Motor Wrecking yard disappearing

[Bolly47]

What happen to Two well know motor wrecker at Toowoomba has sadly disappearing one of them is ford wrecker and other Motor wrecker at Taylor street and all have lot good parts on the shelve ready for sale must have gone to scrap metal including barra engine.

[lamborghinifan]

He was making more money out of scrap than wrecking… so I was told…

[Bolly47]

Money doesn't go that far enough

[mad2]

i tried to find a 2ndhand cat to suit mine so i could checkout a problem .......... down here a buyer/s comes thru & buys em all for [i was told] $200 to $500


luckily one was found

[prktkljokr]

From Previously owning a yard myself there is a misconception that we kill the pig so to speak.

Its hard in the wrecking game unless you are a huge yard with up to date stock and a good patronage ( panel shops, mechanics etc ), the hoops you have to jump through just to open a yard is enough to put most people off, finding good stock, buying the right cars at the right price, paying for security to stop the thieves, stocking a car for who knows how long before it returns a profit, wages, rent, insurance, dealer requirements, competing with the Facebook and Gumtree wreckers, competing with cheap non genuine parts, dealing with every Tom, Dick and Harry that thinks you should do a $500 part for $10, or the ones that think their 15 year old car with 300,000 ks is worth more than it was new when selling it, plus there is heaps more that I cant think of at the moment that would put you off owning one for sure.

You can see why they go into just scrapping them, you have to work hard every day to just make ends meet to wreck them but you maybe only make a little from each car, or you can just scrap them but only have to do a little and make a decent bit of money quickly from each car, need less room, plus you dont need to have all the licences and crap that goes with a yard.

Pretty much a no brainer in terms of making money these days for them to go this way.

[danzvtil]

Councils probably don’t want what they perceive as dirty, oily businesses around, so approve them with stupid hoops to jump thru.
My local seems to only want “$20 cash” for a handful of trim bits, I don’t know how he pays the rent for that.

[Yellow_Festiva]

It's just a sign of the times.

When I was in high school I was doing panel work, interiors, electrical and stereo, doing my own brakes and servicing and understood the mathematics behind different tyre and wheel combinations.

Now I teach high school kids and hardly any can drive a manual or change a trye for that matter.

Newer cars are like phones, disposable appliances. People that still enjoy 'tinkering' on cars are getting on in age or can't be bothered.

Having a garage and space to work is now a valuable commodity as well.

[Crazy Dazz]

The Bread & Butter of Yards has always been the panel trade, and by virtue of economics, the big selling cars.
With the rising cost of labour, more cars are getting written off as uneconomical. This creates more supply and less demand.
Also, the volume sellers are nolonger unique local models. So grey imported parts, always a factor, and now more attractive than ever.

2nd hand mechanical parts were previously a decent seller. If your starter blew up, get a good one from a wrecker. Now days it's easy to jump online and get a new Chinese one, ether direct or from an online importer.

Selling a handful of parts to enthusiast and the DIY brigade was never going to keep the lights on.

And yes, typically in the past Wreckers operated in the nearby light-industrial or fring areas, on big properties. Cars could just sit there, forever if necessary, with parts being removed only when needed. Now that land is much more valuable with factory units or Self Storage, and councils nolonger tolerate the unsightliness.

[Itsme]

Originally Posted by Crazy Dazz

The Bread & Butter of Yards has always been the panel trade, and by virtue of economics, the big selling cars.
With the rising cost of labour, more cars are getting written off as uneconomical. This creates more supply and less demand.
Also, the volume sellers are nolonger unique local models. So grey imported parts, always a factor, and now more attractive than ever.

2nd hand mechanical parts were previously a decent seller. If your starter blew up, get a good one from a wrecker. Now days it's easy to jump online and get a new Chinese one, ether direct or from an online importer.

Selling a handful of parts to enthusiast and the DIY brigade was never going to keep the lights on.

And yes, typically in the past Wreckers operated in the nearby light-industrial or fring areas, on big properties. Cars could just sit there, forever if necessary, with parts being removed only when needed. Now that land is much more valuable with factory units or Self Storage, and councils nolonger tolerate the unsightliness.

