Real life wrecks to riches

admin    Salvage, Salvage hints and tips, Salvage news    

Calling all Salvage yards……..

Firstly, apologies if this sounds like a scam, it truly inst meant to sound that way.
As winter fast approaches, I’m finding I’d like a project to work on and keep me busy over the winter months.

I’m looking for a salvage project specifically, and one which will hopefully provide some profit from selling on as soon as the weather improves.

I’m also hoping that one of the many salvage yards out there, will be kind enough to help me out in return for some promotional activity.

I’m looking for a car which I can repair, and demonstrate that buying, repairing and selling a salvage vehicle is do-able by just about anybody, not just specialists. I’m going to do all the work myself, and will be hoping to sell the car on once I’ve finished, hopefully for a profit.
Each week, I will be documenting my progress, and will posting updates here on wrecks2riches.

Its a real-life example, of how salvage could potentially take a wreck and turn it into riches…

The opportunity…
For any salvage yard willing to either donate or subsidise a salvage vehicle, I will happily commit to providing substantial marketing support, and on sale of the vehicle, a split of the profits.
(I’m not asking for anything fancy, just something which is a relatively easy repair, and has the potential to sell on for a modest profit once repaired)

Why?
Its a great opportunity for a salvage yard to get their name out there, in a very niche market. Likewise, the write-ups and guides produced off the back of the project will help spur on many other potential buyers. Potential buyers of your salvage vehicles.

If you are a salvage yard, and are interested in the above opportunity, please feel free to contact me. Just leave a comment, and I will come back to you within 24 hours.

Scrappage scheme boom time for salvage breaker

admin    Salvage, Salvage hints and tips, Salvage news    

Sum of the parts equals more than the car.
Auto Express recently ran an article looking into the value of a car as parts. With the Government scrappage scheme making more people scrap perfectly usable cars, breakers like 247 spares are being flooded with good quality parts which can be sold on for a premium.

I’d already covered a similar topic back in October 08 on breaking rather than repairing, which even then was looking to be far more profitable in many circumstances.

Article extract – Source: Auto Express issue 1,073.

Under the scrappage scheme, the buyer has to essentially sign the death warrant on their current car before they can get the keys to the discounted one. And we’ve head many tales of dealers accepting completely functional Porsches, fully serviced Civics and pristine Micras.

To qualify for the governments promised share of £2000 discount the motor has to be taken to one of 1,400 Automotive Treatment Facilities (ATFs) around the country and issues with a Certificate of destruction (COD). Up to the end of June 2009, 29,796 cars had either been destroyed or were on the chopping block thanks to the scheme.

But the COD is a bit of a red herring because although the car can no longer exist, the cars can and often will be harvested for resale. “The vehicle has got to be scrapped for the COD, yet the ATF is at liberty to take off any parts” admitted Duncan Wemyss, secretary of the Motor Vehicles Dismantlers Association.

It spells boom time for Britain’s biggest dismantler, Doncaster Motor Spares in S Yorks. Its boss Richard Martin told us: “On average we handle about 500 cars per week, but last week we collected about 100 more from the scrappage scheme.” He admitted the quality had been good too. “In general these models are cleaner, perhaps they have been in a family and passed down through the generations. They’re better quality than a scrap car.”

His company turns over several million pounds a year – hardly surprising when you take a closer look at how much money a single motor can generate in parts alone.
To find out we decided to ’strip’ a popular scrappage trade in – a 1999 Ford KA. First we identified 30 or so of the most sought after parts. We then put in a request for each one with an online clearing house used by dismantlers hunting customers.

As our inbox filled with prices for everything from tailgate struts to 1.3 litre engines, we selected the cheapest offer knocked off the VAT and postage, and began to establish a tidy sum for our little run around. By the end of the day we had generated a huge £1,451. Not bad for a car Doncaster Motor Spares will pay only £1000 for on average.

To see how owners would fare dismantling and flogging the parts themselves, we also compared our trade prices with those on auction site eBay. We discovered that an enterprising soul with a socket set and storage space could fetch nearly £800 for the same spares, although without Doncaster Spares 90 day guarantee. (See table)

So, what does this mean for us?

