LKQ Pick-A-Part rip-off fee for taking tires off wheels

Joined
Apr 27, 2010
Messages
18,202
Location
Suburban Washington DC
My last junkyard rip-off post was about shipping charges at regular junkyards. This one is about u pull it yards, LKQ specifically. I've bought many wheels and tires from them before and was never charged a fee for getting just the wheel or just the tire. Someone would just dismount the tire from the wheel and I would take whichever one I wanted. Today I went to an LKQ to get some wheels, and they charged me an extra $5 each to remove the junk tire. No where in price list does it ever mention this. What is the $3.15 "environmental fee" they also charged if not for this? Do other junkyards charge extra to remove a tire if you just want the wheel?
 
Our only Pick a part is LKQ as well, and generally I like it. When I asked years ago about the tire / wheel they said I also had to buy the tire unless it was NFG, in which case they wouldn't charge me. No mention of taking the tire off - I will ask next time I go.
 
My last junkyard rip-off post was about shipping charges at regular junkyards. This one is about u pull it yards, LKQ specifically. I've bought many wheels and tires from them before and was never charged a fee for getting just the wheel or just the tire. Someone would just dismount the tire from the wheel and I would take whichever one I wanted. Today I went to an LKQ to get some wheels, and they charged me an extra $5 each to remove the junk tire. No where in price list does it ever mention this. What is the $3.15 "environmental fee" they also charged if not for this? Do other junkyards charge extra to remove a tire if you just want the wheel?
LKQ has a near monopoly in the area, and their prices reflect this. I hate them too.
 
LKQ bought them years ago and raised prices significantly. It's to the point where there is little price advantage over the regular junkyards and you do all the work of getting the parts off the car.
 
Junkyards are convenient if there's a particular exact style you want but I really play the tire & rim game on craigslist and FBM. I get tires & wheels, unmount one from the other, and sell what I don't want for about what I paid for the package. Or I get junk tires on rims I want for practically free, because the seller thought they were sooooo clever buying a tire/wheel set and putting them on the car themselves at home, thereby freeing up the bald set.

Want to up your game? Get a tire machine and a disposal strategy. Also useful for (blarf) TPMS maintenance.
 
I never paid any extra money if I didn't buy the tire. I know of a repairable vehicle place that will put a bad tire in the trunk of a car in hopes of getting rid of a little excess. You buy the repairable and don't notice it until you get home. $5.00 is a rip off if you didn't want the tire and only wanted the wheel.
 
What "principle" are you championing here? Your principle that a company should do various freebies for you because you know, they're probably making enough money already?
The "principle" that they mention or post in their price list a service fee for something that they haven't charged before and which most similar businesses don't charge extra for. Maybe I can give a different example. Say you go to a gas station and fill up with gas, use your credit card, and after you get the bill you see you were charged a 3% fee for using a credit card.

Would they charge you for the junk tire if you took the wheel/tire combo?
Sure, $20 + environmental fees and tax. What I consider a junk tire is still a tire to them.
 
Are you upset that they charge $5.00, or that they don't publish the price?

I tend to agree LKQ's pricing details leaves much to be desired. I didn't know for years that I could decline their 90 day guarantee on everything. Its in the fine print they never printed.

Overall I still like LKQ. If we didn't have them, we would have nothing. Yes, if you want something common its just as cheap to go to a junkyard that pulls it for you - but they won't go pull small parts for you, and good luck getting the bolts with it either.
 
The environmental fee is probably legally required from the state or goes into their overall environmental controls, labor isn’t free and neither is disposal. I wouldn’t expect anyone to dismount a tire for free.
 
I deal with wreaking yards on a weekly basis, Sometimes a daily basis. Your average inventoried wreaking yard doesn't care to deal with DIY'ers. Pick-A-Part type yards are completely different animals.

Cheap immigrant labor & skirting environmental protocols are a things of the past, Get over it!!
 
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