I would say the affordability of new cars these days has killed of a lot of wreckers, not many people buying old clunkers and spending money on them.
The little car wreckers are a thing of the past, just my view as the way I see it.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by Itsme

I would say the affordability of new cars these days has killed of a lot of wreckers, not many people buying old clunkers and spending money on them.
The little car wreckers are a thing of the past, just my view as the way I see it.

Heck, it’s been like twenty years since I set foot in a wreckers, just never had the need.
Guess I’m an example of how people change and no longer need services of these folks…

[nstg8a]

The amount of “private” wreckers has also taken its toll. Couple that with the massive increase in the value of wrecks at auction it’s almost like a perfect storm for wrecking yards.

Cheap Chinese parts.
Online sales.
Throwaway society
End of local manufacturing
Easy finance on new cars
High local govt compliance costs
Big export market for wrecks
High auction prices
Low scrap prices

Anything else?

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Crazy Dazz

The Bread & Butter of Yards has always been the panel trade, and by virtue of economics, the big selling cars.
With the rising cost of labour, more cars are getting written off as uneconomical. This creates more supply and less demand.
Also, the volume sellers are nolonger unique local models. So grey imported parts, always a factor, and now more attractive than ever.

2nd hand mechanical parts were previously a decent seller. If your starter blew up, get a good one from a wrecker. Now days it's easy to jump online and get a new Chinese one, ether direct or from an online importer.

Selling a handful of parts to enthusiast and the DIY brigade was never going to keep the lights on.

And yes, typically in the past Wreckers operated in the nearby light-industrial or fring areas, on big properties. Cars could just sit there, forever if necessary, with parts being removed only when needed. Now that land is much more valuable with factory units or Self Storage, and councils nolonger tolerate the unsightliness.

We had a factory on 4000m2 property not far out of Melbourne CBD, why take our $300,000/year rent from our manufacturing operation?

Land sold for $17M, 120 apartments going to go up on it thanks to a zoning change.

The joint where my car was impounded had to have 75+ cars there in their impound yard and they had the contract for hoon impounds for the entire western Vic Police region, goes from the Macedon Ranges all the way to Geelong and everything in between - there's a heap of money in storing peoples impounded ****boxes

They destroy the cars there too, excavator bucket through its roof, reckon you could make a bit of money post destruction getting all these drivelines when these people paid you 4 figures to store and destroy their car.

Everthing in the automotive repair/parts industry isn't a great money spinner, its a 'sunset' industry where its been corporatised and the only people making decent coin out of it are the ones who have run everyone else out of town through being able to buy out competitors.

Think of panel beaters and insurance companies, they're even dictating where and how much they can buy the parts for.

Big corporate auto parts companies selling directly to their reseller networks customers,

Workshops unable to buy parts cheaper than what anyone here can et al, they're only making money on their labour (if its priced appropriately), because they can't make money on parts now, its not a good place to be.

Kids on Maccas money, who only know how to ask year/make/model, drives down wages for the experienced people.

Its been a hell of a time getting qualified auto tradies in Melbourne for the past two years, I keep getting offers to go back to the tools.

[Crazy Dazz]

Where are the Nouveau Hippies when you need them?
They **** & moan and threaten anarchy because the lid of their hyperorganic quandong-milk purple-tea chai-latte isn't recycled.
But don't seem to give a **** that they are the generation that has turned everything into a disposable item. AND everything comes from China (paid for by the mining industry) on filthy great oil-burning ships, then gets thrown on the tip after a couple of years.

[MDS69]

Pick and Payless in Blacktown Sydney only closed a few weeks ago.

[Adamz Ghia]

Originally Posted by Crazy Dazz

Where are the Nouveau Hippies when you need them?
They **** & moan and threaten anarchy because the lid of their hyperorganic quandong-milk purple-tea chai-latte isn't recycled.
But don't seem to give a **** that they are the generation that has turned everything into a disposable item. AND everything comes from China (paid for by the mining industry) on filthy great oil-burning ships, then gets thrown on the tip after a couple of years.

I’m 35, my generation hasn’t turned this world into anything, and neither has the generation that has come after me. There are a handful of influential world leaders in my age bracket, the rest are boomers and the generation after. We are living in a world that was created by our parents generation, and they seem to be the ones that complain hardest about how the world is.

