MapMuse - Locate Auto Salvage Yards Near You

...the unusable metal parts, known as scrap metal parts are sold to metal recycling companies. In the United Kingdom car salvage yards are known as car breakers, while motorcycle salvage yards are known as bike breakers. A breaker's yard in the UK, showing cars stacked on metal frames to make it easier to find and remove usable parts. A breaker's yard in the UK, showing cars stacked on metal frames to make it easier to find and remove usable parts. Many salvage yards operate on a local level — when an automobile is severely damaged, is malfunctioning beyond repair, or not worth the repair, the owner may sell it to a junkyard. The salvage yard will usually tow the vehicle from its location to the yard. At the salvage yard the automobiles are typically arranged in rows, often stacked on top of one another. Inventories are kept in the office, as to the usable parts in each car, as well as the car's location in the yard. Most yards have computerized inventory systems. In recent years it has become more common for people to use satellite part finder services to contact multiple salvage yards from a single source. In the early days these were call centres that charge a premium rate for calls and compiled a facsimile that was sent to the various salvage yards so they could respond directly if the part was in stock. Many of these are now web based with the requests for parts being e-mailed instantly. Often parts for which there is high demand are removed from cars and brought to the salvage yard's warehouse. Then when a customer asks for a specific part, he can get it immediately, without having to wait for the salvage yard employees to remove that part. Some salvage yards will however make you remove the part yourself. However, it is more common for a customer to call in and inquire whether the specific item he needs is available. If the yard has the requested item the customer is usually asked to leave a deposit, and to come to pick up the part at a later time. The part is typically installed by the customer or his agent ("his mechanic"), however some salvage yards also provide installation services. Other salvage yards allow customers to remove parts themselves, often at a substantially reduced price compared to having the junkyard's staff remove it. This style of yard is often referred to as a "You Pull It" yard. The parts typically dismantled from automobiles are any small and easily removable items, such as the light cages (commonly known as just "lights", e.g. headlights, blinkers, taillights), seats, parts of the exhaust system, mirrors etc. However, in many instances major parts such as the engine and transmission are removed and sold, usually to auto parts companies who will rebuild that part and resell it. Other, usually very large, junkyards will rebuild and sell such parts themselves. Some salvage yards will keep older cars in good body condition and sell them to amateur car builders and collectors, who will restore ("rebuild") the car for their own entertainment. These cars are known as "rebuilders." Once vehicles in a wrecking yard have no more usable parts, the hulks are usually sold to a scrap metal processor, who will usually crush the bodies on-site at the yard's premises using a mobile baling press or flattener, with final disposal occurring within a hammer mill which literally smashes the vehicle remains into fist sized chunks. Some local communities may rely, and want to depend, on such environmentally friendly systems as it is widely perceived that using vehicle parts, already manufactured and perfectly adequate, reduces pollution and assists in building wider social bonds within the community.