Wear Parts
You have heard us talk about the excavators on sale as salvage lots bit recently there seems to be a lot of wear parts available too. Instead of buying the full vehicles in one go, there seems to be a market for second hand wear parts from these salvage vehicles that have found their way into salvage auctions.
I suppose these auction sites and yards need to get their money from any source available and one thing is for sure there certainly is a market for used wear parts, probably because of the value new. One wonders whether they find themselves going straight onto an excavator or whether there is some more margins being applied as these wear parts are sold on again.
The trucks that are required to transport these large items around is also impressive, although again there must be some involved in the shipping back to the warehouses where these parts will be stored. I very much doubt these wear parts will be left outside for the world to have access to.
There wee suggestions that maybe dedicated auctions should be put together consisting of wear parts and all excavator spares including rubber tracks which have a limited lifespan. Hey if it save money, we are all for it, after all that is what salvage auctions are for.
Where Have All the Cars Gone
The breakeryard industry in the UK are all complaining about the new scrappage scheme, suggesting that it is difficult to get hold of car parts for older cars now that owners are preferring to trade them in for a new car than get £100 down the scrap yard. The problem is the argument does not add up, because just as older cars are no longer available for parts, so the number of older cars on the road has reduced and therefore demand has gone. There is also an argument that states, why replace parts on a car you are just going to scrap anyway.
But funny enough this debate has also spread into the salvage market, blaming this scheme on the low availability of salvage cars. We just don’t understand what the fuss is about, how can cars of 10 years or older affect the salvage market which is normally based on much newer vehicles. Lets be honest, most salvage cars bought are under the 10 year mark, and otherwise it is just not cost effective. So where have all the cars gone?
Maybe our driving has improved and we no longer crash these cars, or maybe the insurance companies are repairing more themselves now. Who knows, we certainly don’t. What we do know is that in certain areas in the UK there is a shortage of good salvage deals going at the right price.
Mini Excavator Salvage
It is not just cars you get within salvage auctions up and own the USA and the UK but often building equipment also and recently quite a lot of mini excavators. So long as these are safe, these can be good for resale as they just need to be put on a trailer and transported to where they can used. However you need to be careful because getting holds of mini excavator parts can be tricky especially of you are after used parts.
Take rubber tracks for instance. 3 days solid and still no joy, these type of parts are probably better buying new anyway, but when you add the cost of the new rubber tracks to the cost of the salvage unit, the price starts to rocket up. Although quite easy to fix, the absence of good used parts, or even an online part service like they have with car parts, make the job harder.
So the advice is clear, if you are going to buy machinery like a min excavator, then first do your homework and find out where you can get these parts. If you can’t, then you need to factor in the cost of new excavator parts to the price you are prepared to go to at auction.
Buying salvage titles
When one is looking to buy used cars they can usually come across some vehicles referred to as “salvage title”. The price of such cars is usually way cheaper than other cars and one could be easily tempted to rush into a deal. However one should make some considerations before buying salvage titles and act with their brain rather than their heart.
Before buying vehicles with salvage titles one should make sure they understand what salvage title stands for. A car is given salvage title if it sustains damage which is worth more than 75% of its original value.
One should make three major checks before buying salvage titles. For starters they should check the frame of the car. As this is the basic skeleton and foundation of your vehicle, one should check for any weak spots and inspect for any permanently fatigued metal resulting from collisions. One should also have a good look at the airbag deployment history. This would indicate that the vehicle was in a collision and one would have to further inspect the car and make sure that the airbag was properly replaced.
A mechanical inspection is always recommended regardless of a used vehicle’s title. Such an investigation would point to any potential long-term or short-term performance worries. Although such problems aren’t automatic deal breakers, they would need to be included in determining the car’s value.
It is obvious that there is quite a risk involved when buying restored salvage titles. Despite the fact that many parts might be replaced with new or second hand parts, there will always be some damaged originals that even trained professional mechanics might have a hard time spotting and which could cause several future problems and expenses. Further, the car will be much more problematic to resell if you need or choose to as just a few dealers, if any, will consider a trade-in.