1) If you are in it purely for profit, before buying any Salvage vehicle, price up repairing vs breaking. You might be surprised how much you could make. Use eBay and parts sites to verify how much your parts are worth.

2) Remember the Scrappage scheme wont be around forever so this may be a temporary phenomenon.

3) If you are breaking, consider the time and storage implications, it may take a long time to sell parts individually, you will incur advertising costs e.g. eBay listings. And you will have the hassle of arranging postage or couriers for sending the parts.

Value of a Cat D repaired car

admin    Salvage hints and tips    

I often get asked lots of questions around how much cheaper a Cat D repaired car should be vs a clean original example. So, I’ve compiled a quick overview of my thoughts below. (Following on from one of my posts on www.z4-forum.com

Firstly, there is nothing wrong with buying a cat D, provided you follow some fairly simple rules. Do your homework, and you can end up with an excellent car, and a complete bargain!

People looking for Cat D’s fall into 3 groups.

Group 1 – People looking for a cheap run-around which will be run into the ground.
Group 2 – The Dreamers – looking for their dream car but cant quite afford it, so need to compromise.
Group 3 – Exotica hunters – Looking for rare cars, normally with prices into the hundreds of thousands new.

When buying a cat D for your use, or buying a cat D to repair and sell, make sure you remember these target groups, as the groups are radically different and will want very different things.

When buying a Cat D here are my tips.

1) Make sure you purchase at the right price. As a guide I’ve always priced cat D cars at least 25% below normal book value. Although now were in a recession and the government has reduce the scrappage scheme, try to haggle for 25-30%.

2) Check the car out thoroughly – If you are serious, have a full inspection done, and get the repair work checked thoroughly. Some Cat D’s have well documented repair histories, along with photo’s of the original damage, and work to repair. If you don’t know what the original damage was, and what was done to repair, it raises a whole load of questions! In which case don’t touch.

3) When you come to sell, you will have trouble. People will buy Cat D’s, but they are much fewer than regular buyers. Most people will avoid a Cat D like the plague. Meaning you will probably need to sell dirt cheap. If it were a run around, or a car you wanted to keep and run into the ground, it would be very worth it.

4) If you still fancy a CAT D, there is always the option of buying damaged, and arranging repairs yourself. At least you know the quality of work, and some of the history this way. Likewise, you should be able to do it even cheaper!

These same tips apply whether your a buyer or seller, and are all important when looking to buy/sell a Cat D car.

Hope this helps. If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment, and I will respond.

A good time to be buying salvage?

admin    Salvage hints and tips    

With the credit crunch and us just about to enter the christmas holiday period, is it really a good time to be buying a damaged repairable car?

The anwser is both Yes and No.

This time is good if you are looking to buy a salvage car to repair as the salvage yards are desparate to shift stock, many people have been hit hard by the credit crunch and its slowed their turnover of cars substantially! With a bit of haggling you should be able to get an absolute bargain! However, choose carefully at the moment only a few types of cars are selling well, and if you want to be able to sell easily once repaired make sure you stick to small engined, economical cars, preferably with a bit of style e.g. Mini, fiat 500, etc.

Likewise, if you are looking to take your time repairing a car, now would be the perfect time to buy a convertible. The weather and credit crunch have pushed prices down, and with us being in the depths of winter nobody is buying convertibles. However, if you take your time repairing and plan to sell in the spring once prices inevitable start rising as demand goes up, you could stand to make a tidy profit.

On the flip side, now is a really bad time to buy salvage if you are looking at the prestige car market, or exotic cars. The values are plummeting and in all likelyhood once your have purchased and repaired the car it will be worth less than it was to buy as salvage only a few weeks/months ago. Its really best to stick to small economical cars which are still high in demand.

Salvage Jargon explained

admin    Salvage hints and tips    

When searching around for salvaged cars you will ofte notice all sorts of jargon, to help out you newbies out there, I have listed some of the more common salvage acronyms below.

