Know the Money Draining Cars: Utah Auto Wrecker’s Advice

Selling Parts from Wrecked Vehicles

A wrecking yard, also known as salvage yards, is a business that buys recently crashed vehicles which are inventoried, dismantled, and the usable parts are sold. Auto shops buy the parts as well as individuals.

These yards get several requests a day for engines, transmissions as well as seats, taillights and anything else you may want to buy for a car or truck. 

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They buy the wrecked vehicles from auto auctions and have to determine if the car or truck they are purchasing is worth buying. They have to figure out how much they will have to spend and if they can make it up selling the parts.

Because of the money involved, auto wreckers have a clear understanding of what parts from what vehicles they are most likely to get requests for and if all of the numbers will work. 

Vehicles That Have a High Demand for Replacement Parts

Because of their intimate knowledge of the auto industry, I wanted to find out what they would consider their top 5 worst vehicles or make of vehicles to purchase used. What should we as consumers stay far away from when trying to purchase dependable transportation. 

I talked with Jared Hardy who has worked in the auto salvage business for years and currently runs Southwest Auto Recycling in Washington. Here is his list of the top 5 automakers and vehicles to turn and run away from should you see a for sale sign. 

1. Fiat:

"We don’t even buy those they're so bad," said Hardy. 

2. Volkswagen

"We buy a lot of these because we sell a lot of VW parts," said Hardy. You are the one who will be buying those parts, apparently.

3. Audi

"It’s basically VW. You can get everything fixed and it still has problems," said Hardy. Constant need for replacement parts is not a good plan.

4. Chevrolet’s cheap line

"Cruze and Sonic have engine problems, specifically the Eco Tech engine," said Hardy.

5. Ford Focus

"Transmission problems with the automatic transmissions," said Hardy There was a class action lawsuit over it so do your research before buying.