volvoclearinghouse wrote:Dusterbd13 wrote:He said "make it", not "spend it".stuart in mn wrote:Like hookers and blow.LuxInterior wrote: Seems like a hard way to make money unless you already have warehouse full of old 911sThis is my view of the whole thing...it can be done, but there are probably a lot easier ways to make money.
Your pimp hand needs to be strong. Firm, but fair.
The Subaru dismantler down the street from me is our age and started the business from scratch. All I know about his profitability is the personal cars and bikes he has been through...latest purchase is a Hellcat. There is definitely money to be made but I am sure it helps that Subaru has an irrational following of both normal people who somehow find it reasonable to replace a whole engine when the headgasket goes on a ten year old car, and a huge market of kids paying $5k+ to swap turbo AWD drivetrains into cars that didn't leave the factory that way. He tried expanding into Miatas and Infiniti G/Q series, gave up and went back to 100% Subaru. 6-10 employees, sells to all the local dealers/shops, etc.
Cleveland Pull A Part went from normal junkyard to Cleveland Power and Performance and pretty much only parts late model muscle. They sell lots of complete pullout drivetrains for swaps, and mostly on ebay.
You can also specialize in a part for many manufactures. Such as glass, especially vintage glass. Find some rust bucket of a classic for scrap prices, pull the glass. Then all you have to do is possibly some buffing/clean up, inventory, store it, and finally ship it.
I parted out two Porsche 356s, one a '55 Pre A the other a '65 SC, then sold the shells.
Made a fortune, the gifts that keep on giving. I was selling fold down rear seat bolts for $25 each !
Sold a plastic milk jug full of the other various nuts/bolts/fastener for a bundle. The actual parts sold for what I thought were ridiculous prices. $500 for a wiper motor assembly, gauges for $400/$500 a pop, that sort of thing.
One of the very best cars to part out HAS to be a Porsche 356.
You need to buy cars that are new enough they are tough to find at the wrecker, then stop buying them before all of them are parked.
Over the last 30 years, Volvo 140's were hard to find and easy to sell parts, but then 240's were hard to find and easy to sell parts, but nobody wanted 140 parts anymore. Then 740's were hard to find, and easy to sell parts, but nobody wanted 240 parts anymore...And so on.
I've recently thrown most of my non race related first gen neon spares away. Same circumstances there.
I've parted twenty or so Rabbits, I did it on the side when no one was making parts so weather stripping and chrome and fuse boxes brought good money. Early Westy fronts brought outstanding money. Now, not so much. I gave most of my leftover stuff away. Markets change.
Edit: as an aside I was thinking E39s would be good for this. They have a huge enthusiast following, are usually taken out by accidents or Trans issues and are very easy to work on. Of course, when I looked there appeared to be ten people doing it on bimmerforums with multiple cars each so that ship had sailed.
I did pretty well with a couple of WRX's.
Rusty cars with good drivetrains will yield lots of pricey parts. Engines, transmissions, engine and body wiring harnesses, etc.
I think a lot of it would have to do with how much space, time, and organization you put into it. Sometimes if you are focusing on a car that doesn’t have a huge market then you have to PATIENCE to sell stuff.
There’s a perfect example with a guy I know of in the MK1 VW community that focuses on Rabbits. He seems to constantly be scouring the countryside and picking stuff up, but he’s at a major disadvantage because of where he’s located. He’s in Nebraska. Most people aren’t going to drive from the East or West Coast just to pick up a project car shell or a somewhat common motor from him. So often times he finds something, lists it for sale, infrequently bumps his FS threads, and months later finally gets impulsive and makes “parting it on Friday if nobody wants it” This creates a chorus of “Man I would totally buy this if you weren’t so far away!” and “Save it, save it!” posts and he carries through with it anyway. I’ve also seen him do “spring cleaning” in his shop and scrap entire engines, etc. which is just a waste. He either needs to be patient and wait for a buyer, or hold less inventory. I also notice that he’s often over-valuing parts. Call me cheap if you want, but if you’re $20-$30 over the rest of the market I’m not going to buy it unless I need it NOW. There are some “blue chip” parts out there that command a min. of $100 - $300 every time, but generally speaking not a lot on these cars.
