Should I be buying junkyard parts to flip?

I often visit my local junkyard and find Tacomas and 4runners. It is how I went about doing my roof rack project, and how I have gotten mudflaps and various other minor parts.

I often leave behind interior trim pieces in perfect shape, especially radio bezels and the piece below the radio with the power outlets. They are usually tan but sometimes gray as well. Every time I think of the occasional post on here of someone needing one. The cars get crushed I expect after a few months so it seems a shame to put them to waste. I've had mixed success selling parts on ebay what do you guys think?

There are of course other parts like seatbelts center consoles switches and the like. I always grab wheel center caps. I also have a few emblems on hand. Just don't want to put forth too much money for parts collecting dust in my already crowded garage..

 

I was ready to say go for it, until your last sentence regarding a crowded garage. Dismantling is not for you. All the friends that I have that dismantle parts (mostly 1st and 2nd gen Miatas) A. have space availabl B. could care less about a crowded garage and C. Keep all their parts organized.

Truth is some stuff sells itself, some stuff lingers for a while. It's the nature of the beast.

 

Don't do it.

Too many times I've gone to the local PNPs to check out a newly arrived Toyota truck
to retrieve a part I actually need for my vehicle, and its already stripped clean.
Its likely because of other guys that are doing what you want to do.
They buy up the useable parts, hoard them, hoping to make money.

Just MHO.

 

If you do it be prepared to have a lot of parts siting around for some time. I have a storage under my house full of crates and still have some big stuff in my back yard.

 

If that stuff was hanging around my house I would be quickly headed for divorce. lol Although I do think it's a great idea to strip these trucks of all interior trim before they hit the crusher. Some of this stuff is simply not available anymore from the dealer.

 

That was threatened at one point but then when I showed my wife the balance sheet from the 4 trucks thing became OK. I do my best to keep it hidden and out of site.

 

Dude, that's what most people who go to junkyards do.

 

Hell, that's what junkyards do!

 

Really confused here....where is anyone finding Toyota trucks in the junkyards????

Back when I had a Nissan hardbody pickup, I would frequent the local junkyard maybe 2-3 times a month. Every 1-2 months there would be a new 80s Nissan Hardbody that had been dropped off, and about 10-15 domestic trucks.

Then I got my Tacoma and started wishing a Tacoma would come in to the junkyard.
Literally never.
Over the next 4 years, I saw ONE Tacoma - it was a '95 single cab 4x4 truck. A tree had crushed it right down the middle, bumper to bumper. Literally no way to revive it. I'm pretty sure it came to the junkyard already stripped because the date written on the windshield was like 2 days prior.

I don't know where you're at where people are sending Tacomas to the crusher, but that ain't happening around here.

 

Same.
I wish I knew of a Tacoma at a PNP.

 

yep.

Just literally doesn't make economic sense. Even completely wrecked ones will still bring like $1500+ at an insurance auction, so it never makes any sense to sell them for $200-400 to the junkyard.

Dodge Neons on the other hand... boy oh boy wouldn't you be happy to drive that sucker in for $250.

 

only if your time is worth literally nothing..

 

If you do I'd certainly be interested in some interior parts.

 

I am in South Carolina. One truck baffled me as there seemed to be no damage and the frame was not bent (there are perfect frames getting crushed all the time its a real shame)

I do think I'll pass on buying parts unless I just see one lying around in perfect shape. I run a small business out of my garage and that takes up all the space, but I somehow have found room for 4runner roof rack parts I'll likely never use...For what it's worth, Often trim pieces such as the back interior panel behind the folding seats, pillar trim, and door trim are long gone, as are most drivetrain components

 

Here in Denver, there are at least 2 dedicated Tacoma/4Runner junkyards that I know of, and they tend to hoard anything Toyota/Lexus. Those yards part everything out at crazy prices, easily 5x what a regular JY would charge, and often sell a lot of their parts online. Occasionally a Tacoma will find it's way to an LKQ or Pull-n-Pay, but they get gutted quickly.

I've been looking for an OEM hood for months and the only damage free one that popped up that I found was $400, and it was gone in less than a day. One yard wanted $125 for an AC compressor off a truck with 190k miles on it, lol.

 

Do it. I used to do it a lot the past two or three years.

The profit margins on these parts are insane. For example: I buy a door lock actuator for $19.95, at sell it for $120.00 on eBay.

 

@Tlrtucker yeah LKQ is where I go, never seen a hood or good tailgate for that matter. All the items like alternator starter intake etc are long gone. It's nice they specialize in needed parts but not when they partake in highway robbery

 

I would love to grab specific parts to keep them from getting crushed and undercut the guys that keep stuff way high, but I don't have the space or in truth the up front money

 

I go to college full time and I still manage to do it on weekends. Find small, high dollar parts to sell. Door lock actuators, computer modules, injectors, instrument clusters, taillights, visors, little things like that. I drive all over Northern California to find Tacoma parts.

It's a great way to get extra income. I'd buy a parts trucks if I had room for it.

 

Find me a gray center console for 4wd. I never put one in my truck after the swap and everything shows.
Thanks