[bondavi]

I saw this happen on a pretty looking 1990 560SEL with the rare combo of Smoke Silver and red burgundy.

I keep seeing this at the yards in a more frequent occasion, whereas said monkeys would remove the front seats and whatever parts they need, yet they feel the need to mark their territory by knifing through/slashing the remaining seat(s) in the car. It breaks my heart seeing wonderful gen2 late rear seats get slashed, making them worthless.

Is it really THAT big a mental high/drive to do that towards a car, and someone who could use these parts as well?

Help me understand.

 

[wooky_chew_bacca]

I hear ya, I've seen a little of that too. I've used the yard cars as guinea pigs a little but never deliberately destroy something that someone COULD be looking for, MOST of the time I've already taken down an assembly and know how it comes apart. Sedans are somewhat more plentiful at times but I've yet to see an SEC at Pull A Parts and only 3 at the other yards and that's been a while back

 

[GreenT]

Help me understand.

There's nothing to understand, they're idiots.

 

[magicbigdaddy]

Pisses me off when I see where the monkey's take a pry bar to the center console's and rip out the burl or zebrawood to get to a window switch or cheap radio. If I saw someone in the act, I might take a cresent wrench to their head. Dummies!!!!

 

[Teutone]

We discussed this re a local yard years ago. It was one particular jerk that finally got caught, and his butt kicked. Others will deliberately break glass.

There are occasions where guys look for the heating elements.

During the cash for clunkers bonanza, there was a almost completely restored W114 in the Aadlen Sun Valley yard. I made the mistake of telling two morons about the car.
They destroyed a perfect wood / dash combo just to get the vents.

There is actually a first dibs junkyard etiquette, if another person is already taking parts off / working on a car when one gets to it, the proper way is to ask whether he needs the part you want.

 

[wooky_chew_bacca]

There is actually a first dibs junkyard etiquette, if another person is already taking parts off / working on a car when one gets to it, the proper way is to ask whether he needs the part you want.

Yes, I've done this before on several occasions and once there was a car that both of us arrived at the same time and helped each other getting the parts we needed, he needed motor parts and I was after some interior bits

 

[magicbigdaddy]

I learned this the hard way. NEVER ever leave your tools alone for any period of time. A couple months ago I was at a pull-a-part. Walked over 2 rows to look at a car. I was gone 90 seconds / maybe 2 minutes. My tool bucket was missing a handful of good tools in less than 2 minutes. I confronted everyone that was within 30 feet of where I was and nobody knew nothing.

Some days a pick-an-pull can be very similar to a third world country!!!

Now I take my tools inside the porta-potty

 

[MT_Merc]

I learned this the hard way. NEVER ever leave your tools alone for any period of time. A couple months ago I was at a pull-a-part. Walked over 2 rows to look at a car. I was gone 90 seconds / maybe 2 minutes. My tool bucket was missing a handful of good tools in less than 2 minutes. I confronted everyone that was within 30 feet of where I was and nobody knew nothing.

Some days a pick-an-pull can be very similar to a third world country!!!

Now I take my tools inside the porta-potty

No doubt about it, between cranky employees, some sketchy customers, and all kinds of random hazards in and around the cars themselves, it's sort of a strange underworld. I totally agree with not leaving your tools unattended, and beyond that, it wouldn't be a bad idea to only bring cheap tools. Beyond the sticky fingers, it's also pretty easy to lose or accidentally leave tools at a junk yard.

Back to the original point, there are a number of people who are just lazy and don't care that they're destroying valuable parts to get to a $10 stereo. More disturbing are the ones who seem to enjoy wrecking things other people would want. There's no point in trying to understand them, they're empty people. Maybe someone confronting them would do some good, but also risky given the sort of person you're dealing with. I'm sure everyone here tries to preserve anything useful, even if it's a little more work. Now, if only everyone else would do the same. The worst part is that this kind of stuff is what makes junk yards such a hassle. Like most things in life, it could be much better if people would play by the rules and be a little considerate.

 

[GreenT]

On the positive side I love it when checking out and the guy asks what an EZL is... oh, just a relay.... OK, give me five bucks.

 

[Leidenschaft]

I cannot stand it either. What pisses me off is everything. They rip the door panel off when all you need to do is remove 4 screws!! Then the door panel is worthless, as is the wood! Again, all of this for something that these pitiful people cannot even sell. Hell, I was at the yard on Friday and getting some parts and sure as hect some guy comes up and while I am removing a part starts in the back of the car. I look at him, what model do you have I ask? I give credit for honesty, he says that he doesn't own one he just pulls parts and sells them on eBay. I said to the guy "I am just trying to restore mine and we hate people like you, but do not blame you because you have to pay the rent!". I wish I had more money because I would take as much as I can and stock pile the parts, rather than having some scummy slime balls RIP parts from these cars and then charge 40 times as much on eBay. I do not mind that they buy the parts and resell them, but atleast be gentle and leave some usable pieces behind. There have been times I would find something I needed and it was damaged by the junky monkeys! Especially door panels!!! Another thing that bothers me is when they pull the fuse boxes to take a relay and do not recover the box, then this box is useless from corrosion. The same goes for the fuel injection systems, they cut the chromate coated steel injector lines! Those things are expensive and hard to find. They do not want to spend an extra 5 minutes to loosen fittings. Come one man, you are getting a deal on the fuel distributor. Another thing that bothers me is when they destroy perfect leather or leave the doors open in the rain. Hect, when I get parts for sunroofs I recover the opening so the interior does not get ruined and if the car has a busted window regulator I put the window back up so the water doesn't get inside. If I could I would buy the entire car. I feel so sorry for those cars, they must be in allot of pain :'(

 

[ianrandom]

Agreed. I would take care not to damage stuff and definitely shut doors and things. Its really sad and stupid to waste stuff like that.