Pulling Engines Within Salvage Yards
Stripping cars down for parts can be very profitable providing the time to do this does not eat into the bottom line. What is also true that many salvage cars that are to stay on the road needs a donor car of some sort for car parts? If you have bought a flood damaged salvage project then their is a good chance that a new engine will be needed, so buyers will expect that engine to be taken out of the car first before purchase.
Searching through the internet we have found a cool machine that makes the task of removing an engine from a salvage car as easy as opening a tin with a can opener. The machine is called the SAS Scorpion engine puller which looks like an electric attachment to a fork lift. The time to process a vehicle is deemed at 60 seconds, although not sure what condition the engine is really in when removed. So although marketed for salvage yards, it may be more suitable for wrecking yards. See for yourself below.
How They do It In Canada
We often talk about car auctions in the UK and the USA and how the internet has changed how we buy anything via an auction. But here is a video on how to do it in Canada, clearly they have American influence, or is it the other way round we are not sure. But this is a TV advert on how to get people down to the car auctions and to get a good buy on your next car.
It is called the video
Vermont Junk Yard
Terrible music but the cars in the old junk yard look superb. A collection of photos brings this salvage yard to life. After seeing both these yards on the last 2 posts we have decided to find as many salvage yards to this blog. Although in this presentation we didn’t an to see tool boxes, just the cars thank you very much. Seems someone though about doing a salvage yard advert and putting it for all to see.. The yard specialises in 50, 60s, and 70s Chevy, Ford and Dodge. And guess where it is located? Yes Vermont that wasn’t hard.
Walking Around A Salvage Yard
For some it is a hindrance but for others getting a chance to walk around a salvage yard or the graveyard for cars can be just brilliant. Here is a salvage yard in Iowa that is full of old American cars that just scream out at you to take them home and get them back on the road. The undergrowth suggests that this yard is either now closed or has a section nit used very much any more. You just can’t imaging that these cars would not be raided or at least bought in full was there full access to the yard. There have been 34,000 views on this from you tube and have no doubt the phone started ringing to the owners requesting car parts from the 50’s.
Polish Salvage Site Just Released
There has been a demand for salvage from Poland ever since they entered the European Market a few years ago and had access to cars sold in these countries, something they did not have prior. In fact in certain local countries such as Germany it seems the salvage market is past its peak with prices driven high by the influx of Polish buyers.
The polish for car salvage is Samochody Okazja even so there seems to be very few sites in Poland written on this subject probably because of the lack of vehicles or systems to dispose vehicles in that country compared to the UK or USA.
A new site called salvagesparefinder.pl has been created to help those who only speak the polish language to locate salvage at first from the UK, but then also in the USA. This will mean that Samochody Okazja will be far easier to research and locate whilst sitting at a computer in Poland.
This site needs support so why not tell the world of the new service about to be offered to the internet surfers of Poland, buying Samochody Okazja cannot be easier. There are plans also to employ Polish operators on the phone all depending on the demand for the service. Lets see how it gets on.
Used Car Prices Increasing
We have been hearing about how the motor trade has declined in business over the last 18 months or so due to the current recession. New car sales down 60% etc. But in the background the used car market has been gaining momentum and with the lack of trade ins coming through the main dealers in some cases a shortage or cars, that has in many cases driven up the prices of used cars.
Last week it was suggested that in the UK, some new cars were cheaper than the same car pre owned. Of course this has fed down to the car auction scheme and the price of salvage cars. With around 3m vehicles been taken off the road each year either through old age or by accident and much less new cars being bought, it should be no surprise that soon the demand will be more than the supply. Even salvage cars has risen in price with many using services like SalvageSpareFinder, surprised that their proxy bid are no longer enough to buy that car, that only a few months ago would have been much cheaper.
Dealers who tend to use their nose to calculated trade prices are being forced back to the trade books to revalue their potential stock and whilst all this goes on new car dealers sit and wait for the up-term. Many businesses had opted to lease cars rather than pay out large sums to buy which has kept some new car sales going, but with the media news that it could be cheaper to buy new and used, this year may see a huge upturn in the new car market.
So there are 2 considerations when buying a used car or salvage project. Either buy now before prices increase, or wait for the new car market to return, sending trade inns back in to the market.