boomdriver
Well-known member
While killing time last week I came across a Craigs List Ad for an '87 vette to be available for parts on 1-15 (saturday) at a local dismantlers yard. Reading further discribed this car as in good condition and for parts ONLY. Not to be sold whole.
The picture was nice, almost too good to be true...
Rained like crazy all weekend...and into Monday. So today I went with tools and a list...
I arrived and ask the 'ol man at the gate where the vette was...he laughs and says it WAS straight ahead but there ain;t much left... I'm wondering hows this possible? 2 days and a flood since day one?
That car was absolutely stripped to the bone...pieces everywhere, most major componants long gone. But I looked a bit deeper determined to find something that I could use.
AFter some examination I realized that car was Nice...low miles, clean kept, in very good shape. Underside clean, no signs of oil stains, exceptionally clean, in fact.
I was in shock that this car had been sacrificed to the parts business. I managed to walk away with a fuel sender, small trim pieces, misc plastics, 2 rear speakers and even a ALCL cover. Satisfied I headed out and a guy makes a comment out in the parking area so we talk for a minute. This guy is the yard owner and he noticed the vette stuff I had and told me that he had 2 other C4 drivers (LTs) that he was thinking about parting out, but after this disaster he was'nt so sure anymore. He told me that Saturday morning there was a near riot to get at this car. It had been advertised and at 9am the gates opened to bunches of people, ALL ran to the vette...Fights started, car destroyed. The sign stating the sale price of major parts ignored, with doors ripped apart so some idiot could get at the window regulator, or the glass broken out so they could get a top seal off the door easily. Simply amazing. Windshield broken out by careless motor removal...hood heavily damaged when removed then discarded with other stuff tossed on it like it was trash...Rear bumper cover torn off at the side mount where someone could'nt get the bolt out, so they tried to tear it off and then abandoned it. All the dash trim was broken off, as were the seat tracks ruined when these animals could'nt figure out how to unbolt the 4 simple nuts that hold the mounts to the floor pan....
This yard owner was PISSED. He said that he was going to have to think about putting another hi-end car out there for people to trash out. The market value is so poor right now that the car was worth 3 times more in parts than it was whole, but this mob destroyed so many of the parts that the profit was left laying in the mud, broken and un-sellable.
I've never seen anything like it. Usually people will dismantle things and leave things laying on the ground at self serve places like this, but this bunch almost looked like they were intent on destroying whatever they could not take.
If this is the future of the used parts business with the economy as it is today, we're all in trouble because alot of these parts are no longer made, by anyone, anywhere. If morons destroy what they don;t need, the availability of good salvage parts is reduced or eliminated in some cases.
Knowing this, I bought things that I do not need today, but will need at some point, I'm sure. I just wanted to pass this along in the hope that everyone here has more respect for salvage vehicles than these idiots had.
I saw 1/2 the things that I was looking for were damaged or broken when some a-hole was too lazy to remove it while he went for the things he needed, screw the next guy.
Now, because of that, 2 more full cars may NOT be available to a shrinking local C4 parts inventory. Sad when nice classic running cars have so little value that they fall victim to red ink and sold for parts when I know someone, somewhere would have loved to have had that car in his garage. But, the other side of the coin is that there are good parts to be had because of this, just arrive early and be well armed...:ugh
By the looks of the chassis and pedals, interior (what was left) I'd guess this car had less than 80,000 miles. Even the sport leather seats were in good shape. I was tempted to buy them if they had'nt been laying in the mud and soaked with oil and water.
The picture was nice, almost too good to be true...
Rained like crazy all weekend...and into Monday. So today I went with tools and a list...
I arrived and ask the 'ol man at the gate where the vette was...he laughs and says it WAS straight ahead but there ain;t much left... I'm wondering hows this possible? 2 days and a flood since day one?
That car was absolutely stripped to the bone...pieces everywhere, most major componants long gone. But I looked a bit deeper determined to find something that I could use.
AFter some examination I realized that car was Nice...low miles, clean kept, in very good shape. Underside clean, no signs of oil stains, exceptionally clean, in fact.
I was in shock that this car had been sacrificed to the parts business. I managed to walk away with a fuel sender, small trim pieces, misc plastics, 2 rear speakers and even a ALCL cover. Satisfied I headed out and a guy makes a comment out in the parking area so we talk for a minute. This guy is the yard owner and he noticed the vette stuff I had and told me that he had 2 other C4 drivers (LTs) that he was thinking about parting out, but after this disaster he was'nt so sure anymore. He told me that Saturday morning there was a near riot to get at this car. It had been advertised and at 9am the gates opened to bunches of people, ALL ran to the vette...Fights started, car destroyed. The sign stating the sale price of major parts ignored, with doors ripped apart so some idiot could get at the window regulator, or the glass broken out so they could get a top seal off the door easily. Simply amazing. Windshield broken out by careless motor removal...hood heavily damaged when removed then discarded with other stuff tossed on it like it was trash...Rear bumper cover torn off at the side mount where someone could'nt get the bolt out, so they tried to tear it off and then abandoned it. All the dash trim was broken off, as were the seat tracks ruined when these animals could'nt figure out how to unbolt the 4 simple nuts that hold the mounts to the floor pan....
This yard owner was PISSED. He said that he was going to have to think about putting another hi-end car out there for people to trash out. The market value is so poor right now that the car was worth 3 times more in parts than it was whole, but this mob destroyed so many of the parts that the profit was left laying in the mud, broken and un-sellable.
I've never seen anything like it. Usually people will dismantle things and leave things laying on the ground at self serve places like this, but this bunch almost looked like they were intent on destroying whatever they could not take.
If this is the future of the used parts business with the economy as it is today, we're all in trouble because alot of these parts are no longer made, by anyone, anywhere. If morons destroy what they don;t need, the availability of good salvage parts is reduced or eliminated in some cases.
Knowing this, I bought things that I do not need today, but will need at some point, I'm sure. I just wanted to pass this along in the hope that everyone here has more respect for salvage vehicles than these idiots had.
I saw 1/2 the things that I was looking for were damaged or broken when some a-hole was too lazy to remove it while he went for the things he needed, screw the next guy.
Now, because of that, 2 more full cars may NOT be available to a shrinking local C4 parts inventory. Sad when nice classic running cars have so little value that they fall victim to red ink and sold for parts when I know someone, somewhere would have loved to have had that car in his garage. But, the other side of the coin is that there are good parts to be had because of this, just arrive early and be well armed...:ugh
By the looks of the chassis and pedals, interior (what was left) I'd guess this car had less than 80,000 miles. Even the sport leather seats were in good shape. I was tempted to buy them if they had'nt been laying in the mud and soaked with oil and water.
