Breakers yards - are they really worth it anymore?

Wicksta

Wicksta

Wicksta

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Burnham, Bucks
I picked up a Ford Fiesta Freestyle from a mate at work (thanks Solaris ;) ) which had failed the MOT on broken front springs. One of the top mounts wouldn't come off due to a combination of a previous repair rounding off the hex hole in the shaft and me being impatient and using the wrong tools. Anyway to cut a lnog story short I ended up having to cut the nut off the top mount and now require a new shock/strut.

Now for a replacement I just tried one of those online breakers yard broker places and I can't beleive some of the quotes I'm getting. The cheapest has been £35 and the most expensive is £60. I just called my local motor factors and they have a brand new one in stock for £30! What the hell is going on with breakers yard's prices these days? I would have expected to pay a tenner for an old shock absorber.

I really miss the old days of dodgy breakers yards and climbing up to cars stacked 3 high and being very careful as they swayed. ;)

Are all breakers this bad now or is it just the part I'm after? Are the prices so high because they have to remove the parts themselves now?
 
I think they have a place in the market if you want a leather trim or a set of OEM alloys, maybe an engine or a gearbox.

But for what you might call small bits they have obviously priced them self out of a sale havent they.
 
DiamondMark said:
I think they have a place in the market if you want a leather trim or a set of OEM alloys, maybe an engine or a gearbox.

But for what you might call small bits they have obviously priced them self out of a sale havent they.
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Exactly what this man said, however if you take the bits of yourself a lot of them are still very cheap!

I took a used door lock mechanism off a Freelander the other week, tenner.

Over £100 new, and £40 from online breaker.
 
Even worse, when I needed a bit of door trim for an 06 Focus, I tried several breakers, and was shocked, £25 was the cheapest quote, it seemed expensive for just a small bit of plastic, so phoned the local Ford dealer, and was even more shocked when they said £12.. :)
 
breakers have been ripping people off for years i remember when you had to go and remove the parts yourself from cars.

there are a few breakers who have got wise and use ebay which is how i find most of the ones i use locally some of them are stuck 20 years in the past and charge the earth to try and scrape a living some use ebay etc and shift stuff at a decent price.

Just bought a set of indicator stalks for my old 306 for £5 from a breaker on ebay with £4 postage.

they arrived this morning and look in great condition too so im happy
 
Most will offer you a crap price. You need to phone them up and say I can get a new one for £X, can you do me one for £Y? It will only end up fragged after a few months anyway so they're just out to make as much money on it as possible before it goes.
 
Few years back I used to go quite often, stopped going as they seemed to get greedy and there was a lack of decent stuff.

Always good to climb in cars stacked up and have a poke around things though.

Used to have a huge tool box with no tools in ;)
 
merc190 said:
If you look hard enough still some traditional breakers to be found - they're a rare breed now though...
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Yeah I tried getting through to the only one I knew left in the area (Iver) and the number didn't seem to work anymore. :(

I remember in this area 15-20 years ago there were 6 breakers I can think of (3 in Colnbrook alone) and you could pretty much find any bit you wanted for the old Ford Escorts/Capri I used to drive.

Anyway the Fiesta has a nice shiney new one now.
 
Because it was £50 and its worth £1000.

Breakers yards are fast becoming pointless - because they insist on charging stupid prices for everything. I rang one for a bit of trim and he wanted 40 quid for it. I said really, can you do me a better price, only its only 40 quid brand new from the dealer.

He told me to get lost :confused:
 
I still have good luck with cartransplants from time to time.

But then I'd never use their parts services, as then you are paying for their time to strip and degrease stuff. Going down there and stripping it yourself is far more fun, and much more lucrative, as you are literally only paying for (a non-guaranteed) part.

Guess it just depends on if you have a decent "self-serve" breakers nearby.
 
I love wandering around breakers yards to take bits off, shame there don't seem to be any that would allow it in Surrey :(
 
There are still some around. I went to one a few months ago to acquire the grommet that you use to move the wing mirrors (oh the shame of not having leccy wing mirrors :p).

Quite fun looking around the random cars.
 
Duke said:
Quite fun looking around the random cars.
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It is indeed, although 9 times out of 10 it gives me bad ideas.

Like the time I found a 525Xi with a fully servicable 4WD drivetrain. We wanted to have the lot to make a 4WD E36 3-series 6-pot compact.
 
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I always get the impression they think they are the gate keepers to narnia.

I needed a bumper reflector for my MX-5 and asked how much..."£10 mate".

Needless to say i got one for free from a forum.
 
Hell yeah they are worth it. can usually get parts much much cheaper. As you would expect with it being used. Also remember to haggle.
 
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