"Pick 'n' Pull" Wreckers philosophy

[Jerram]

I was reading through the local paper this morning and discovered that Capalaba Wreckers; Brisbane's largest, is becoming a "Pick and Pull" operation.

This basically means that the customers have to retrieve the car parts themselves using their own tools. If they want the parts to be removed for them they have to pay a service fee. They claim that this will "reduce the costs of parts" but I'm actually a bit disappointed. Why?

-Wreckers don't really have a set pricing schedule, meaning that I doubt there will actually be much of a price reduction between the old and new schemes (If someone wants to try this out and ring them I know that their original prices for vectra door lock mechs are $110 each (which in itself is a rip given that at a wreckers 5 minutes away you can get them for $50)

-Obviously gives the wreckers a chance to lay off employees, whilst still making the same (perhaps even more) money

-Much greater chance of parts being broken leaving less parts overall for supply. This is especially relevant to rarer cars like ours

-Seeing the way some cars are stored at that wreckers (eg. stacked on top of each other, propped up on two sets of rims) I believe it is unsafe for untrained persons to be "wrecking" cars in that unsafe zone. I'm assuming they'll also be required to sign a waiver of some kind (gman/other legal people what are the legal implications here?)


I really don't know how such a large wreckers could implement such poor policy. In my opinion this will lead to more broken parts and more injuries as untrained and/or non-common-sensical people try to brotek the business of removing parts from cars.

[hazrd]

u would be surprised jerram

imlachs here in springvale has that policy. heres some comparisons on some parts i bought for mine vs kumbaks in braeside:

speedo cluster... $110 vs $20
oil dipstick... $15 vs $3.50
trip computer... $180 vs $30
wheel bolts... $3ea vs $0.50 for 5

ive just about stripped the v6 cali at imlachs because their prices are so damn cheap lol

[Shay]

what would have to happen jerram would be you ask for the parts, they move the car to a safe place then you pull parts off.



when i got my sump the bloke said $220, i asked how much if i took it off myself and they said $150

[RobCDX]

yeah in adelaide we have "U Pull It" and it's a huge treasure hunt out in the yards. most parts are listed on a billboard at the entrance. but it's pretty limited to older model cars (a lot of it pre 2000)

[SIMid]

u would be surprised jerram

imlachs here in springvale has that policy. heres some comparisons on some parts i bought for mine vs kumbaks in braeside:

speedo cluster... $110 vs $20
oil dipstick... $15 vs $3.50
trip computer... $180 vs $30
wheel bolts... $3ea vs $0.50 for 5

ive just about stripped the v6 cali at imlachs because their prices are so damn cheap lol

Do they have those Calibra seatbelt guides?? Thinking of installing them into my Astra. :p Not sure if they will bolt in though ......

If they are cheap, worth the experiment. :D

[hazrd]

cant remember lol i didnt look at the seatbelts, worth going down and having a look tho

[poita]

Assholes, tehy wouldnt even let me in teh yard to look at the cars when i was in there

now they are selve serve, i wouldnt go back there just on the basis the guy tehre was a #@$%#$

[EL BURITO]

from a safety point of view there opening up real can of worms. customers are not allowed to do "WORK" on premises

[Hoss]

This is a return to the old days - 60s and 70s where you went in an pulled off what you wanted and the owner decided the price as you left. I agree with Jerram about the hazards of working in amongst the wrecks. Someone will get injured and unlike the old days, some wrecker will be sued, plus probably have the relevant Worksafe authority investigate their operation. It would be interesting how a signed waiver may stand-up in court.

[poita]

I was reading through the local paper this morning and discovered that Capalaba Wreckers; Brisbane's largest, is becoming a "Pick and Pull" operation.

This basically means that the customers have to retrieve the car parts themselves using their own tools. If they want the parts to be removed for them they have to pay a service fee. They claim that this will "reduce the costs of parts" but I'm actually a bit disappointed. Why?

-Wreckers don't really have a set pricing schedule, meaning that I doubt there will actually be much of a price reduction between the old and new schemes (If someone wants to try this out and ring them I know that their original prices for vectra door lock mechs are $110 each (which in itself is a rip given that at a wreckers 5 minutes away you can get them for $50)

-Obviously gives the wreckers a chance to lay off employees, whilst still making the same (perhaps even more) money

-Much greater chance of parts being broken leaving less parts overall for supply. This is especially relevant to rarer cars like ours
-Seeing the way some cars are stored at that wreckers (eg. stacked on top of each other, propped up on two sets of rims) I believe it is unsafe for untrained persons to be "wrecking" cars in that unsafe zone. I'm assuming they'll also be required to sign a waiver of some kind (gman/other legal people what are the legal implications here?)


I really don't know how such a large wreckers could implement such poor policy. In my opinion this will lead to more broken parts and more injuries as untrained and/or non-common-sensical people try to brotek the business of removing parts from cars.

didnt realise you where having trouble finding parts for your rare vectra

[Jerram]

didnt realise you where having trouble finding parts for your rare vectra

well I'm not, but It's pretty obvious that there are a lot less opels around then there are

-commodores
-falcons
-camrys
-festivas
etc.

[USC]

There is one in Clayton and another one in Dandenong but they dont seem to have late model cars ( I mean 2005 onwards -They may get one or two but in very bad condition).

I have noticed people smash the windows, rip and destroy bits they dont need to get to what they want to buy:mad: but overall, it ends up being so much cheaper and they give things like original screws and clips for free:D

[SSS_Hoon]

weve had one in west sydney for ages.

u have to pay to go in there though.

and it depends on the mood of the guy at the window on the way out as too how much they charge u even though they have a set list of prices posted up on the way in.

Some things they remove and have a shop type place for them though.

i think its a good idea actually.

SSS_Hoon

[Shay]

didnt realise you where having trouble finding parts for your rare vectra


try finding a sump, 1 out of 17 i called had one...
and that was only ringing holden and euro ones, not all the jap scrap ones

[DirtyHarry]

i love pick and paymore in blacktown. if you need something small, or something that a mainstream wrecker wont carry, you go there, pull the item off your self and whizzz bang usually dont get charged for it.
it also helps having a whole bunch of different models and cars out in the yard as you can go around and try to pull a part of a different car.
we used to have on in wetherill park called "dunkers u pull it" i think, that place was great till it closed and the owner sold the whole place to a developer, who apparently would have to pay a fortuned to remove all this top soil before he could start building.
now the whole block stands empty.

[Keep'emRunning]

agree with Harry.. . who would rather spend 15 mins telling an illiterate grease monkey exactly which piece of trim you're after and then have them charge you a retrieval fee for a poorly removed (ie screwdriver,hammer) item.. when a few mins of your own time could be spent to find the best quality part available (or even a better one from a later model)

piy ftw!

[USC]

agree with Harry.. . who would rather spend 15 mins telling an illiterate grease monkey exactly which piece of trim you're after and then have them charge you a retrieval fee for a poorly removed (ie screwdriver,hammer) item.. when a few mins of your own time could be spent to find the best quality part available (or even a better one from a later model)

piy ftw!

couldnt agree more:) ...and you can get all the clips / screws that come with it.

[DirtyHarry]

yeah, things like clips, screws...you just cant get them from a normal wrecker...thats where these kind of junk yards come in handy :-)