Car salvage
Due to the high costs of modern car replacement parts, second hand parts from car salvage or breaker companies are becoming increasingly popular. A good salvage dealer can often source parts atless than 30% of standard replacement cost! In many cases the parts supplied will be almost good as new as the reasons for a cars eventual demise can be varied. For example a nearly new car written off in a front collision will have a lot of good nearly new parts available - just not front end parts!
Motor salvage has come a long way since the days of the traditional “scrappies” in the local industrial estate, most scrap and salvage dealers nowadays will have all the parts from vehicles already stripped and ready for purchase much like the service departments of your local car dealer. In addition many scrap car breakers operate a mail order service and can supply vehicle parts from phone or internet orders with next day delivery.
Some of the major second hand spares dealers will also specialise in a particular car make or perhaps a marque, for example some will specialise in Renault spares while others will deal in “German” or “Swedish” car parts.
If you are running a vehicle under manufacturers warranty, then obviously you should not be fitting spares from a vehicle dismantler as you will invalidate the car warranty. However if you are running an older car outside of the warranty period, particularly if a premium marque, then there are considerable savings to be made buying second hand spares.
Most car salvage operators online will offer some sort of parts request form where you can enter your vehicle details and information on the parts you require and they will get back to you with parts availability and prices.
However there is more to car salvage than just cheap second hand spares, there are many companies now offering to sell complete vehicles that have been stolen/recovered/written off etc, so it is possible to buy a damaged vehicle at a very low price with a view to repairing the car yourself - remember the insurance companies that “write off” cars due to high cost of repairs are using figures calculated from expensive garage labour rates, if you have the skills and knowledge to effect a repair yourself, or you require a “donor” car for your existing vehicle as a source of cheap spares as and when required, then this is a great option.
Some sites of interest re car salvage and breaking include:
http://www.recyclemetals.org/ - information on legislation regarding recycling of vehicles and other metals.
www.mvda.org.uk - Motor Vehicle Dismantlers Association of Great Britain, Trade association formed 1943, representing 200 vehicle dismantlers and car salvage companies in UK and Ireland.