Wrecking Yards

[Snagglefoot]

I’m a big fan of self serve wrecking yards. One of the largest in The USA and Canada is Pick and Pull. Picknpull.com
Associated with Pick and Pull is Row 52.

ROW52.com is a Data base of all the cars in Pick and Pull yards. You can register with them and list your model and year of car. You can also set a notification feature and they will send an E mail of when and where a car shows up. I find they have not sent me any spam.

Although it varies I find the staff are courteous and the prices are very reasonable and they have a decent return policy. You bring your own tools, sign in and at the Canadian ones you pay a dollar to come in. The counter person will enter your car model and parts you are interested and a computerized slip will be printed with all the similar vehicles with parts that will fit your car and where those vehicles are situated in the yard.

There are portapotties situated in the yard, and some Pick and Pulls have a hotdog stand.

I’ve used these guys for years. As usual, folks will chime in about their bad experiences but please give us examples of your good experiences too.

 

[Trav]

I love the self serve yards, I have a few that are very small but have some good stuff. I know the guys for years and price isn't an issue.
The big yard here are hit and miss, illegals (desk guy told me as much) flock there at 7am and attack anything coming in like a pack of vultures stripping anything worthwhile to sell on ebay for crazy money.

 

[14Accent]

I love the pick n pull. Here, it's called "U pull R parts" or u-pull for short.

My best score was finding a mint leather interior for my '91 Regal GS. Both articulating front seats and the rear bench for $35 with tax!

 

[Snagglefoot]

Used to be I could find good tires on the cars but I see know they pull the rims off and market them as sets. Still, not that bad of a price.

 

[4WD]

Originally Posted By: Trav
I love the self serve yards, I have a few that are very small but have some good stuff. I know the guys for years and price isn't an issue.
The big yard here are hit and miss, illegals (desk guy told me as much) flock there at 7am and attack anything coming in like a pack of vultures stripping anything worthwhile to sell on ebay for crazy money.


A big portion of traffic heading to the border passes my town … incredible amount of parts and cars/trucks going way south …

 

[dlundblad]

I try to hit at least one every month or so.

Spring/ summer is nice because it's not cold, but there's many weeds, snakes, mud, skunks, and stinging insects.

Winter is nice because there's none of the above, but it's cold.

 

[dogememe]

I've found some great stuff at pick-n-pull, some parts are a great deal, some are not. I don't like throwing parts at problems but I wanted to try a different MAF sensor on my Suburban, figured I'd buy one for a few bucks. But no it was like $43 with a $3 core (but it costs me like $20 in gas to drive there so I'd just throw away the core). I can buy a BRAND NEW ONE online for $30 with free shipping and no core. For body parts and interior parts (like back seats for my Vic) I love PNP.

 

[TinyVoices]

I love pick and pull yards. For some reason there don't seem to be many at all here in northern Virginia although there are several great ones in Maryland near Baltimore. Odd.

Back in Denver we had a great one that ran some awesome and hilarious deals. I believe it was a U-pull-and-pay. Once a month they would have a half off day where every item was half off and any core charge was automatically deducted without a core. Also once a month they would do an everything you can carry for $100 day. They would post photos on their Facebook page of all the crazy things people would do to carry items out the door. People with makeshift back packs carrying engines, people with 3 tires around each arm and leg, etc. I got the winter steel wheels for my mr2 there for $6 a piece on half off day.

 

[maxdustington]

They closed the UPIC yard closest to me a few years ago. According to my research, they had too many fires within too short of a time and the city will not let them open the upic yard. They have a another location but they are 1hr away. It was Standard Auto in Scarborough, Ontario. It used to be the largest and most well known yard in the GTA, but I think scrapyards are polarizing because they leak a lot of oil and fluids, but provide a lot of parts. I think they are an easy target to environmentalists, but really help people who may not be able to fix their car without them.

When you have a scrapyard 30 mins away that has 10+ of your car it makes fixing it cheap and easy. For example, my sway bar end link bolt fell out, normally I would just go there and steal it. I have to call them or call the dealer to get a new or used one, it sucks.

It was also my "happy place" I loved going there hunting for parts, rare vehicles or to just look at car in various states of assembly. It was a place I could go to forget about my problems and often did during difficult periods of my life.

 

[dlundblad]

I once saw a Pontiac pickup. To this day I have not seen one and the truck is long gone. I didn't have a cell phone at the time or else I would have taken a picture. Been going to this yard for about 10 year or so, but nowadays they are only open on Saturdays here and there. You've got a 25% shot getting there when they are open.

Somewhat nostalgic though because dad bought the Comanche's bed there during her restoration. Sitting in the brush full of car doors. No rust. Came off a truck that caught on fire. $200.

 

[Leo99]

I'm not aware of any u-pull yards in NJ. When I had my XR4Ti, I complained about the prices at the junk yard. The owner said he'd tow a junked one to my driveway, let me pull all the parts off it I wanted and then take it back a few days later. All for $400. I told him I have one that runs and only paid $500 for it. Other than the wiper motor and transmission for my old LTD, I never found any bargains at the junk yards. When the power switch went in my Saturn, the junk yard wanted $55 for one. It was only $45 brand new from the Saturn dealer.

 

[nthach]

I don't have cars that I need to visit Pick and Pull for, but I do love exploring that place when I'm near one.

 

[eljefino]

About only good for used tires and tail light lenses here. And the tires are for singles if I'm not in the mood to wait for a DTD sale.

Used to be good for stuff like bearings in spindles that I couldn't press in, and fully-built struts that I didn't have to disassemble.

I've stepped up my game WRT component disassembly to the barest broken part, and there are generic new parts available online if I don't mind waiting a week to ten days.

 

[wander2039]

There’s at least five pull it yourself yards here in KC. Three are pick n pulls which if you have their card you can visit all three. Bargains vary.. did get a hitch for the Dakota for $29 today that’s a bargain!

 

[ls973800]

I have 3 yards within 50 miles called PullaPart. Usually go to the one that is about 20 miles away but have found things I needed at the other two yards also.

All vehicles are arranged by brand in numbered rows. You can get an online search before going to find the current inventory, or use their computers at the location to find and print what rows the cars are in. The complete yard is level with gravel. No mudholes, ruts, etc. Every vehicle is sitting on top of at least four steel wheels and are very stable. They do ask that you let them know if you are going to work underneath the vehicle and they will pick it up and add more support or move whatever may be needed to be moved so you can work on it safely and with nothing in the way.

Prices are very reasonable and they have a good turn over of new vehicles coming in.

Pull A Part

 

[TheLawnRanger]

I found a like new taillight assembly at a local pull a part today for $18.00. I saw them as high as $180.00 online for an oem replacement. I had to pay a dollar to get in.

 

[NYEngineer]

Nothing good here on Long Island any more. There used to be a couple of good ones that once they knew you they'd let you do your own thing. I used to love collecting all sorts of factory style line and wire clamps and plastic vacuum lines.
One of the yards I'm mentioning here somehow had lots of SUVs, pickups and vans.