There are a few things you need to consider when buying used auto parts:

How much are you saving when compared to new?

When it comes to buying used car or truck parts you can save big, but that all depends on the vehicle class and year, most new vehicles will not be in a junkyard or have many options to find the part used. You will need to look online and call around until you find the part you need at the right price. Some parts like engines, transmissions, alternators and body parts are cheaper when you buy them used or second hand. Companies like Advanced Auto Parts, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Autozone, can have good deals on aftermarket parts but will not compare to prices you find in local salvage yards or people online that sell car parts for a living.

You can go to forums like ours or Facebook groups and on twitter and ask if someone is selling the part you need, tell them how much you are willing to pay for the used part and make arrangements.

Is it worth the effort to pull the used parts?

We all know time is money, it is up to you to define the cost of your time and if you can afford the part at the current price. Pulling used auto parts out of a car can be tedious and hard labor, you can even get hurt on the process. You need to see is the part is worth the effort to remove from the car or truck.

Some parts are just ridiculously overprices or hard to find, like visors, headlight and small easy to pull parts sometimes can cost you an arm and a leg, but five minutes at the local junkyard can save you over 80% on those OEM car parts. You can also look for the part at online stores like Amazon and Ebay, have the auto part delivered to your front door and no sweat.

The main problem  for people not being able to pull auto parts at the local junk yard is the lack of tools and the know how. But at most junk yards you will find qualified mechanics that work there pulling parts for customers, these people are not employees of the salvage yard but people that just want to make a few bucks helping other get the parts they need, they have the tools and the know how to get it done. ask around.

Will you and your family be safe on your car with used car parts?

Priorities come first before saving money. You are not going to buy used break pads or rotors for your vehicle knowing that they may fail, also make sure you don’t buy a pile of rust, some people sell painted parts to cover the rust is underneath their used auto parts.
Make sure that when you buy parts they come with a warranty, so that you are protected in case they fail, buy parts that will not cause an accident if they stop working or break, don’t buy breaks, some cables are better to buy new,  body parts with all their screws and mounting are ok to buy.Low Mileage Used Auto Parts.

When the engine on my 2006 Toyota Tercel stop working, I called around and got some good prices and some stupid ridiculous prices, Like they wanted $1200 for an engine with 120k miles, my car wasn’t worth $1200 and I wasn’t going to spend that kind of money on a used, no warranty, high miles engine. Make sure you know prices and always ask the mileage of the vehicle your engine or transmission is coming from, unless they have rebuild it  and that my friend is another story…

Where To Buy Used Auto Parts?

You can start by looking that the junk car inventory of local junk yards and see if they have the vehicle your car part comes from, also look at an interexchange system that lets you know what other models of cars or trucks carry the same part as yours.

Check online stores like Ebay, Car-Part. com, Amazon, Facebook groups where people trade and sell car parts. Don’t pay full price, always negotiate if you are buying from a private seller.