Short answer: If you are looking for junkyards near me that sell parts, three kinds of business do: self-service yards, full-service yards and auto dismantlers. Scrap metal buyers and salvage auctions do not sell parts over a counter, although they appear in the same searches. Before you drive, confirm the part three ways: search the yard's inventory, search Car-Part.com, and call. Start from junkyards near me to see the yards around you.
Last checked: September 29, 2026. The counts are from the 3,606 published listings in our directory, sorted by the words in each name. Search details are from car-part.com and pullapart.com. This article replaces a 2025 version.
Which kinds of yard sell parts to the public?
| Kind of business | Sells used parts to you? | How it works |
|---|---|---|
| Self-service yard | Yes | You pay a small entry fee, bring tools and remove the part. Prices come from a flat list |
| Full-service yard | Yes | Staff pull the part. You ask at the counter or by phone and get a quote |
| Auto dismantler or recycler | Yes | Cars are taken apart on arrival. Parts are tested, tagged and shelved, and many are shipped |
| Scrap metal buyer | No | Buys metal by weight and sends it to be shredded or melted |
| Salvage auction | No | Sells whole vehicles to bidders. Rules on who may bid depend on the state |
| Dealer parts department or parts store | New parts only | Sells new factory or aftermarket parts over a counter |
Full-service yard and dismantler are often the same business under two names. Our comparison of full-service and self-service yards covers the trade between price and effort.
Copart and IAA are the two large salvage auctions. They sell whole cars, and Copart publishes licensing requirements state by state on its site. We could not read those pages in full when we checked, so look up your own state before you register. Buying a whole parts car from an auction covers when that makes sense.
How many of each are in our directory?
We sorted the 3,606 published listings by the words in their names. A name is not proof of what a business does, but it is the first thing you see in a search result.
| What the name says | Listings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Self-service: u-pull, pick and pull, pull-a-part, pick your part and similar | 222 | 6% |
| Parts seller: auto parts, used parts, auto salvage, wrecking, dismantling, auto recycling | 1,391 | 39% |
| Scrap or metal, with no mention of autos or parts | 678 | 19% |
| Dealer parts department, parts center or parts store | 34 | 1% |
| Name does not say | 1,281 | 36% |
Two things follow. About one listing in five is a scrap or metal business by name, and those are the wasted trips. And more than a third of names tell you nothing, so for those the phone call is the only test. No listing in the directory has Copart or IAA in its name.
The words to look for are pull, pick, parts, salvage, wrecking and dismantling. Scrap, metal and iron are the words that should make you check first.
How do you confirm a part is in stock before you drive?
Use all three checks. Each one catches what the others miss.
| Check | What it tells you | What it does not |
|---|---|---|
| The yard's inventory search | Which vehicles are in the yard, by year, make and model | Whether your part is still on the vehicle |
| Car-Part.com | Which yards hold the part itself, with price, grade and distance | Anything about self-service yards, which do not list single parts |
| A phone call | Whether the part is there today, its condition, the price and the return rule | Nothing, if you ask the right questions |
For self-service yards, our inventory directory covers 177 yards from 12 chains and filters each one by year, make and model. The feed can be behind the yard, and a vehicle on the list may already be stripped. Pull-A-Part says it updates its own site every evening and lets you sign up to be notified when a vehicle arrives.
For full-service yards and dismantlers, Car-Part.com is the standard tool. It says it lists 250 million parts. You enter the year, the model, the part and your ZIP code, then sort by distance or price. Each result names the yard, so you call it directly.
If you would sooner have the part shipped, our used parts search looks through online sellers by year, make and model.
A short video from the Rusty Creek Fabrication channel about Car-Part.com, published November 2022.
What should you ask on the phone?
At a self-service yard, ask whether the vehicle is still in the yard, which row it is in and the date it was set out. Staff usually will not check a single part for you. A car set out last week is a better bet than one from two months ago.
At a full-service yard, ask for the price, the mileage of the car the part came from, the warranty and the return period. Ask whether the part is already off the car. If it is not, ask when it will be ready, and do not drive until they call back.
Give the VIN of your own car. It settles questions about engine size, transmission and trim that the model year alone does not. The Hollander interchange system explains how yards decide that a part from another year or model is the same as yours.
