So--- there I am in a local junk yard looking at a 63 riviera. I need a check valve for my brake booster on my 65 riv. The valve is different but there are some other parts that I will need at some point. So I spend about an hour looking around other cars for the valve. So now I go to the office and tell the owner what I need and he has a guy go out with me and find it.We found a 66 riv and I think that the vlave is the same. So the guy walks back to get pliers. Comes back and sayes that the owner wants 50 bucks for the valve. I was like, what are you smoking??Some people are just sick in the head... Pete
Bring a pliers next time and hope they forgot who you were. Maybe sneak it out while paying for those "rare valve stems" you've always needed. :laugh:
could be : 1. you are looking for a buick part... buick = rare 2. you asked for help, could mean you are inexperienced or lazy and willing to pay 3. the guy knows he has the one you want and wants to dog you for a few bucks more 4. did you do your homework and see what this part is going for in other venues [swap meets, hemmings, ebay, other buick clubs/owners]? 5. the guy knows that part is worth that much? could be if you price them elsewhere :ball:
Do NOT steal it. They'll remember it was there, especially after someone inquired about it and balked at the price. They're like little kids. My 4 year old has a hundred HotWheels, and if one is missing, he know exactly which one and will not rest until he finds it.
Contact txgwildcat on this board. He has access to an all Riv yard. Steve PS his handle may be tgxwildcat?
do not steal, its a sin !! i dont want anything on my car if it does not belong to me, that would bother me to no end. the junk yards are pretty crazy, but no matter how crazy they get, it is their item. if you pay for it, you can drive with a clear conscience. i know about being sore tempted, but one thing i think ( hope ) i have learned in life is, dont take things that dont belong to you. if ya get caught you go to jail too. i dont want anymore sins on my record. henry
Pull it off the car yourself, and then bring it to them for payment. If they still ask an outrageous price, then just say, "Ok, I'll just go put it right back on the car." See what they say after that. That's a great tactic at swap meets when they price doesn't make you feel all fuzzy inside. That's how I got a really nice 71 800cfm qjet for $20 in Flint.:TU:
There are a few different types of junk yards... the main stream ones with set prices and employees and the run down lots run by the same guy who owns the place... good thing about the main stream junk yards is that they do alot of volume and really give good deals on the small misc stuff... they make thier money off the major parts.. "if its not in the book its a buck". The bad thing about these yards is your lucky to find older stuff. Every car in the one I go to is dated and only sits for 30 days until crushed. My idea with the small yards is find what you need. If I know the guy is gonna gouge me on the price, I'll usually grab a few misc screws and just take it all up to the counter. If he asks if you found what you needed... say no but I figured Id get these other parts for spare (I use the screws cause I can always say I just lose them), and if he asks what are you looking for just rattle off some part that you know he doesnt have. If he still wants to much, say its not that big of a deal and just say, well this isnt what I was looking for, but I only got this much on me ect... its hard for those guys to pass the green when you got it in your hand. I walked out of a junk yard with a complete 69 430 motor and th400 for 150 bucks that he tried to sell my dad for 500. its all a physcology game and you have to be the player, bought what it all comes down to.
Don't remind me of how much I spent in Flint.:ball: I did take home some nice NOS parts, though! The wife was bitchin at me all the way home because I found a nice hood and had to trailer it back with the Riv. :spank:
A tactic I will use is to remove the part, and take it to the counter and downplay what it is, like it's some kind of worthless nickel, dime part. Sometimes they will just tell you to go on and have a nice day. I've gotten many parts for nothing but my time. Or, if they tell you $30.00 let's say. I then will tell them "I called earlier and the guy I talked to said $20.00 if I took it off the car." Many yards just make up the prices off the top of their head anyways.
Just walk away and wait for the next one. It is an acting job sometimes at the local yards. You have to downplay the item in need pretending that it is not that important to you. The good thing about Buicks is that most people don't know that there are people like us out there and that Buicks have rare expensive items on them. Go get a part from a 1970 Chevelle one time!! Never approach them saying that the part is rare, hard to find. Act like you see them all the time. If I don't like a price someone gives me, then I say think I will pass. I don't stick it in the tool box. Might have a head-on collison on the way home and have to answer for it.ou:
Oh yeah, Never drive a nice car. Never drive an old Buick. Never wear expensive, or clean clothes. If you have false teeth, remove them. Talk with a back-woods scolarship dialect (kinda like mine). Quote a line or 2 from Deliverance. Then, they might give it to you out of pity.:grin: :laugh:
The part that kills me is that if you don't come along and need the part, it will just get crushed someday anyway. Many yards get old cars and just crush them because they don't keep cars in their yard that are too old. I wonder how many wood steering wheels and posi rear ends got wasted like that?:shock:
Been there! :af: Back in '86 the 425 in my '66 gave up. Before committing to rebuild it, I searched and searched for a good used 425. I looked everywhere, ROA, BCA, Hemmings, phone call after phone call. Nothing! Then one day I'm at a yard and spot a '66 Wildcat with a complete motor. Went and talked to a guy in the office, we got it fired it up, Perfect! Agreed on $200.00 for the price, gave him $100.00 deposit to hold it, and told him I would be back the following Saturday. The following Saturday, I show up, touch base with the guy I dealt with and went out back. Car is not sitting where it was.:eek2: Looked up at a flatbed and there it is flattened! Well, surely they pulled the engine! We went over to the guys prepping cars for the crusher and talk to them. What? That Buick? We didn't pull that engine, because we figured it was so old and no one would want it. :af: :af: :af: Out of disbelief, I went back over to the flatbed, and sure enough, I could see the oil pan. Needless to say.. I got my $100.00 back! :rant: I ended up rebuilding. Funny thing is, I see used 425's for sale quite often now.
What I've always done is found out how much the part is BEFORE I yank it off, Just walk back in try to look like you know what you're doing and ask how much they want for the .... off of the old rusted Buick back there? Then after they make up a price out of thin air, try and grab some extra parts until it's fair for you, I pcicked up a backlight for a 71 Riv that way, no way I'm digging one of theose back windows out just to find out he wanted 500 bucks.
Re: Been there! That's the pits. Around 20 years ago I saved a pair of rechromed riv bumpers from the crusher minutes before it was too late, I paid $100 for the pair. I had to go home and scrounge for the money and made it back just in time. One other time I got a 401 with the trans attached for $150. I saved the tranny for a rainy day, scarfed some parts off the motor, and sold it for what I paid for it. I'll bet that motor ran good, there was hardly a ridge at the top of the cylinders. The Lesabre it came out of shouldn't have been in the junkyard, the interior was good and the car was in good shape.:bglasses:
Las Vegas u-pic yard Heard about a yard in las vegas at smiley & lamb roads,supposed to have a few buicks,15x7 ralleye wheels etc. thought i would pass it along!o No: Moz
thou shalt not.... stealing will only bring bad car-ma! if you are not too worried about the repercussions of stealing, lying, and coveting, why not just take an M-16 with you next time, kill them all, and just take what you want. that is what i would do:shock: :laugh: of course, we should remember that most wrecking yards NEVER pay a dime for the cars they haul away, most never know what it is they have or even like cars to begin with.
