Should used auto parts be illegal?

[Winterblues]

Used to be a person could go to a wrecking yard and buy used parts for their car fairly cheap. Might have to do some dismantling yourself but the parts were available for not much money. Now with new safety regulations it is illegal to sell used parts without government inspection tags. I understand completely the logic in this but I miss the "good ol' days"

[virginia mountainman]

1. That's a new one on me...

I have never heard of that, but then again, I have not needed a "junkyard" part in long while "knocks on wood"

[americanyouth]

2. That's rediculous

I keep asking myself, "What is Big Bro going to rope in, next", and they keep suprising, while not suprising me.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

3. "... it is illegal to sell used parts without government inspection tags."

Can't be true. I'll be walking.

[dysfunctional press]

4. huh? i still get plenty of used parts at the junk yard...

never saw a govt. inspection tag on any of them...
what country do you live in?

[Fumesucker]

5. I don't think so...

http://www.pullapart.com/

[Blue-Jay]

22. Similar place near me.

http://www.picknpull.com/

The last time I went there, I removed a part I needed, paid a few bucks for it, and walked out the door. I suppose I could go over there right now and do the same thing without any "inspection tag". Maybe the OP is a bit confused.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

6. Do you have links for this? This is new to me.

[Rosemary2205]

7. We still have "pull a part" around here too.

One has to sign a form promising the part is for their personal use and not for resale.

[nels25]

8. I have not heard of this one

we still have several part (junk yard) places in my area.

Of course in my case vehicles have become for the most part so complicated anyway that I would not know what I was looking for or doing to begin with.

Sigh.

[BlooInBloo]

9. Link else admit you're just making shit up.

[Cleita]

10. I don't believe so as long as they are labeled as used and

the buyer knows what they are getting. Also, for people trying to keep an older or discontinued model of an auto going where the parts are no longer manufactured, used parts are a necessity. Also, I believe that recycling them reduces junk.

[CoffeeCat]

11. Interesting experience....

I had quite the revealing experience, after a woman blew through a stop sign and my Range Rover
smashed her minivan to smithereens. Luckily, no one was hurt, but the woman had a baby in a car
seat that was not properly buckled in, and the scene was complete emotional mayhem.

The insurance company wanted to total my car. They said it was too expensive to repair.

I got a very reputable repair guy who works on imports. He talked my ear off about how insurance
companies force the repair guys to use USED PARTS on cars, to make the work cheaper for the insurance
company! He said that State Farm was sued in a class-action suit for doing this, so they are now
the ONLY insurance company that does not use USED parts. They're unable to--and they changed their
policy--due to this lawsuit.

He said this is common!

I kept going back and forth with the insurance company, after the damages were estimated at about $13,000.

I fought like hell, and told them that it wasn't my fault that a woman hit a car that was expensive to repair.
Why am I being punished for driving to the grocery store? I'm supposed to lose my car?

It took a month of being very kind, but FIRM as hell. They agreed to do the repairs and I demanded to see
every receipt for every part.

People---go you have to be your own advocates---with your doctor, with your insurance company, with the guy
who repairs your car. Most people are honest, but some are not.

Repairing cars with used parts is commonplace. You must ask the repair shops if they ever use used parts on
repairs and demand that they don't.

Wanted to share, because I learned a great deal during that situation...

[melm00se]

13. insurance companies

will try like heck to get you to go to one of "their" body shops to have your vehicle repaired but you are under no obligation to do so nor can they require that you use "used" or non-OEM parts.

Stick to your guns as most adjusters have performance metrics and get dinged for having claims open more than X amount of time so the closer to 30 days the stronger your position can be.

[Joe Chi Minh]

12. It's a scam, plain and simple.

What sort of consumer do you call yourself, wanting to buy second-hand, when there are big corporations who really need to squeeze the last cent from you?

[Xithras]

14. That's odd, I just bought one last weekend.

The wifes minivan had a leaky heater core that wasn't covered under warranty (it's a 2005) and the dealership wanted an arm and a leg for a new one. I made a few phone calls, found a local junkyard that had an identical van that had been rear-ended and totalled, and ripped that heater core out a few hours later. It cost me about a third of what the dealership wanted. No inspection stickers.

Some states place regulations on the resale of used emissions equipment, but even those aren't an outright ban. I've never heard of a government agency requiring that all used parts be inspected.

[NNN0LHI]

15. Depends on the parts

Used airbags dug out of a clunker would not qualify as a resalable item to me.

Don

[DainBramaged]

18. Correct, brake parts too. cat convertors

"Safety" parts. But I buy a lot of stuff on Ebay used. I'd like to know where this is happening.

[flvegan]

16. Never heard of that. It's funny, too that

the govt "inspections" can't keep contaminated beef out of our food supply, but they're going to make sure an alternator works.

Maybe an inspection for a catalytic converter, but otherwise I hadn't heard of this.

[Ghost in the Machine]

19. Used catalytic converters bring some good money.. I just sold one yesterday for $100

I was told that they are so much because they have platinum inside them... good for scrap value. I don't know how true that is, but I do know I got $100 for the one off of a vehicle (Isuzu Trooper) that I had here scrapping out.

[sinkingfeeling]

17. I think the OP may be mistaken. I believe you can still go to a junkyard and pull parts for your own

use. However, if you're a body/repair shop and you're told by the owner of a car to use 'used' parts, those must be obtained from a source that has 'rebuilt' them and labeled as such.

[VotesForWomen]

20. it's a racket, plain and simple. big corps don't want us to be able to buy used parts. nt

[AngryAmish]

21. No way

[coriolis]

23. You are mistaken, there are no such requirements.

In this country.

[benEzra]

24. It's not illegal that I know of, unless it's a wierd state law in your state only.

If it weren't for used parts and a lot of personal wrench-turning, I'd be a lot poorer. I even bought a used transmission out of a junked vehicle a couple years ago, no problems.

Honestly, though, a lot of the people who make the laws have no frigging idea what it's like to drive a ten- or fifteen-year-old vehicle and keep it running on a working-class salary, and tend to legislate based on their budgets and their life experiences.

[uncle ray]

25. no such requirement, what there IS:

late model cars have the vin number attached to most of the major parts, body parts, glass, drivetrain, etc. to help ID stolen parts. i believe there is a federal law that prohibits the tampering of the vin number on these parts, but it's taken about as seriously as recording a baseball game on your VCR...unless you have stolen parts.