Are junkyards dying out?

[Blmpkn]

I think the downturn in popularity/common-ness of junkyards.. especially you-pulls.. can be pretty strongly attributed to generational attitude-shifts & the general publics level of self sufficiency honestly.

As the saying goes.. "back in the 70s your cars owners manual told you how to adjust its valves & rebuild its carburator... nowadays they just tell you not to drink the contents of the battery."


Places like copart&lkq have also a hand of course.. as well as newer (1995+) vehicles having 2 or 3x the mechanical lifespan as old stuff did..

Definitely seems like just about everyone younger than I am is a tide pod eating tiktok waterhead who probably has enough trouble simply trying to wash their damn clothes.. let alone do a driveway transmission swap or something..

 

[ShhhhhDougsHere]

When I went to jail and then prison in 2004/05 there was about 5 pull your own parts places around Dayton Ohio.
When I got out of prison on 6/12/2024 there is now only 1 you pull your own parts place in Dayton Ohio.
And the funnest part about there now being only 1 you pull it yourself place is, that it's now in a place that was not any type of junkyard when I got locked up.
It was a corn field then.

 

[djfllmn]

there was a nice size u-pull just up the road from me. they closed down and rumor has it they will be reopening as a copart yard.
Copart = the walmart of junkyards, they push all the mom and pop yards out

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Places like copart&lkq have also a hand of course.. as well as newer (1995+) vehicles having 2 or 3x the mechanical complexity/lifespan as old stuff did..

FIFY

DIY auto repairs are not what they used to be either. Neither are engine swaps and whatnot either, they will never be as common in newer vehicles as they were in older ones.

 

[rubydist]

While the regulatory issues stated above are certainly part of the equation, the rest of the story has to do with the newer vehicles using CANBUS rather than having direct wiring to everything. Nowadays, you cannot just go to the junkyard to get a taillight for a F-150, because the VIN is actually stored in the light assembly module, so if you put a jy light on the truck it still won't work until you take it to the dealer to have them program in the correct VIN. Not only is this making parts far more expensive, it requires you to go to a mechanic with the ability to program the part before installation. My advice is to take good care of your 2000s vehicles, because you will never see 50 year old 2020s vehicles on the road because of this CANBUS crap.

 

[Blmpkn]

FIFY

DIY auto repairs are not what they used to be either. Neither are engine swaps and whatnot either, they will never be as common in newer vehicles as they were in older ones.

Very true.

 

[ekrampitzjr]

This is happening for a lot of reasons. Most of you mentioned them. Don't forget that far fewer people actually work on their own vehicles and try to keep older stuff running these days. Gen Z'ers would rather just stand and stare at you than do any work on anything.

LKQ bought all the pick-and-pull salvage yards that I used to go to. They are no longer pick-and-pull.

Some localities and homeowners' associations do not allow residents to do heavy work on their own vehicles in their driveway or yard. There's another disincentive to keeping old stuff running. So that engine swap in your driveway won't be allowed, because you then would have a non-running "junk" vehicle on your property while the swap is being done over some days. The neighborhood Karen will snitch on you.

The newer vehicles that are electric or hybrids might actually be unsafe to store in a salvage yard because of fire risk. You aren't going to be able to keep a 25–year-old hybrid running using salvage parts. No one is going to be able to keep those going except the dealers, and those will stop servicing older ones at some point.

The electronics and computers in newer vehicles are another reason. When those go, it's not economical to go through the hassle of trying to replace a lot of that stuff. There's a reason you don't see many '90s and '00s BMWs and Range Rovers around, for example. Those and many other luxury vehicles are prone to electronics problems.

 

[SenorNoob]

...Nowadays, you cannot just go to the junkyard to get a taillight for a F-150, because the VIN is actually stored in the light assembly module...

I feel like there can't possibly be a legitimate reason to do this. It's exactly why I support the idea of "Right to Repair".

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I feel like there can't possibly be a legitimate reason to do this. It's exactly why I support the idea of "Right to Repair".

There are little computers in everything.

I don't know if tail lights are really programmable like that but many things are.

 

[Shran]

I don't quite understand how Copart auctions work so I have yet to participate. The local one had a really low mile, fixable mid 90's F250 listed for what seemed like a couple of years and the auction never started and then it disappeared. I haven't seen anything worth bidding on since. My buddy buys stuff there all the time but the guy I knew at the junkyard across the street was always bitching about how he had to compete with other people for cars now.

Gen Z needs a good old fashioned recession to harden them up a bit. I say that as a parent of two gen Z's. I had a lot of struggle in my early adult years and it seems like they are pretty soft because they never had hard times.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I feel like there can't possibly be a legitimate reason to do this. It's exactly why I support the idea of "Right to Repair".

By extension, I think “Right to Repair” should allow you to work on your own vehicle in your driveway or yard without the local “Karen” snitching on you to authorities

 

[SenorNoob]

There are little computers in everything.

I don't know if tail lights are really programmable like that but many things are.

I wouldn't be surprised at all considering the stories I've heard replacement costs and the integrated parking/lane assist sensors.

By extension, I think “Right to Repair” should allow you to work on your own vehicle in your driveway or yard without the local “Karen” snitching on you to authorities

I would go so far as to say that if you own the house/land, nobody should have any say in what you do with/in/on it as long as it's not a health hazard. No chemicals leaching out, or radiation exposure for the neighbors. Those are covered under other laws anyway...

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I wouldn't be surprised at all considering the stories I've heard replacement costs and the integrated parking/lane assist sensors.

I would go so far as to say that if you own the house/land, nobody should have any say in what you do with/in/on it as long as it's not a health hazard. No chemicals leaching out, or radiation exposure for the neighbors. Those are covered under other laws anyway...

I would agree, unfortunately a lot of places have passed laws forbidding you to work on a vehicle in anything other than “an approved repair structure”

 

[Shran]

I've never understood why an individual can put permanent covenants on land that affect future owners. We are drifting a bit off topic with this but that has never sat right with me and it's pretty common here. There are a lot of little "hobby farm" size plots of bare land that have restrictions on house size & type and the number of animals you can keep. No individual person or company should be able to put those restrictions on future owners...that should be a government thing, if at all, yet here we are.

HOA's are a separate problem, "just don't live in one" is the common answer but all of the new developments here have HOA's. You can live in the country on 10 acres and still be under their thumb. You can live in city limits under city restrictions and also be in a HOA. There is no way to get out unless you can get the HOA to vote to dissolve (unlikely) and finding a decent house, in a good neighborhood, that is affordable, and not in a HOA, is pretty hard. I hope someone will figure out how to sue their way out and set some precedent.

 

[superj]

hoa is why i have not looked at getting another house and why we are going through the process of having house plans drawn and looking at building another house on our lot here in town. i don't particularly want to stay here in corpus but everywhere else i look is hoa and has nothing to offer but land with no wind, ocean/river/lake, and not near enough to anything to be convenient.

they tried to set up an hoa in my neighborhood but we all have been here for 20 years or more and said no. we already have to fight with code enforcement, why would anyone want to fight with some retired jackass that has nothing to do but watch you, also?