O/S – Off-Side (which means the driver’s side of the vehicle)

O/S/F – Off-Side Front

O/S/R – Off-Side Rear

N/S – Near-Side (which means the passenger’s side of the vehicle)

N/S/F – Near-Side Front

N/S/R – Near-Side Rear

NROV – (Not Recorded on V-Car) The vehicle is not recorded on the HPI register

U/S – Un-Serviceable (the part specified is no good)

S/REC – Stolen Recovered

FSH – full service history

Category A
A written-off vehicle that must be totally destroyed, including all of its parts.

Category B
A written-off vehicle from which the spare parts may be re-sold, but from which the body-shell should be destroyed so that the vehicle cannot be returned to the road.

Category C
A vehicle that is written-off by the insurers because the repair costs are greater than the value of the vehicle itself, but which can nonetheless still be potentially repaired to a roadworthy condition. (Please note all Category C Cars require a VIC test, which is completed by the DVLA)

Category D
A vehicle that has been written-off by the insurers, for various possible reasons, even though its physical repair costs are less than the vehicle’s actual value. Excellent car for repair & re-sale as often damage may be fairly minimal.

Category X or U
A vehicle that is “not recorded” as being damaged on the HPI register, or which has only minimal or cosmetic damage only.

UK Salvage website directory – Websites, telephone numbers & services

admin    Salvage, Salvage hints and tips    

Well, here it is. Its taken quite some time to compile, but please see below a directory containing pretty much all of the UK’s salvage yards and breakers in one directory. If you cant find the salvage website you are after here, its unlikely you will anywhere else!

Auto Salvage and Spares Ltd
www.autospares-salvage.com
tel: 01604 750 750
Northampton based scrap yard which also sells salvage & damage repairable vehicles.
A well established salvage yard which has been trading since the 70’s!
Good blog on their site detailing the the work & subsequent benefits of buying and repairing a salvage car.
They also offer a wide range of standard and performance car parts.

ASM Auto Recycling
www.asm-autos.co.uk
tel: 01844 268 94
ASM offer salvage, parts, vehicle dismantling and scrap metal processing. Quite a modern salvage business based out of Oxford & Aylesbury
ASM Auto Recylcing also have a number of ‘state-of-the-art’ de-pollution rigs to enable the processing of abandoned or End of Life vehicles(ELV’s) in accordance with the ELV European directive.

Hewitt International Salvage Management
www.hewitt.co.uk
tel: 0871 872 6600
With their head office based in Wombourne, Hewitt Salvage Management are a fairly sizable organisation disposing or selling on thousands of damaged cars every year. Hewitt often run salvage auctions. (Check their site for details)
Hewitt Salvage also deal in a lot of agricultural salvage. e.g. Combine Harvesters or Tractors.

HBC Vehicle Salvage Specialists
www.hbc.co.uk
tel: 01268 694590 (Canvey Island)
tel: 01623 871 147 (Nottingham
tel: 01642 565 642 (Teeside)
HBC purely sell on damaged vehicles straight from the insurers via auctions. Based out of three sites Canvey Island, Nottingham, and Teeside they have a good reach across the country.
To take part in the online salvage auctions registration is required along with a annual fee of £25.

Silverlake Garage Autoparts
www.silverlakeautoparts.co.uk
tel: 01489 782939
Founded in 1946 & based in Southampton. Silverlake Garage and Autoparts offer repairable salvage and car parts.
Offers online salvage auctions for its repairable cars.

Northern Salvage Automobile Aucions
www.northernsalvage.co.uk
tel: 01501 763636
Glasgow based salvage auctions. (In person not online)

Motor Junction
www.easysalvage.com
tel: 0121 568 8562
West Midlands based salvage auction site, setup in 2000. Specialising in UK car salvage direct from insurers. Also offer spare parts.

Fighting Cocks Salvage Spares
www.fightingcocks.info
tel: 01902 403525
Wolverhapton based salvage yard. With premises are located in Bilston, comprising of a new and used spares shop, tyre bay, salvage centre and three acre dismantling compound, housing over 800 vehicles

Salvage 75
www.salvage75.co.uk
tel: 01509 843462
Leicestershire based salvage firm. Also known as RD Salvage www.rdsalvage.co.uk
Salvage 75 specialise in late model performance and 4×4’s

Century Salvage Sales
www.centurysalvagesales.co.uk
tel: N/A
A part of Copart, who are a leading online re-seller of salvage online. Copart sell over 1 million salvage vehicles per year. Copart are a sizable US salvage business who own many salvage yards in the US, and more recently UK. Copart recently floated on the stock market and is now listed on the NASDAQ. Copart provide suppliers, primarily insurance companies, with a full range of re-marketing services to expose their product to buyers in more than 85 countries. Those buyers include licensed dismantlers, re-builders, used vehicle dealers and exporters
Buyer registration required to purchase salvage online.

