never found anything of much value.

Pick A Part has cost about 30%-40% higher than U Pick Parts. About once a month Pick A Part offers a 50% off sales typically tied to a holiday weekend. They offer a 30 return policy. The value of that is predicated on your gas to get there, your free time and your willingness to pull the part - AGAIN! You can also pay an additional fee for a one year warranty.

Pick A Part also has a "core" charge on a lot of the parts (U Pick Parts - some). A $60 copper/brass radiator has a $15 core charge. A $225 complete engine has a $50 core fee. And, no the core charge is not 50% off on sale days. In fact, they won't let you return the core on the same day you purchase the item.

In addition to the mentioned $2 entry fee both yards tack on something called an "environmental fee." There is no determinable formula but I'd say it averages about 5%-8% of the total cost. And of course there is the 8.75% state sales tax.

As an example I just bought two, brand new 289 valve cover gaskets I found in a trunk of a car. U Pick Parts charged me $1.00 each ($2.00 for both). However, the out the door cost was an additional 30% with a $.19 entry fee tax, $.19 state tax and a $.57 environmental surcharge. Thus, my $2.00 gaskets were $2.93 out the door. $.93 doesn't sound like much, but it's the percentage of the initial cost I'm focusing on.

There are Pick N Pull yards in the central/northern California area. They follow the other yards in format with the exception that you pay once to get in to any yard - for the day. When I visit my brother in Sacramento I hit 3-4 yards in one day at one price. Oddly I find the Pick N Pull prices to be higher in general. This surprises me given their somewhat rural location (compared to the Los Angeles area).

As one who has frequented these yards for over 30 years here are my issues:

1. I have a 45 mile drive one way to get to these yards. Even at 30+ MPG I'm dropping about $11 for gas.

2. There are the three yards and entry fee totals $6. Between gas and entry I can dump $17 and get NOTHING (I have many times).

3. Core charges seem to be instituted to make money. I'm not going to spend $11 in gas (and two hours of my time) to take back a $5 or $10 core. Advantage - the yards. These places pay anywhere from $75 to $300 for most cars. They get their money back in just scrap costs. It also skews the "sale" perception when a $60 radiator becomes $30 at the sale, but a $15 core fee becomes half the cost of the item.

4. I hate the "nickel and dime-ing" they can do. You may buy a sway bar and one yard lets you take the mounts and brackets. Another yard will seemingly charge you half the cost of the bar itself for the "little stuff." It just makes you feel taken advantage of.

5. Price jumps. Pick A Part use to sell a tire on a wheel for only $1.00 more than the wheel itself. Not too long ago on sale days I could find four decent tires on desirable wheels (Mopar Cop car, Crown Vic cop car etc.) and the out the door price was about $45 for all four. They did away with that recently charging separately for tire and wheel and that doubled the price.

6. "Grades." The above mention wheels (Crown Vic cop car) I found had tires that were at the wear bar. Yet the guy at the counter insisted on charging me the top grade for the tire. I walked. It kills me to spend what amounts to roughly $60 for tires I would throw away.


I'm sure some of you may say I'm living up to my "Cheap-O" name, but that is why most go to self serve yards. In the end those of us who go there are just asking to be treated fairly.

Cheap-O

 

i was there last week and the guard told me that some guy was caught with a steering rack and pinion down his pants, they said that was the last straw and they were not going to let anyone get away with that..

p.s. thanks for the great deal on the motor the other day, i love it!

 

Stealing in Junkyards is no different than those scrapers who steal from your garage, lawn, or fields. I am always seeing people complaining about scrappers stealing stuff from HAMBers. I don't care if the yard is corporate owned, or a mom & pop yard, if you steal, it only drives the cost up for all of us. Because now security has to be hired, or the mom & pop places won't let you pull your own parts anymore.

These yards are private property. And if you want to take a stroll through the yard, you gotta follow their rules.

 

yea it pretty sad to be checked but the sad thing is all that little crap would be no big deal and you probably would get it for free anyway and you guys should be happy to have free rain::

 

I read on an O/T forum about this. Some of the guys (much younger than here) were actually admitting to stealing parts. They thought it was no big deal to take knobs,shift levers,small engine parts,or anything that would fit in their pockets!
Several guys-me included-jumped their ass about it.Stealing is stealing. Would you do this at the grocery store? Sadly some people do. That's why there's cameras EVERYWHERE you go now. A few people ruining it for the rest of us.
my .02
Thanks

 

I always thought the charge to get in was to cover the small parts you filled your pockets with.

 

Fairly local to me there are two recycling yards within about a mile of each other , the first used to haul off your old car free, and charge a fairly hefty price on your second hand car parts purchases, the second which relocated there some years later was allowed to operate only, if it sold no car parts (apparently a planning restriction that was insisted on by the operator of the first yard), these guys weigh in any scrap and pay for it accordingly.
One yard sends off vast quantities to be reprocessed, the other appears to have very little in stock and operates on a skeleton staff, who wins?, Used car parts especialy for older cars are drying up fast. ( parts for on topic cars are akin to gold and those are just the UK manufactured ones)

 

when they charge $5 plus core charge for each bolt people load up on the small stuff

 

these wrecking yards are charging alot for entry then for core charge , enviromental fees that has in some cases exceeded what it would cost just to buy it new. my roomate has been surprised many times as she went to them to buy something only to find out she could purchase it new for cheaper

thats my thoughts

Jen

 

theft is a big problem, the pick/part has been getting ripped of a lot guys going in with big toolboxs to hide parts. i thought the prices were real good for the few times i went but some guys gotta steal. i do not like it but it is what they need to do

 

Don't steal.

I go to my local pick a part and the last time I went, I needed a lot of little bullshit parts. This included resistors, brake brass fittings, some lug nuts, etc. I put them in my toolbox and when I went to check out, showed him the big parts and showed him the pile of "pieces". The guy waved it off and it was free to me.

But I didn't steal them, I showed them to the checkout and he gave them to me.

My neighbor across the street steals my water and lives in a house without power/water/etc. It pisses me off but he's leaving soon. If the fucker asked, he could have it for free.

 

Just a sign of the times, unfortunately. Thievery unchecked!

 

Don't worry about it you won't need notes just take a good wiff Ha ha ha ha ha

 

i was there yesterday, no metal detector, it was gone...........