Used parts availability as a factor in selecting vehicle type

Your choice of vehicle can have a dramatic effect on your chances of obtaining used parts. Our family's fleet includes a 2004 Honda Accord and a 2003 Buick Park Avenue and I can comment on my experiences with used parts availability for both vehicles.

Junk yards can be categorized into two types. The first type typically has cars 8 years or newer. These yards are typically well inventoried and they remove the parts for you. A lot of their customers are professionals such as auto body shops. Most of these type of junkyards don't want to be bothered selling small parts to a shade tree mechanic. Prices are sometimes often as expensive as new parts. The second type of junkyard has cars 8 years or older. At these junk yards you remove your own parts. If the junkyard is well organized they will have a list of cars and a row number. There is no inventory. The car may or may not have the part you need. The business model for these junkyards is to sell as many parts as possible before the car is crushed. In fact these junk yards charge a core charge on some parts which is based on the scrap metal value of the part. Many of these yards turn cars over quickly. They want the cars stripped quickly and then crushed. Cars stay at these yards two to four months before they are crushed for scrap metal. There are some exceptions to the rule; I have a family owned u pull it yard that keeps cars for a long time before they crush them. Prices at old car self service junkyards are significantly cheaper than the new car junkyards.

I assume that if you are considering buying a $3,000 used car then you are probably also interested in cheap used parts. We can apply what you learned about junkyards to pick a vehicle that has cheap used parts. The first criteria is that your vehicle needs to be at least 8 years old. Now is where it gets more complicated. You need to consider what years are the same model. For our Buick Park Avenue we can take parts from 1997-2005. For our Honda Accord we can select from the years 2003 to 2007. 2003 to 2007 Honda Accords are a lot rarer at u pull and pay junkyards. One of the reasons for the rarity is that a new car junk yard will buy a 2003 Honda Accord. I said that a new car junkyard wouldn't want an eleven year old car, but there is an exception to that rule. Parts from a 2003 Honda Accord can be sold to repair a newer 2007 Honda Accord. If you were involved in a collision with a 2007 Honda Accord then there is a very good chance that your insurance company will use body parts from a 2003 Honda Accord to make the repairs.

Below is a photo of the inside of a 2003 Honda Accord that I observed at the u pull and pay. This Accord had been at the u pull for six days.

Less popular cars at the junkyard take months to look like the Honda Accord in the photo.

Remember that you want to buy a used car that is the last year of your particular generation and is 8 to 10 years old. For example in 2014 you would want to buy a vehicle where the last year of that generation is 2006 or older.

Here is a real world example. A 1997 to 2002 Honda Accord is a much better choice than a 2003 to 2007 Honda Accord for used parts availability. I have verified this by checking the online inventory of several u pull it junk yards in my area. 2003 to 2007 Honda Accords are almost non-existent while there are plenty of 1997 to 2002 Honda Accords.

Older cars at junkyards aren't always worn out. Insurance companies are more likely to total and scrap an older good condition used car than a newer good condition used car. In many cases the newer used car will be rebuilt. Not many people are rebuilding a 2000 Honda Accord that was in a crash, but someone might rebuild a 2007 Honda Accord.

In 2014 a 2005 Buick Lesabre or Buick Park Avenue is a perfect vehicle since it is nine years old and the last year made.