About Auto Salvage Businesses

Auto salvage businesses are an important part of society and keeping the environment green. Some auto salvage businesses will take any year, make and model vehicle---others only take certain cars, such as Japanese cars or European cars. Some will pay you to haul away your old car, but some do not.

Significance

Auto salvage businesses help keep cities from being overrun with dead vehicles. They also play a part in the economy by creating jobs in service and retail venues. They also save the consumer money, as parts are cheaper than buying brand-new, if you do not need brand-new parts.

Function

Auto salvage businesses take old, non-working and crashed cars. An auto salvage business will pull all usable parts off the car, including body parts, windshields, windows, engines, engine parts and lights and re-sell the parts or store the parts in warehouses. Once the car is stripped, any unusable pieces get crushed and recycled. Metal goes to metal recycling plants and fiberglass will go to a fiberglass recycling plant.

Types

There are two types of auto salvage businesses. The most common type employs people to break down vehicles, inventory parts and resell the parts. The second type is a U-Pull-It yard. At a U-Pull-It yard, some parts are taken off cars and stored in a warehouse, but the majority of the cars are stored in a large lot. Customers bring their own tools, find the vehicle needed, and pull the parts off themselves. They then bring the parts to the counter and pay for the parts. Parts are generally cheaper, as the price of the part does not include the labor paid to a mechanic to pull the parts off the car.

Time Frame

There are no set time frames involved with auto salvage businesses other than the time it takes a car to be stripped. If the car is in a U-Pull-It type lot, the car may sit in the field for a number of years before there is nothing left on the car. This depends on how popular the car is, and how often parts break on the certain year, make and model. Once a vehicle is no longer useful, the auto salvage business will crush what is left and send it to the recycling plants. Also, if a car is no longer any good because it is rusted or water-logged, it will go to the recycling plant.

Size

Auto salvage businesses may be any size, depending on the lot size and the warehouse size. If the owner has a lot of property, the business can become quite large. If the owner has only a small city lot, only so many cars can be crammed onto the lot, but the business can still be quite lucrative if the business owner is picky about which cars he accepts.

Considerations

Next time you need a part, contact auto salvage businesses in your area. Not only will you save money, you may get a part that is almost new. Many cars that have been in accidents end up in an auto salvage business. The front may be crunched in, and the part you need might be a rear fender or a rear bumper. That part may look brand-new, and you will be able to purchase it for a third of the price of a new part. You will also be helping to keep such things out of landfills, and will be doing your part in recycling.