Scrapyards & Scrapyard purchases.

[NewcastleFalcon]

Spoke to a Renault Parts Department today. Biggest dealer in Newcastle and they would have to put on special order Two caliper carrier mounting bolts for Renaults best selling car ever the Clio, and the price....
well I heard £5 something or other each

So it was a trip off to the scrapyard. My usual only had a mark 3 Clio but he sent me down to Annfield Plain and bingo his row of Renaults (starting with an 08 Twingo) had 3 Mark 2 Clios in.

Spent an "enjoyable".....well I think I do enjoy it.... hour or so, dismantling a hub from an 05 reg mark2, and came away with this for £20. Yes more than a couple of caliper bolts, but I also have a stripped thread in the hub assembly on one of the bolt holes, and this provides the solution, decent enough thread in this one.

scrapyard day out
NF own Work

If the two bolts are £10 at Renault that hub assembly and the caliper carrier at the main dealer would be easily pushing £300!

REgards Neil

[Paul-R]

If the two bolts are £10 at Renault that hub assembly and the caliper carrier at the main dealer would be easily pushing £300!

I think you might find that's an optimistic figure!

[NewcastleFalcon]

Its funny how often "familiarity phenonemon" strikes. Your attention is pricked subconsciously and you start noticing things which you put down to sheer coincidence.

The "Twingo" hardly ever rears its head on the pages of this forum, yet there one appears right next to the Clio I was taking the hub off, only a matter of days after MK1 Twingo as an only car? thread was started by Ali27

REgards Neil

[van ordinaire]

Seems that Mk1 Twingos have (I assume) small, but enthusiastic following in this country, whose interests are looked after by the R4 forum (fourum?). I see one occasionally (seems to be a Paignton resident) but chances of finding one in a yard . . .

Still amazed, & a little jealous, that some folk still have breakers yards to go to; they ceased to figure in my life 20-odd years ago.

[andy5]

Last time I was in a scrapyard taking off bits myself was about 2001 (definitely some time between 98 and 03)

I spent a few minutes removing a front wing for a BX and paid £20. They wanted £10 for the sidelight and indicator, off the shelf. No thanks, I said, it's got a crack in and I can get a new one from GSF for just over 12. 5 then. No thanks.

The nearest couple of ex places to here have about 6 and 12 houses in there now.

There's still a big place about 10 miles away, but they hadn't had a Xantia for months last time I phoned, about 5 years ago.

[NewcastleFalcon]

I spent a few minutes removing a front wing for a BX and paid £20. They wanted £10 for the sidelight and indicator, off the shelf. No thanks, I said, it's got a crack in and I can get a new one from GSF for just over 12. 5 then. No thanks.

The price negotiation in a scrappy is an art, and one that needs to be done before you take stuff off. I tend to go the "£20 alright for a clio hub?" route rather than "how much would a clio hub be?"

Of course they might have said £15 and I have overpaid by £5, but I was happy at £20 and didnt want to pay £40.

I did need a couple of caliper bolts on another occassion and the first scrappy in response to my "I need a couple of caliper bolts for a clio £1 each alright?" Scrappy operative came back "nah he charges £5 for caliper bolts" and wouldnt move. Thankfully it was scrapyard city with a couple of other yards nearby so I turned him down and got a couple of bolts for £1 each and the next yard down.

REgards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Paddling round a scrapyard today literally. Very old school, very muddly. When in Rome do as the Romans do can be a useful tool. You have, out of scrapyard politeness, to report to "Reception". I could tell the "bloke" was going to be a man of few words, by the way he hardly bothered to look up from his magazine. Best military style request required. Got past the first hurdle and approval to enter the yard. Had a decent mooch found 2 possible vehicles for the part needed for return another day. Quite an large part...I'll call it a rear subframe, a one piece thing that includes both "trailing arms" held by a couple of three bolt mountings at the front and the shock absorber mountings at the rear with coil springs sandwiched in between.

Negotiated a price. The market on line was about £50-£80 for the part, so I asked my chatty new friend how much? He came back with £50, so I reckoned fair enough.

Going to be a bit of a pain to get the whole thing off in the glorious working conditions of the scrapyard. The better part was on a vehicle in a more awkward position, the worse part much easier to get off. No point doing the blood sweat and tears if I find the easier part is just as bad as the one have though.

The scrapyard was full of much much newer vehicles than mine, and I was surprised to see a couple of SAAB convertibles with full leather next to each other. Of course these days an ABS/ Airbag light on can translate into an uneconomic repair and a premature trip to the scrapyard.