[Bolly47]

[QUOTE=danzvtil;6683265]Councils probably don’t want what they perceive as dirty, oily businesses around,

Make no difference to Scrap metal Yards as few around making big mess too

[aussiblue]

We are living in a world that was created by our parents generation, and they seem to be the ones that complain hardest

Every generation including the so called "boomers" could claim that. Similarly, each generation has created positives things that the subsequent generations are forgetting to credit them for e.g from boomers no more polio. No more smallpox, measles, mumps, rubella or whooping cough and much longer life expectancy. The boomer's generation of unions gave you shorter working hours, accessible health care, OH&S (no more black lung coal mines etc), abolishment of child labor at work fair pay, weekends, public holidays annual leave, superannuation and the like. It also gave you safer cars with seat belts and crumple zones. You also got consumer protection from that generation. And without the boomer invented Internet and persona; computer this forum wouldn't even exist. The boomers could have blame the previous generation for the A bomb, the cold war, chemical pollution (read Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" ) etc. It's always been the responsibility of the current generation to try and correct mans' errors of the past and do it best to make the world a better place for those that follow. It also often only with the passing of decades and hindsight, that you can see that things created by previous generations were not as good as they seemed when invented or introduced. Plastics were seen and a great invention that make the world a better place; DDT and other pesticides were seen as saving the world from disease carrying pests and increasing the productivity of food crops; the A bomb was seen as a way to end WWII etc etc.

[prktkljokr]

I dont blame anyone for the downfall of the humble wrecking yard, its just a sign of the times and the way every consumer product is going currently, cars are no exception.

To have a successful yard you need cars with good fronts and good mechanical, the rest is just the profit part, finding good cars with good fronts is hard, most of the write offs have the front smashed and because of all the plastic now the damage is in as far as the mechanical, plus you have to compete with the backyard repairer that also see's the good front cars as a easier repair than the damaged front because of less cost and time to repair.

I always looked at the car I would buy and if I could see making the purchase price back in the front and mechanicals, I would buy it, the rest is what kept the place running hopefully, this didnt always go right, I purchased cars that sat for years before I sold a part off them, that was just the luck of the draw.

Panel shops which are your main purchaser want perfect panels, they dont like it if its scratched up or has a shopping ding in them as thats repair and prep time they dont want to do on their cut back insurance cost, they also like it if you have everything they are looking for and will not hesitate to go elsewhere for the lot if you could not supply part of their order, then the mechanics dont want a 150,000k motor or trans they want 30,000k one, they dont like to have to change a damaged plastic inlet or a bent harmonic balancer etc, so you had to do this before you sent it (hence the exchange policy that most yards have on mechanical)

We had to have a licence for oil on premises, could not have more than 40 ltrs of fuel on the premises at any time (pretty silly as each car has a fuel tank?), we had to show where we disposed of oils, LPG tanks, refrigerant, tyres, chemicals etc, we had to have a oil recovery system in the wash bay, the hoists had to be serviced every 6 months, someone would whinge to council that they could see a car roof above the fence line, my monitored electric fence would go off every night because some thief would cut it doing thousands of dollars damage to take a $50 part, you could not let people in the yard as the insurance would not cover you if they hurt themselves, plus most would fill their pockets with whatever they could fit in their pocket or throw parts over the fence (I can share many stories of this), not saying every person that frequents a wrecking yard is scum, but it seems to attract a lot of them, had my fair share of dealing with them over 8 years, all these things made my decision to sell real easy, seeing if I do it at home I dont have to comply with all the rules and they will only investigate you for backyard dealing if there is a complaint.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by prktkljokr

I dont blame anyone for the downfall of the humble wrecking yard, its just a sign of the times and the way every consumer product is going currently, cars are no exception.

To have a successful yard you need cars with good fronts and good mechanical, the rest is just the profit part, finding good cars with good fronts is hard, most of the write offs have the front smashed and because of all the plastic now the damage is in as far as the mechanical, plus you have to compete with the backyard repairer that also see's the good front cars as a easier repair than the damaged front because of less cost and time to repair.

I always looked at the car I would buy and if I could see making the purchase price back in the front and mechanicals, I would buy it, the rest is what kept the place running hopefully, this didnt always go right, I purchased cars that sat for years before I sold a part off them, that was just the luck of the draw.

