Should I be buying junkyard parts to flip?

I’ve seen almost 100 different Tacomas all over Northern California junkyard over the past 2-3 years, and I have yet to find a 4WD Tacoma. It’s all 5-lugs and the occasional PreRunner.

You have to remember 4x4 trucks are basically nonexistent in the Pacific Northwest and California. You don’t need it here.

 

There some Mexicans out of Aurora, selling cheap Taco parts on FB Marketplace. I haven't visited their yard, but I've saved their info. The ads are mostly in Spansih, so it looks like you better hable Espanol!

 

All I can say is I hope your luck is better then mine.

Most of mine ended up getting thrown out

 

And this is why I by complete trucks I have not paid more then $900 for 1. I usoly make my investment back before I get the truck home.

 

yup.

yup.
A real shame there's like that 1/100 mint car that shows up at the junkyard. Some wife or daughter or something that has to 'deal' with some "ooooooooold car" and calls one of those "WE TOW JUNK CARS FOR FREE" ads stapled to phone polls.

Yup.
Those commercial junkyard. The guys you see on eBay where EVERYTHING is $80.
Bucket of bolts? $80.
Power door lock switch? $80.
Tailgate handle? $80.
Airbox lid? $80.

LKQ took over the 5 junkyards local to me about 5 years ago. Their organization got better, but prices doubled or tripled.

Not really true. 4x4 trucks never hit the junkyard because they are worth gold compared to the 5lugs....


Here's the reality:
Sure, you can make money off this stuff. Small guys have done it, as well as legit businesses making money hand over fist with this stuff.
In the past, I've snagged a couple gauge clusters, out of an older Honda Civic, for example. Pay $15 at the gate, and sell it on eBay for $100.

PROBLEM IS: eBay sucks.

Listing items on eBay is painful. Takes 10-15 minutes per item to make an ad, you have to go through and hand select EVERY single model it fits... You have to be VERY careful in your description, and have to pansy around all this "I can't guarantee blah blah blah" so that nothing ever comes back on you. It really sucks because it gets to the point that most eBay ads don't even have a freaking description. It's just their 'stamp image' of "HERE'S OUR PHONE NUMBER, AND WEBSITE, WE GOT EVERRRRRRRRYTHAAAAANG" but nothing actually relevant to the item in question...
AND on top of all that, it's never even worth it! Maybe your item could sell for $100 locally. You see other eBay vendors with the same part listed for $250. WHOA! you say, that's crazy! I'll sell mine real easy for $150.
But you list it. No bites. Relist it. Nothin. You re-list it for 3 months straight and finally get 1 bid for $80, so you take it.
Then eBay takes their 10%. PayPal takes their 3%. and then you gotta pay for shipping, which is ALWAYS the longest, most expensive possible shipping - all the way across the damn country.

I've sold items on eBay where I've actually lost money. Freaking ridiculous. "Oh this will be a quick $20!.....NOT!"

 

I’ve been selling on eBay since 2008. It’s not as hard as you make it seem. I leave and item and I set to to renew automatically and I sit and forget about it until it sells. Most parts are in demand enough that I can charge shipping and still have it sell.

I’ve sold a lot of things through eBay and it’s a very valuable resource. You have a much bigger marketplace than on Craigslist or on TW.

And 4x4 trucks are rare. I would say out of every five 1st Gens, one of them is a 4x4. But you’re right most 4x4 trucks that end up salvaged end up at insurance auctions or speciality junkyards.

EDIT: I should add they are rare in California and the PNW in general since most people don’t need 4WD here. That’s why 5-lugs and PreRunners are much more common.

 

@BartMaster1234 Surely if you drive all over Northern California you'd have found a spot to test that 4 wheel drive

 

Haha man I passed by the Carnegie Hills SVRA but I was on the clock so I couldn’t stop by.

 

Maybe they are rare in your microcosm, but 4x4 Tacomas outnumber 4x2 Tacomas here probably 2:1 or 3:1.
I am in the Washington DC area, so people do "think" they need 4x4, but we still have a majority of FWD cars.

It's also evident that 4x4 trucks are extremely popular as Toyota is heavily pushing either legit 4x4 trucks or the 4x4 "look". The 2wd mini truck is long gone.

 

Keep in mind I’m talking from a California and PNW standpoint. They are far more common in other parts of the country.

People don’t need 4WD here. It doesn’t snow or freeze enough to justify it in most parts of the region.

 

@stomachbuzz

I saw you’re in Silver Spring. I actually stayed there for a week during the Presidential Innaguration. Beautiful place. I tried making a game of how many Tacomas I could find, in the end I saw nil. Most of the trucks I saw were full sized or mid sized American trucks. I rarely saw a 1st gen or 2nd gen, but there were a few 3rd Gens.

 

I don't see how this is a good idea. If those parts were so valuable wouldn't the PNP be pulling and selling them for a profit?

 

Pick-n-Pull is a chain junkyard owned by Schnizer Steel.

Pick-n-Pull doesn’t make its money off the parts you pull from the cars, it makes money off the metal it recycles from the cars.

Think about all the steel, iron, gold, platinum, silver, etc inside your average car.

 

Try Facebook Marketplace. So far, all my transactions there have been GREAT. That includes buying a car in Portland, Oregon. I bought that car a month ago.

 

OK, then why do they have the yards and all the associated liabilities? Why not just send the cars straight to the shredder?

 

I'm sorry, but you must not have been looking with your good eye.

You can't drive one block here without seeing 3 Tacomas.

Toyota as a brand is heavily preferred here, especially as we have a HUGE immigrant population. Both hispanic and asian immigrants literally only drive Toyotas like it's a sin to drive anything else.
I live with my Vietnamese girlfriend. Her parents are now in their 60s and are OG Vietnam refugees. They literally refuse to even touch anything non-Toyota. Not even a Honda. Their family owns like 18 Toyotas combined. Mom, dad, all 4 children, oldest daughter's husband, 2nd oldest daughter's husband, me (lol), and all of the mother's sisters.
It's legit crazy.
One time, we had 8 Toyotas parked daily in the driveway/street.

But yeah, every hispanic guy in existence here owns a Tacoma, and usually buys his wife a double cab to drive the kids around as well.

 

b

because they need someone to pull the parts...

 

Lol. I've used facebook market place. Literally 99% spanish speakers only.
I tried to sell my old Tacoma on there...I got 50-60 replies within 3 days. Only one of them spoke english. Beyond insane.

 

Must be a regional thing.

I mean, the Taco stuff I've seen was mos def from hispanics. But all the Mazda stuff I've bought from there, was 100% caucasian. Not that I care, a deal is a deal. Luckily for me, I'm fluent in Spanish, French and Italian. Most North Africans speak French or a French derived Patois, so we can communicate.

 

Well there ya go.

What's funnier is...every single hispanic guy (who I got past ¿está disponible? with) said they wanted to buy my truck to ship it back to central America.

"I buy yours for $8k, I know a guy who can ship it back to 'my country' for $1500, and then I can sell it for $15k down there."