Betcha didn't see this coming...

Here where I live(Wv) there were all kinds of people going around wanting to buy old junk cars and were paying anywhere from 3 to 5 hundred bucks for'em. I had a handful of people stop at my house wanting what I have parked out behind my building....but they didn't get none of them and never will!

It was a plan to drive up the price of metal so that all old vehicles could be erased and now what do we got? The last time my old 86 chevy pick-up broke down(transfer case) I went to the junk yard, where I have went for years to get parts, and couldn't hardly find anything and when I did they stuck it to me(pricewise).
They make vehicles now to where you can't even work on them so that you almost have to take it to a dealership and those people want more pay than doctors get. A mechanic that gets paid more than a doctor---just unbelievable. I miss all of the old cars and trucks. They had character.

My dad owned a large junkyard that I more or less grew up in.
The car crushers would come around every so often and we'd sell them all the cars that had been stripped of parts.
We pretty much usually had to sell them a good many because cash flow would be bad - usually in GOOD economic times.

In recessions, business would BOOM because people would fix their cars instead of buying new ones.

My dad sold his junk yard but he still lives less than a mile from it. When the economy started tanking here, the car crushers showed up with great prices and the people that just bought his junkyard started crushing them like crazy, barely getting the best stuff stripped first.

I remember it worried my dad because he was afraid they'd get rid of all the junk cars and wouldn't have anything to sell later or to use in their repair business.
He's mentioned it a few times.

Thinking back though - I'm 44, and usually the car crushers used to only come when economic times were really good for the country in general - mainly because no one would want to sell their junk parts when the recession was going, because recessions are good for the junk business. It always sorta ran backwards like that for us.

Originally posted by Fylgje

They make vehicles now to where you can't even work on them so that you almost have to take it to a dealership and those people want more pay than doctors get. A mechanic that gets paid more than a doctor---just unbelievable.

It depends on where you go. I used to work at a garage where we got everything. I worked on everything from old hot rods to Elantras and Neons to Corvette, Lotus and Vipers... Parts were bought from a wholesaler, marked up 75% then you were charged $85/hour in labor (and that was about a decade ago, don't know their current prices). The place is huge and there's at least 200 cars in the lot at any time. If it's your only car, you're screwed. No loaners, you have to rent.

Then there's my father's mechanic for the past 15 years. It's a small operation (one guy who does something... I dunno, he's always just standing around) and the mechanic. He will work on ANYTHING and do a great job and charge $40/hour for it. He doesn't keep parts in stock and they tend to be expensive when he orders them (without markup, he doesn't make any money on parts) so it takes a couple of days after you drop your car off but it's about the same as the other place because of the line. And he gives you a loaner. If I need to get something done by him, I order the part for a quarter of what he would pay and pay $40/hr for it to be installed.

For example, my supercharged '97 Buick needs an intake manifold (damn thing is plastic, it's like they made them to break). His part place quoted him $350 for it plus about 4 hours of work, so $610 or so. I ordered one from Rockauto.com for $84, that's going in on Tuesday for a grand total of about $245

Same with the body shop on the corner of my block. They cost exactly half as much as the place on the next block over because the one on my street is a 2 bay garage with 3 employees. The smaller the operation, the less overhead they have and the more attention they pay to you and your car.

Anything, Redneck? I hate to admit it, but I woke up and couldn't find the remote so I was watching American Pickers. They went to some scrapyard in Maryland that was FULL of older stuff and there was at least 1 complete LUV... Here's the link... Here

Originally posted by TheRedneck
The problem is that no one (that we can find) makes this particular radiator any more. OK, plan B: go to a junkyard and find one.......

Here is where you can get one.

www.carpartswarehouse.com...

reply to post by TheRedneck


Hello TheRedneck.

I wanted to give your thread a bump because of this thread:

Mandatory ‘Big Brother’ Black Boxes In All New Cars From 2015


Another reason to do away with all of the old cars is to keep track of our comings and goings. Most new cars already have GPS navigation systems.

Peace.

More people would understand the world we live in if triangles/pyramids had a slave driver depicted at the top.

Well first thing first I referenced this thread as important from my world view....

I have to say great catch... I noticed a similar trend in some auctions I went to on other items... you put a face on what I was thinking....

@ the others stating he just didnt do his research I disagree... A few places will not be caught up in the ditch part.... ( that is what is being said in between the lines)

A scarcity is being created....

I am going with the removal from the market to force purchases ... great catch...

The gold point was very important as well...

When you look at this you get a more accurate picture of someone trying to play with huge market forces quietly...