Junkyard Fun
I went to the junkyard today and it seems that in our current economic times we can always use ways to save a few bucks. I need a few parts for my ‘99 Jeep Cherokee Sport. I was able to get the door fixed as I found the pin that holds the door hinge together as well as some inside trim. I will need to get some interior paint at the auto store and match it up but that is no big deal. As for the blower motor and muffler goes, I will have to buy a new ones.
There is a great junkyard in Nashville called Pull-Apart. One pays a $1.00 to get in. You bring your own tools and you are on your own. You pay for your parts on a flat rate for the most part as you exit. Type in your google search:
pull-a-part
I do not know if this is a nationwide concept or if this is just regional. I am sure there are many junkyards that operate as they do.
The cars and trucks are setup by make. It is very easy to navigate and actually rather fun. I guarantee you that the germ-a-phobe in me brought a box of disposable gloves and they were changed regularly as I kept putting holes in them. I really stepped out of the box on that! You can only imagine how nasty some of the cars were.
What was interesting was the state of each vehilce. Upon finding my parts I became a super snoop! Why not? I gathered chump change that was washed(!), sockets, wrenches and fuses. I was almost able to determine what kind of person may have owned the car. So many had their ID/medical cards, titles to the cars, court papers, drugs (legal and not legal) etc…still in the vehicle. It appears that many lived in their cars. I saw family photos and personal letters. It was a bit sad. I am not sure how these cars ended up where theyare with so much of ones personal things in it. Maybe it was an impound or accident. There were many out there. One car in particular had a head imprint in the passenger side of the front window, the tattered remains of a deployed airbag and it was missing the passenger seat entirely. It makes one stop and think for a moment. What happened to that person and was the seat removed BEFORE it was taken to the junkyard? Did the passenger survive?
As I opened one car I about passed out. Someone must have kept dogs in there as it was torn up and smelled bad…then the smell of something deceased assaulted my nose. I slammed the door and evacuated the area! YUCK!
Remember to keep your cars clean people! No personal papers or anything you would not want others to see. People will be stripping your beautiful ride one day. Maybe it will be me…
The mere fact that these cars and trucks don’t stay there long keeps the junkyard fresh with new parts. I plan on returning in about a month. If I need a particular part I can go to the website and see what they have in the lot. It is very user friendly and once you get there you know the lay of the land and where you can find your type of car, truck, van or SUV.
I use to go to the junkyards in Germany when I was stationed there. I have been to most of the ones in Bavaria. That is what happens when you buy a $400.00 car…LOL Today reminded me of how much fun these places are.
December 15th, 2008 at 12:20 am
It’s been about five years since I’ve been that part of Tennessee but used to know the area really well.
There are a couple of places like that around this area and yes they do get used a lot. Sound like an idea whose time has come again.
Good write by the way.
December 15th, 2008 at 7:56 am
Jules,
I used to work on my cars quite a bit when I was younger. Built my first car out of Bushel baskets full of parts. 56 Ford Convertible.
I loved the auto salvage yards. I could take a broken part off my car and but a used one that was not broken for pennies on the dollar.
Been many years now since those simple days. I miss them.
December 15th, 2008 at 8:55 am
hmmmmmm…I need to fix the lift gate on my 2000 Cherokee….
December 15th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Good job, Julie. Around here we have Wrench-and-go. They, however, seem to have no idea what is on hand.
December 15th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
Wow-I never thought about exploring a junkyard! I’ve only gone once to a very small one looking for a tire when I needed a spare.
Reading about what you did is like reading a good travel book where you never know what lies around the next corner.
This sounded like a combo of treasure hunt, detective story and history.
Gotta hit my yellow pages in the morning and see what’s in my neck of the woods!.
December 16th, 2008 at 9:00 am
Pull-a-part aka pick-a-part are GREAT places! I wear inexpensive mechanic’s gloves from NAPA with nitrile medic’s gloves inside `em. As you learned, some folks are not too fastideous when it comes to their cars.
December 16th, 2008 at 9:23 am
I have say that I don’t keep things in my Jeep other than jumper cables, a quart or 2 of oil and other emergency type equipment. It is amazing what people do to their cars/trucks. I can only imagine what their homes look like! YUCK!
I know people who keep their cars a total mess. I won’t ride with them! LOL
December 16th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
I suppose a lot depends on what the person does. Up until very recently, there was always long pants and long-sleve shirt, large flash/flood light, lace-up boots, CPR masks, binoculars, brush coat, lightweight helmet and leather gloves, a couple of energy bars and half-a-gallon of potable water behind the front seats of my truck. Rural volunteer firefighters generally keep whatever they can in their POVs since we never knew when or where.
I never thought about how it would look if I wrecked the truck and it was towed before my wife or I could clean it out. That might have been amusing!
December 16th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Julie would never ride in my vehicle.
HAHAHAHAHA!!!
August 30th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
Anyone where I can start my own blog.
September 10th, 2009 at 4:00 am
I don’t usually post but I enjoyed your blog a lot.
November 23rd, 2009 at 7:47 pm
Impressive Article , I thought it was wonderful
I look forward to more similar postings like this one. Does Your Blog have a RSS I can subscribe to for anymore information from you?
March 15th, 2010 at 10:55 pm
Great article. I’ve favorited this page so I can follow your updates. Thanks for taking the time to share this.
March 16th, 2010 at 9:49 am
Julie…I’m looking to get in touch with you. You can contact me at:
sam_makarevich@yahoo.com
[Rota, Spain; Bibury, UK]
Sam “aka Mack” Makarevich