REgards Neil

[Timmo]

We have a few yards in close proximity to each other that allow aimless nosing, one you pass through the portacabin for access, the other is Harris fenced walkway, they also supply wheel barrows for big parts! They are also a cheap and rapid throughput place, the through the portacabin yard a little slower on replenishing stock it both rediculously reasonable for parts! Pair of door speakers £2! CD changer, door lock actuator, display screen, hand full of cables, £25, set of alloys with tyres £40! My most local yard is now small and single manned, proper old school, wing mirrors tenner if manual, 12 if electric, 15 if electric And heated! If it's a couple of quid and you don't have change, 'pay when your in next'! The yard owner is a local chap, very well known, has a pub etc. Slowly turning the yard into self storage, parent at school, and customer of mine too, believes in the old school way, you want the bits, you get them, but don't take the p#ss!

[NewcastleFalcon]

Superb little film from Gibbo posted up on the Dump your Deezel thread

Scrapping Grandad's Car
Whats the best tool for rapidly emptying a Petrol Tank...a pick of course.
(not quite as bad as it seems they did fill the tank with water first....)

screenshot

REgards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

One of my fleet has gone off to be recycled today. The Vectra cdti Auto been a good and comfortable workhorse and I did around 150,000 miles in it and it served its purpose well. Not much wrong with it other than normal maintenance but too much outlay to continue using it, TAx and Insurance about £600 on their own, before normal replacements like 4 new tyres, Exhaust Centre section, timing belt/waterpump due, and the usual MOT getting through works. Best part of, if not, over £1000 to keep it roadworthy for another year.

The scrappy I normally use came along with their trade plates and away she went. At least it was under her own steam!

I've "Dumped my Deezel"

Regards Neil

[myglaren]

I think my C5 will be joining it soon, can't get a replacement for the leaking rear ram, needs a steering rack among other things.
Next car will be petrol as my mileage has reduced significantly now. Six miles today, first trip in a week, haven't had the car, son then daughter have been using it.

[van ordinaire]

One of my fleet has gone off to be recycled today. The Vectra cdti Auto been a good and comfortable workhorse and I did around 150,000 miles in it and it served its purpose well. Not much wrong with it other than normal maintenance but too much outlay to continue using it, TAx and Insurance about £600 on their own, before normal replacements like 4 new tyres, Exhaust Centre section, timing belt/waterpump due, and the usual MOT getting through works. Best part of, if not, over £1000 to keep it roadworthy for another year.

The scrappy I normally use came along with their trade plates and away she went. At least it was under her own steam!

I've "Dumped my Deezel"

Regards Neil

But you could've got £3,000 for it by chopping it in against an electric car - isn't that what we're all supposed to be doing now?

Sorry, but I don't understand your logic/arithmetic: obviously you can save the annual cost of running a car by getting rid of it*, but only if you don't replace it - & why stop at 1?

* of course that also applies to cats, children & partners

[NewcastleFalcon]

Simple fleet rationalisation following purchase of my used electric car reported elsewhere on the forum. Never gone for trade-ins. Its a financial transaction no trade-in better purchase price, good trade-in....higher purchase price and vice versa.

Trade ins/ scrappage generally expressed as "up to £x,xxx" are quite meaningless and a trade in of a 15 year old car no MOT and a few faults needing sorted isnt going to get £3,000 off a new electric car, or indeed a new ICE car. Even if I was in a position to choose what I wanted from the new car market I wouldnt. Let someone else finance the major depreciation in my view.

I am quite happy that rather than standing around deteriorating in my care with no prospect at all of being put on the road again, its gone off for a bit of recycling . I was totally unconcerned about getting any money for it. If the scrapyard which I have used for years make a bit out of it good luck to them. I appreciated them driving 70 miles round trip with two blokes for 3 hours each of their time so just gave it away for nothing, which was precisely what it cost me when my dad and mum had to give up driving.
Happy Christmas to the scrapyard lads!

REgards Neil

[admiral51]

We had quite a few round here, mostly proper old school types, now we really only have 1 that people go to as they have more choice of vehicles.
They have a very small area where you can go and get bits off yourself, however this is all concreted and pretty clean, no longer are they triple stacked, oh the fun times working out how to get a boot opened more than 6 inches on the middle of the stack
It is a huge site now, sell new and used tyres inc fitting, glass/windscreen replacement on site.
Dorset Scrap Yard
If you zoom in you can also get a street view and see the 5 high stack racks.

Trouble is these days the Scrap ( recycling ) yards are in bed with the insurance companies to help keep costs down, trouble is when you get a report from the insurance firm they quote costs for new replacement parts, paint and labour etc.
But they will get the parts second hand, yes they are OEM but for quite a few £ less than what they have quoted you, hence how they make money and work out salvage costs on the vehicle they have just classed as uneconomic to repair

[ekjdm14]

they smell like a scrap yard should too!

Hypoid oil with an overtone of dead petrol?