TeamEvil wrote: I parted out two Porsche 356s, one a '55 Pre A the other a '65 SC, then sold the shells. Made a fortune, the gifts that keep on giving. I was selling fold down rear seat bolts for $25 each ! Sold a plastic milk jug full of the other various nuts/bolts/fastener for a bundle. The actual parts sold for what I thought were ridiculous prices. $500 for a wiper motor assembly, gauges for $400/$500 a pop, that sort of thing. One of the very best cars to part out HAS to be a Porsche 356.
I was wrong -- not just old 911s. You want a warehouse full of old Porsche parts. 911s, 356s all things P-car... say 1977 and earlier 
I've been interested in this for quite a while too. I've done a bit of research looking at completed ebay auctions and watching insurance auctions. I think most of the money for the vehicles I've been looking at was in sale of body panels, head and tail lights etc.
My problem is that I can never win any auctions at a price that I think I can make much at. I had bid today on a 2007 Infiniti G35 with a ton of miles and "mechanical" listed as the primary damage. I put $1100 for a max bid (which worked out to almost $2100 with fees and transportation) and with 5 hours until the end of the auction it is already at $1650 (or $2750 with fees and transportation). Maybe I'm just too cheap?
KyAllroad wrote: It'd have to be a model that isn't owned by tightwads and cheapskates.
Isn't that the truth? I'm scrapping all my AMC parts off Uncle Ben because the parts are worthless even though they're really hard to find. (Except glass apparently, which I'm keeping)
The hard part IMO is finding and transporting your donors especially if you're going to specialize. I've parted out tons of old muscle car stuff, but most of the time if you're buying in the right price range they're missing wheels or brakes are locked up etc. You end up wasting half a day just getting that damn things loaded unless you have access to a flatbed wrecker and are willing to drag it on. (And I almost bought one at one point just for this reason)
As a DIY if you cut the body away from the mechanical bits before disassembly you can save hours upon hours. It's rather unorthodox, but it's paid off well for me in the past. Especially if the shell is junk and ultimately getting weighed in anyway. (Also, with the roof off, empty shells make good scrap containers)
Think desirable or expensive vehicles. Pick cars that people want to drive! I just parted out a 69 Cougar and was surprised at some of the parts that people needed. That Mercury Mystique doesn't have much to offer, but that 03 Explorer is a gold mine! Cars that are popular but have often been thrashed (Fox Mustangs) often need simple parts as someone wishes to just get them back on the road in stock form. Interiors and trim pieces are pure profit as they don't go to the scrap metal guys.
Be realistic too! Buy the vehicle for a good price and get your investment back fast with the flashy stuff. Don't hold out for top price because you saw on online for $25 when someone offers you $15. Move the damn product! Be clear on how you will handle shipping and payment and stand firm on covering your butt if the deal sounds sketchy.
A good flatbed trailer is your friend! Have a fund set aside to buy something special should it come along. I was standing next to a $400 Miata, automatic with hardtop, and had a guy standing next to me just waiting for me to flinch so he could buy it. On the flatbed and gone in 15 minutes. I sold the top 3 days later for good profit!
If you specialize on something you are familiar with it helps too. I went through about 15 Escorts and sold 3 as good running cars using the others as donors and parted out! Sister-in-law drives a Mazda Tribute that was purchased as a part out, but found an Explorer with different problems. $650 for both, swap some parts, $400 in purchased parts, $900 parting out the Explorer...$150 for a happy SIL!!
Bruce
"If you specialize on something you are familiar with it helps too."
Egnorant has a VERY good point ! ! Specialize as much as you can and be familiar with your "product." I'm most familiar with air cooled Porsche, currently have a ton of MGA stuff that's just going to waste. Not at all familiar with or interested in the mechanicals of the beast, just in it for the sexy body. The owners seem to be old, stuffy, and cheap. The WORST crowd to sell used parts to . . .
You'll need to log in to post.
