Scrap yards.....

[gam1984]

Ok, this is going to be a real newbie question, but I thought I should ask it so that I don't end up doing something stupid next week lol.

I popped upto my local scrappy this evening to see if I could find the place. I did, but it had closed. So I'm going to pop in there sometime next week on the way back from college just to have a root around and see if I could find anything Micra related.....

Anyway, being pretty new to this (never been to a scrappy before) is there anything in particular I need to do, or look out for?

For example, can I just park up outside, walk in and have a rummage around the place?

If I find something I like, can I just remove it myself? or would I have to get someone to do it for me?

Would I need to let anyone know before I remove something, or do I just take out what I want & pay for it?

Also, do most places offer some kind of guarantee in case the part doesn't work, fit, etc? (I know different scrappys probably have different policies on this).

Anywhooo, feel free to answer as many or as little of those questions as you all like. I know y'all like us newbies to do a search (which I always do, I promise! :shy: ) But I couldn't find anything quite this basic on here relating to scrap yards.

Any advice would be great. I just don't want to go climbing around on cars looking for stuff without knowing what I'm doing!

 

[Slim]

it depends on the yard. In my local yard, you just wander in and take off what you want, and declare it on the way out.

 

[Andrew]

It really depends on the scrapyard. The one local to here strips the cars on arrival and then stores any useful parts in sheds. You go in, ask him what you want, he'll show you where it is and you can check it out. Prices are usually marked on the item, and you can normally knock him down a bit. There is no guarantee on the item, but if it is broken, you can normally get your money back after an argument.

The other place, Bridges, near to Crawley, is a bit different. At the desk at the front, you can buy parts that they have stripped off cars (engines, gearboxes, radios, dashboard, anything). They have differing periods of guarantee and are quite expensive.

But you can also go through to the yard, where they keep about 200 cars stacked up. You take your own tools and take off the bits you need. These cars are generally older, and Bridges has deemed that it isn't worth getting parts off them. Once you've got the parts off them, you carry them up to the front, and one of the guys will give you a price. It can vary wildly.

So, take your own tools, and be careful because you need to clamber on cars which have had their windows put in and are stacked on top of each other. There are sometimes some really bizarre things in there which are fun to look at.

There is also a yard full of cars which still run and are driveable. They are marked in price, sometimes it is easier to get a whole car.

There is another yard which you are not allowed in which has the cars with parts that they want to strip to keep in storage. You have to ask to get into this bit, but it's generally not worth it.

 

[gam1984]

Thank you very much, some good info there

So it seems to be pretty much down to which yard you go to as to what happens there. Its really useful to know about how different scrappys operate too.

Anyway, I'll just pop in sometime next week and see what I can find and how it works. Oh and if I see a stack of super-s'es(?) piled up I'll be sure to let everyone know!

Cheers.

 

[Dusk]

I remember when me and kristian went to a scrapyard and we needed a micra boot. It was balanced on top of another car, but it was rocking backwards and forwards when we put any weight on the rear of the car (had to get onto the boot ledge to unbolt the boot!!)
You can imagine me hanging on the front of the car weighing it down while kristian unbolts the boots... if i let go the car would fall on him and if he let go the car would have been on me..! haha

 

[Arnold]

Once you've got the parts off them, you carry them up to the front, and one of the guys will give you a price. It can vary wildly.

It sure can, but you can haggle with these guys. There's one guy there that hates K10's and sells stuff cheaper than the rest of em.

 

[gam1984]

Thanks for the replies guys. Took my first trip to the local scrappy today and had a wee browse.

They had about 4 K10's, all pretty standard though and one K11. A blue inspiration, T reg. Looked like it had been pretty well mauled over tho.

I might still end up going back to have another look though, I've got a few screws and other odds and ends that I need which I might be able to take off it. They also had a couple of Lagunas and golfs with splitters on them, which I might consider having (people seem to say they are a good fit iirc).

Another quick question though, does anyone have a rough idea what the turnaround time is for vehicles in the scrap yard?

I mean, I assume that once a car has been there for a while and totally picked over for parts, they must just crush whats left of it or something and put something else in its place?

I know it probably varies a hell of a lot, but I just wanted to get some idea of how often most these places get new cars in. Looked like some of the ones I saw there today had been there a good year or two.....

Thanks again for putting up with my newbie questions anyway

 

[Dusk]

They are there until they have a replacement... usually a scrapyard will have about 10 cars waiting to come in at once, so a few days before hand they will remove the cars that are worth the least and crush them.
Turnaround time is based on when they get new ones in.

 

[K11SS]

wel my uncle owns a scrappy and ive worked there before so know how the game sort of works depending on if any scrappy is the same, 1st thing when you arrive dont drive up like an ass or do something stupid like park in front of the gate, this really annoys my uncle, so just look out for that. i would suggest you speak to owner and say what it is you want so he knows what to expect you leave with, in your case though just say your looking for nissan parts which will fit the micra so it covers alot of stuff, make sure you have all your own tools, if your unsure about something just ask because they do want to sell it so should help so much, also even though it is a scrappy tidy up after you, for example if you take somit off the car you dont need but has to come off to get to something else, say airbox to get to TB, put it in the footwell and not on seats as they could still sell this part.

a major 1 is remember everythin can be sold so dont jus hack at stuff to get your part and you may need to buy the whole part even though you just need something small from it like the mirror of a wing mirror. you will need to buy all of it not jus the mirror.

also refrain from asking modding question like we know the 1.6TB swap here but scrappies dont care about that sort of stuff .

if i think of other stuff ill edit this or post again, and i think this isnt a stupid thread because all the guys usually are bustin there ass all day in all weather condition and then a guy comes in askin all stupid questions and ###### him off because your the lucky 1 millionth customer to ask,

but the basics are just think of it 1st n if it sounds really silly try not askin it unless u need to.

pepper

 

[gam1984]

Thats great thanks. Some really good info in this thread for guys who are totally new to this stuff like me. Might seem like really basic stuff to some of the people on here, but we all have to start somewhere and I'm trying to learn

Thanks for all the advice everyone and a really helpful post by K11SS, pretty much everything I needed to know right there.

 

[K11SS]

your more than welcome gam1984 this club is all about helping n i have seen it from the scrappy side as well as customer side so i guess i know a bit more jus an average joe.