Panel shops which are your main purchaser want perfect panels, they dont like it if its scratched up or has a shopping ding in them as thats repair and prep time they dont want to do on their cut back insurance cost, they also like it if you have everything they are looking for and will not hesitate to go elsewhere for the lot if you could not supply part of their order, then the mechanics dont want a 150,000k motor or trans they want 30,000k one, they dont like to have to change a damaged plastic inlet or a bent harmonic balancer etc, so you had to do this before you sent it (hence the exchange policy that most yards have on mechanical)

We had to have a licence for oil on premises, could not have more than 40 ltrs of fuel on the premises at any time (pretty silly as each car has a fuel tank?), we had to show where we disposed of oils, LPG tanks, refrigerant, tyres, chemicals etc, we had to have a oil recovery system in the wash bay, the hoists had to be serviced every 6 months, someone would whinge to council that they could see a car roof above the fence line, my monitored electric fence would go off every night because some thief would cut it doing thousands of dollars damage to take a $50 part, you could not let people in the yard as the insurance would not cover you if they hurt themselves, plus most would fill their pockets with whatever they could fit in their pocket or throw parts over the fence (I can share many stories of this), not saying every person that frequents a wrecking yard is scum, but it seems to attract a lot of them, had my fair share of dealing with them over 8 years, all these things made my decision to sell real easy, seeing if I do it at home I dont have to comply with all the rules and they will only investigate you for backyard dealing if there is a complaint.

You should still do it, just do it from home and sell on eBay/Gumtree/Facebook Marketplace, you don't even need to register for GST under $75,000 turnover if you wanted to go semi-legit

Just stay on good terms with neighbours and send the odd goodies their way in the form of slabs et al to keep them placated.

For circa 20+ years some rando out here was always doing up and selling Falcons with them out on the nature strip on our main highway out of his garage.

Also another old wog bloke who for like 30+ years was selling fruit out the side of his truck on the side of the road until eventually VicRoads/council stopped him, I think he's dead now.

There's no incentive to do **** properly, with my business my local council had all these restrictions on signage, could only have X amount of signage on your perimeter fences, no A-frames out on the road etc, dramas with a kids gymnasium who opened up next to us complaining about us having loud cars in our workshop or making too much noise working on them etc.

[prktkljokr]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

You should still do it, just do it from home and sell on eBay/Gumtree/Facebook Marketplace, you don't even need to register for GST under $75,000 turnover if you wanted to go semi-legit

Just stay on good terms with neighbours and send the odd goodies their way in the form of slabs et al to keep them placated.

For circa 20+ years some rando out here was always doing up and selling Falcons with them out on the nature strip on our main highway out of his garage.

Also another old wog bloke who for like 30+ years was selling fruit out the side of his truck on the side of the road until eventually VicRoads/council stopped him, I think he's dead now.

There's no incentive to do **** properly, with my business my local council had all these restrictions on signage, could only have X amount of signage on your perimeter fences, no A-frames out on the road etc, dramas with a kids gymnasium who opened up next to us complaining about us having loud cars in our workshop or making too much noise working on them etc.

Have been doing it from home since I sold the place in 2002, I stick with late model Euro though as the parts are worth a fortune new, have an A4 on the hoist at the moment that is giving me a good return on my investment , last car was a C200 sedan, only have some parts left on a pallet from that and it paid for itself 5 times over, when I have some bits left over after I have made enough, I give whats left to a good friend that still owns a yard.

Nothing is visible to the neighbours, all in the shed and behind the shed, I buy the car it goes onto the hoist and I strip it, I then lower it onto a trolley I made that holds the shell roll it out where I will do some cuts, the shell gets loaded onto the back of my RTV and I take it to the scrapper and just drop it off, neighbours would be lucky to see it for a couple of hours tops and they would have to be snooping to see it, I just do Gumtree, sometimes Facebook, Ebay is screwed now for selling, I sell most of the panels, lights bumpers etc to my work who pay me top $$, the rest is online.

