got a question for you all.

when do you say enough is enough?

i'm talking about getting to the point in grabing parts (either form the JY or a parts vehicle) that you say to yourself, "that's it! i should just buy this new!!"?

i'm only asking this, 'cause i went through this a couple of times on Friday. spent about 4 1/2 hours kneeling/laying in the snow to remove the front fenders on a Buick. the car was sitting on the ground, so it was a bit of a bitch to get my head under the front of the car, trying to find where the last few bolts were. plus it started to snow. not that i really care about that, but i hate to have my tools sitting around in the snow/rain.

the driver's fender on mine is toast (right above the bumper) and the passenger side is about half way behind it.

got these rust-free fenders for $80, and figured i was wise to push onward & finish the task @ hand, consider what they're worth.



in case you're wondering, the fenders are $650 new aftermarket.

 

its hard and always a case by case situation...........when i said enough was enough with my s10 was when winter was coming and i couldnt handle 2wd and getting stuck in 5 cm of snow anymore, i wanted more than 2 seats, powersteering and ac in the summer...but the main kick for that was after i put all this body work in, sanded, and got it repainted, and i noticed small little pockets of rust starting to come in under the few month old paint..........thats when i decided i couldnt bare to watch this rust up in the winter after all i did to it, unfortunately i was told i wasnt allowed to keep it and if i wanted a new car i had to sell that one, now i have had the blazer ever since..........i still contemplate tracking the guy down and buying it back.................now as for the blazer, gas would either have to get STUPID expensive, in which case i would probably buy a second car, repairs would have to pile up to a rediculously amount (which is why i try to stay on top of them). as for things in my control i think that would be able it...i always keep going in my head with the blazer when a 600 dollar repair comes up that.......hey......its fully paid off, these repairs are cheaper than making car payments and im not stuck in a loan.

 

It definitely is a case by case type of thing like streblo said. For sheetmetal, in my opinion it depends on the year of the vehicle. OE metal tends to fit a lot easier than aftermarket, but newer vehicles tend to have somewhat better aftermarket parts than older vehicles do.

I haven't had to get many parts from a junkyard for any of my vehicles, but that is mainly because I have been keeping my eyes open for deals on craigslist, etc.

 

but Jon, like i was asking, i was refering to getting parts only, not getting a whole other vehicle. which is sometimes ever harder to decide.



and that brings me to the point of..........

i absolutely agree it has alot to do with the year of the vehicle. it also has alot to do with the mechanical condition of said vehicle.

if this car wasn't so trouble free (only had a fuel tank replaced & the right rear hard line for the brakes replaced in the last 7 years) i wouldn't even waste my time with the fenders.

but when the car runs like a champ, never lets you down, you kinda feel bad when it looks like a POS because of some rot on the fender.


guess i was just getting fed up on Friday. usually i don't have such a problem being a cheap ***!

 

ah.......mis interpreted that!.....thought you were talking about when is enough enough for a vehicle in general.....as for repairs on the vehicle.....well...my blazer has a scratched rear bumperette thingy from a car side swiping it(i can NEVER remember the name, i know it was in another thread), i just touch up painted it and away i went, and the other side is cracked from getting hung up on a snow bank and pulling away. I dont think i will ever replace those on my own free will (unless i get rear ended and insurance takes care of it. this being said right now i never plan on selling it so to me for that there is no point in fixing it for resale value...just because i know its one of those things i might easily break.....same thing with the front plastic wind gaurd,,,,i broke it once...it got replaced on insurance for free (a bird hit it), then i broke it again on a snowbank offroading so just took it off and wont bother replacing it because ill just break it again...rocker panels i just sprayed with rocker gaurd and touch it up once a year, easy quick and it gets chipped easily so dont see hte point in painting it.......now onto the non easy breakable parts.....bolt holes for spare tire carrier, had a rust bubble that popped....so i ground it down,, sanded,,,,rust check sprayed it, then i just sprayed it with rockergaurd.....this is a part i might think about getting repainted....drivers door by the window i had a rust bubble that finally popped, again sanded it and just touch up painted it...can see the touch up easily but you dont notice from far away, but the important thing is i protected it from further rust......when i got t-boned i paid extra to have the hood repainted as it had all the little lines in it from a cracking primer....some of the lines turned into cracks so i wanted to seal it to protect from rust, and touch up painting 10000 little cracks was not worth my time....................so in conclusion to all of this i would have to say it depends how concerned you are about what others think of you when your in the car, as well as how good you want the car to look and from what distance...........if you dont care then dont worry about it, a co worked had a cracked bumper on her sunflower and she never fixed it because it was only "looks" and nothing mechanical or functional..........so if you care a little bit but only from far away...just spray everything the same colour (i did that on my s10 before i could afford a paint job).....cousins buddy did his truck flat grey with a roller and tremclad rust paint..........everyones totally different on that subject and i find that to be a super personal thing..........