 

[Leidenschaft]

Agreed. I would take care not to damage stuff and definitely shut doors and things. Its really sad and stupid to waste stuff like that.

Yea. At the yard there were a couple of guys and they were stripping parts for I think an Nissan, but they were interested in taking BMW parts because they can make money. I overheard them as they were slamming doors and just destroying cars... Saying something to the effect that they are just cars and something like that... How they would get crushed anyways... I'm thinking to myself, well yes they will get crushed but you are not the only person who needs parts! DUH... It is amazing how many usable parts are on these cars. Hect, lol I think more damage occurs to the cars in the junk yard versus what damage they received to get into the yard.

 

[Deplore]

You're not alone. Couple weeks ago, a power steering hose blew out on my car, and since my local PnP had a couple W210's, I thought I'd take a look and see if I could recover one or two PS hose.

To my amazement, every single W210 (I really do mean every single W210), all the steel hoses around the top, side, bottom were cut with bolt cutters. No, they didn't remove anything. The power steering pump was still there, steering rack, brake pump, ABS module, everything. It was as if the cars were untouched.

But every single steel hose -- and in some case, plastic hoses -- were cut. I couldn't find a single intact hose in over 20+ W210's that I looked.

And like OP says, I've found door cards ripped off, trunk carpeting slashed open, and even in the rare few cases, the dash were heavily damaged to pull out the $5 hazard warning button.

The sheer disregard for other people who may need these parts astound me. I mean, really.

 

[Leidenschaft]

You're not alone. Couple weeks ago, a power steering hose blew out on my car, and since my local PnP had a couple W210's, I thought I'd take a look and see if I could recover one or two PS hose.

To my amazement, every single W210 (I really do mean every single W210), all the steel hoses around the top, side, bottom were cut with bolt cutters. No, they didn't remove anything. The power steering pump was still there, steering rack, brake pump, ABS module, everything. It was as if the cars were untouched.

But every single steel hose -- and in some case, plastic hoses -- were cut. I couldn't find a single intact hose in over 20+ W210's that I looked.

And like OP says, I've found door cards ripped off, trunk carpeting slashed open, and even in the rare few cases, the dash were heavily damaged to pull out the $5 hazard warning button.

The sheer disregard for other people who may need these parts astound me. I mean, really.

I think those slashed lines were done by the people who run the yard, they have to drain all the oils and fluids. At my yard they take pitch forks and stab the gas tanks... Thankfully our tanks have a hose that they cut, better than trying to stab a metal tank lol. I would rather spend twice as much for any single part from a pull a part knowing that the parts are in the yard and in good condition.

 

[Roland500SEL]

I can disclose that secret!

IDK, if its the same in the USA, but i can imgaine it. In Germany a yard owners generally want to sell complete sets. So they deny to sell front seats without the rears, because rarely someone is looking for them.

So if you want to buy front seats, destroy the rear ones and the seats can´t be offered as a set anymore.

 

[wooky_chew_bacca]

I think those slashed lines were done by the people who run the yard, they have to drain all the oils and fluids. At my yard they take pitch forks and stab the gas tanks... Thankfully our tanks have a hose that they cut, better than trying to stab a metal tank lol. I would rather spend twice as much for any single part from a pull a part knowing that the parts are in the yard and in good condition.

I was thinking the same thing about fluid removal but there sure are plenty of oil puddles out in the yards draining down through the gravel. Pull A Parts here even bottles used antifreeze for sale, can't tell sometimes if it's green or brown :eek wouldn't put it in anything I own.

 

[KRH]

Most wrecking yards in Australia you are not allowed past the front shop counter.
Their staff strip the parts and the yards shelve the parts in large undercover storage areas for later re-sale at aprox 50% of the current new list price.
It really tough over here hence we have to mostly buy in from overseas versus local price

 

[wooky_chew_bacca]

Most wrecking yards in Australia you are not allowed past the front shop counter.
Their staff strip the parts and the yards shelve the parts in large undercover storage areas for later re-sale at aprox 50% of the current new list price.
It really tough over here hence we have to mostly buy in from overseas versus local price

That really sux, but don't feel too bad, while the "you-pull-it" places are on the rise here in the USA I can think of 10 or 12 yards (probably more) on my side of town but only 4 that you are on your own, most of the others leave parts on the cars until someone comes in wanting whatever, they might have it, might not, but THEY pull it not you. A couple of them let you ride with the crew to see if the part(s) meet your standard before pulling it

 

[LostInTime]

You're not alone. Couple weeks ago, a power steering hose blew out on my car, and since my local PnP had a couple W210's, I thought I'd take a look and see if I could recover one or two PS hose.

To my amazement, every single W210 (I really do mean every single W210), all the steel hoses around the top, side, bottom were cut with bolt cutters. No, they didn't remove anything. The power steering pump was still there, steering rack, brake pump, ABS module, everything. It was as if the cars were untouched.

But every single steel hose -- and in some case, plastic hoses -- were cut. I couldn't find a single intact hose in over 20+ W210's that I looked.

And like OP says, I've found door cards ripped off, trunk carpeting slashed open, and even in the rare few cases, the dash were heavily damaged to pull out the $5 hazard warning button.

The sheer disregard for other people who may need these parts astound me. I mean, really.

PnP cuts power steering hoses to drain the fluid out. They do it so the fluid does not end up on the ground then into the water table.

 

[carnut62]

I wear dark blue coveralls with a legitimate California Highway Patrol patch sewn on! Nobody comes near the car I'm working on and nobody comes close to my tool bag.