[Adamz Ghia]

Originally Posted by aussiblue

Every generation including the so called "boomers" could claim that. Similarly, each generation has created positives things that the subsequent generations are forgetting to credit them for e.g from boomers no more polio. No more smallpox, measles, mumps, rubella or whooping cough and much longer life expectancy. The boomer's generation of unions gave you shorter working hours, accessible health care, OH&S (no more black lung coal mines etc), abolishment of child labor at work fair pay, weekends, public holidays annual leave, superannuation and the like. It also gave you safer cars with seat belts and crumple zones. You also got consumer protection from that generation. And without the boomer invented Internet and persona; computer this forum wouldn't even exist. The boomers could have blame the previous generation for the A bomb, the cold war, chemical pollution (read Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" ) etc. It's always been the responsibility of the current generation to try and correct mans' errors of the past and do it best to make the world a better place for those that follow. It also often only with the passing of decades and hindsight, that you can see that things created by previous generations were not as good as they seemed when invented or introduced. Plastics were seen and a great invention that make the world a better place; DDT and other pesticides were seen as saving the world from disease carrying pests and increasing the productivity of food crops; the A bomb was seen as a way to end WWII etc etc.

Of course, and I agree with all that. I’m not complaining about the world today or knocking previous generations.

What annoys me is when my generation and the ones after me are blamed for the way the world is and labeled entitled and lazy, when in fact we are living in a world created by our parents. We haven’t had the chance to greatly affect the planet today, those years are coming.

So when Crazy Dazz makes a post like that, if he is older than 40, he’s complaining about a world that his generation inherited and created.

[Crazy Dazz]

Originally Posted by Adamz Ghia

I’m 35, my generation hasn’t turned this world into anything,

Oh look, another butthurt Gen-Y

and yeah, clearly English Comprehension isn't what it used to be

[Adamz Ghia]

Originally Posted by Crazy Dazz

Oh look, another butthurt Gen-Y

and yeah, clearly English Comprehension isn't what it used to be

Yep, the favourite generation for people like you to blame for your screw ups.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Adamz Ghia

Yep, the favourite generation for people like you to blame for your screw ups.

Bah who cares what they think of us millennials, I quite like my dirty chai latte and I'm proud of it.

I've even been copping **** about being a millennial from Zoomers (Gen Z) the cheeky young punks.

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by prktkljokr

Have been doing it from home since I sold the place in 2002, I stick with late model Euro though as the parts are worth a fortune new, have an A4 on the hoist at the moment that is giving me a good return on my investment , last car was a C200 sedan,

Hmm. Any C209 bits there?

[prktkljokr]

Originally Posted by GasoLane

Hmm. Any C209 bits there?

Sorry 2014 W204, I try to stay in the 10 year age gap

[aussiblue]

This was interesting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASB4KSW86do The UK scene is obviously very different.

[DTFRMONT]

Another interesting one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcO_NgP17kI

As others said, Ebay, etc & better access to reasonably priced aftermarket parts are contributing factors as well..

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

We had a factory on 4000m2 property not far out of Melbourne CBD, why take our $300,000/year rent from our manufacturing operation?

Land sold for $17M, 120 apartments going to go up on it thanks to a zoning change.

The joint where my car was impounded had to have 75+ cars there in their impound yard and they had the contract for hoon impounds for the entire western Vic Police region, goes from the Macedon Ranges all the way to Geelong and everything in between - there's a heap of money in storing peoples impounded ****boxes

They destroy the cars there too, excavator bucket through its roof, reckon you could make a bit of money post destruction getting all these drivelines when these people paid you 4 figures to store and destroy their car.

Everthing in the automotive repair/parts industry isn't a great money spinner, its a 'sunset' industry where its been corporatised and the only people making decent coin out of it are the ones who have run everyone else out of town through being able to buy out competitors.

Think of panel beaters and insurance companies, they're even dictating where and how much they can buy the parts for.

Big corporate auto parts companies selling directly to their reseller networks customers,

Workshops unable to buy parts cheaper than what anyone here can et al, they're only making money on their labour (if its priced appropriately), because they can't make money on parts now, its not a good place to be.

Kids on Maccas money, who only know how to ask year/make/model, drives down wages for the experienced people.

Its been a hell of a time getting qualified auto tradies in Melbourne for the past two years, I keep getting offers to go back to the tools.

For the record, I've just left the automotive industry, joints a crap shoot