Automobile manufacturing is one of the largest industries in the manufacturing sector. Hence it generates a large amount of waste products. The auto salvage industry thrives on salvaging useful components from irreparable cars. Up to 70 % of the auto parts of an irreparable car can be salvaged, such as body panels or bumpers, wheels, front or rear ends, motors, transmissions, electronics, among others.
Advantages
Used auto parts are a great way to save money for maintenance and repair of your car. Used auto parts are fairly cheap and may cost anywhere between 20 to 80% of the cost of a new auto part. Used auto parts are environmentally friendly, as not using them would add to the junk in junkyards or consume scarce landfill space. Furthermore, manufacturing new components would also consume too much resource.
Availability
Used auto parts are available online or from local stores. . Most towns and cities have used auto part stores. Used auto parts can be purchased on online auto parts stores by credit cards, and the parts are delivered or shipped within 3 to 6 days. While purchasing online beware that the image shown on the site may not match with the actual part.
Identification
The car part can be easily matched with your car by having your car's vehicle identification number (VIN). This number provides the seller with lot of useful information, such as the make and year of manufacture, engines, transmission etc. If there is any confusion the used auto stores sales person are in a better position to help you.
Warranty
Ask the seller to provide warranty. It is prudent to read the terms and conditions of the warranty.
Age
It is necessary to find out the mileage on the auto part. Also confirm whether the part is being sold as used, repaired or remanufactured.
Duplicate
Auto parts can be duplicated easily and these are generally not safe and reliable. Usually it is easy to identify a duplicate part by visual inspection. If the part differs in look from a new part, has a mismatched logo, or typo or anything out of the ordinary then it can be assumed with high certainty that it is counterfeit.
Paint
Usually there is a mismatch between the used auto part color and your car body. Consulting your body shop is necessary before purchasing the part.