now that i re read it a few times i think i totally missed the point!

if we are talking about where to get/how much to pay for parts...well i would usually spend as little as possible, if i can get it from the junkyard save a couple hundred bucks and it works perfectly fine i would do that, or if i can make it look as good as i see fit, then go for it.....if its a part you care about more then drop the extra cash if the junkyard parts dont meet the standards.....so after all this rambling on............my personal opinion and what i would/do is things that break easy leave it and just touch it up so its hard to notice from 10 feet........AS FOR DECIDING WHERE TO GET PARTS.....i always look at what the quality of the part would be,,, how much better a new one would be....and how much work it is...i always look at it as.....if i was working getting paid X amount of dollars per hour....how much work is it going to be to the point where my labour / cost to remove the part is going to exceed the amount i will save by buying it used, and what i would value the used part to as to new....so say a 600 dollar part...i would value the used one at 300......and its going to take me 3 hours to take it off at the junkyard..say you get paid 20 bucks an hour and you break a screwdriver removing the part...and the junkyer wants 180 for the part......so 180 + 60 bucks of my labour + 10 bucks for the screwdriver im in it for $250...which comes in under what i would value the used part for...so i would get the used one........but then again sometimes im incredibly lazy or super busy that i just dont have the time so i say F it and but it new....but if itll take me 4 hours work to get it and i save 300 bucks...well screw it ill take that 4 hours off work to get the part because that 300 bucks ill have to work way more hours to make that.

......things that dont, i will do the 10 foot fix on it first just to get it taken care of, then think about the professional fix later

 

sounds like you're getting where i'm coming from now.

besides, while i was laying in the snow doing the last few bolts, i noticed this car has a BN passenger side hub on it. checked the other side..........it's in the same condition!

asked him about what they're worth (to him) he wants $25/side. not bad considering they're like $200 each (something like that, can't remember right now) and my passenger side is toast!


so that's my task for Monday morning.

 

nice..ive blown through about 4 passenger side bearings....bah...and i always calculate it out it to see if its worth it to me..GL with that

 

thanks Jon.

for some reason i keep thinking they're even more money than the ones for our Blazer/Jimmy's, but can't seem to find the paper i wrote it down on.

ah well, tomorrow will be another trip to save some cash.

 

IF you go to the right parts place the SKF bearings actually come with a lifetime warranty lol! found this out from my parts guy when i replaced the hub assembly for the sunfire. plan to upgrade all 4 bearings on the cav next winter so SKF it is.


as far as it goes for valuing used vs new - SOME things i won't cheap out on regardless of how much i can save and tbh lately its not much difference from new to used for most parts. Eg. used tank @ yard (they pull price) $150. BRAND NEW tank for me $140. i save $10 by getting a brand new tank and i know its not been sitting around out in the shatty weather so its not gonna be anywhere near rusting (rocker guarded that bitch too before install with like 3 coats). in the case of the fenders @ 80 ea compared to $650 ea/pair i'm going JY parts 100% since its not a vital mechanical part AND its like at min HALF the price. I'm not by any means a wealthy person so sometimes a JY part just HAS to do in a pinch, even tho i would MUCH rather not go that route, until i can afford a brand new part. Streblo nailed it right on the head tho for figuring what its worth, and between me and you, we both know this first hand Chris - junkyards charge avg of 50%-100% more for what they pull for you. So if the pulled price still comes in under 75% of a brand new cost on certain items i'm all for saving that extra amt.

 

ya the bearing i have in there now is lifetime warranty - but been through 3 of those ones, but they keep replacing them for free.

and i agree with uber, an alternator, water pump, fuel pump, cap and rotor etc. i would probably never get from a junkyard unless i was totaly strapped for cash. the headlight switch and rear tailgate glass on the other hand i would make a trip to the junkyard for.

Just because i cant be bothered to have that part break down on the road esp. when i do alot of 2000km+ highway trips usually at least once per year.......if its a vital part and its a city runner and the price of 3 junkyard pieces would still be cheaper than one new then i might re-consider but that would probably be a case by case situation......i have a junkyard steering box in, a vital part, but if it goes i can still drive and i can replace 3 of them for the price a new one would cost, and its not exactly a part that tends to wear out super often.