WJ Furber Salvage
www.wjfurber.co.uk
tel: 01948 880212
Sizable salvage business based out of Shropshire. As well as dealing in damaged cars, WJ Furber also sell light commercial, heavy commercial, plant & Agricultural and motorcycle salvage, spares and accessories.
Apparently the Midlands largest Salvage vehicle dealer and dismantler.

Dewsbury Auto Salvage
www.dewsburyautosalvage.co.uk
tel: 01924 437743
Yorkshire based salvage yard, which specialises in providing new and used Japanese and far eastern car parts in the UK. Reportedly they have over 10,000 cars on site and up to 1 million parts available at any one time. Definitely the place to visit is you are after specific part for a Japanese import.

TS Russell Salvage
www.tsrussell.co.uk
tel: 01902 791716
Established since 1985 and based out of Wolverhapton, in the West Midlands.
TS Russell specialise in light salvage damaged vehicles, and alongside re-selling damaged cars, also break and sell parts to the public.
Also owners of the two below businesses which can be found at.
www.peugeotrecyk.com
www.citroenrecyk.com

Portway Salvage
www.portwaysalvage.com
tel: 0121 559 4581
Birmingham based salvage yard. With a range of salvage and damage repairable cars for sale via their website.

Gowing Auto Salvage
www.gowing.co.uk
tel: 01284 812050
Gowing Auto Savage are a sizable salvage operation based in Suffolk. Gowing offer nationwide delivery of any car, and hold a stock of literally hundreds of salvage and repairable cars at any one point. Likewise they also offer new or used parts, and have facilities for End of Life Vehicles (ELV’)

Church Road Motors
www.churchroadmotors.co.uk
tel: 01902 341845
Another of the many Wolverhapton based salvage yards. Chruch Road Motors offer a multitude of both cars and commercial salvage as well as offering repair services.

Cleave Motor Salvage
www.motorsalvage.com
tel: 01452 40000
One of the biggest and most well know salvage yards in the country. Based out of Gloucester, Cleave Motor Salvage have seen some of the most exotic salvage this country has ever seen, highlighted by them at one stage selling Jay Kay’s (from band, Jamuriqui) Lamborghini as used in his video for ‘Cosmic Girl’.
Cleave offer all sorts of car, ELV, commercial, plant and machinery salvage, as well as offering breakers and parts. All available to public and the trade.
Amazingly CMS have also recently expanded operations into Malta, where there was a significant opportunity to supply parts and their salvage services.

Motor Services Redditch
www.motor-services-redditch.co.uk
tel: 01527 66382
Worcestershire based salvage yard dealing with a variety of damaged repairable cars and motorcycles.

South West Salvage Ltd
www.s-w-s.co.uk
tel: 01452 300000
Gloucester based Salvage company specialising in non-recorded and nearly new salvage vehicles. SWS source their cars direct from insurers and manufacturers meaning many will be non-recorded, and a large proportion of their cars are brand new, or not yet even registered with only minor damage.
SWS offer salvage for cars, commercial vehicles, bikes, and are happy to ship salvage vehicles over seas.

Car Transplants
www.cartransplants.co.uk
tel: 01270 615510
Specialising in Salvage, repossessions and spare parts, most notably wheels and tyres which are search able online through their tyre shop. Car Transplants also offer ELV services, and sell many of their parts through ebay.

Midlands Salvage
www.midlandssalvage.com
tel: 01902 454 100
Salvage providers, as the name suggests based in the Midlands. Specialising in VW and Audi salvage and spare parts.

Cleveland Repairables
www.clevelandrepairables.com
tel: 0121 526 2179 West Midlands based salvage firm, offering a range of salvage vehicles for sale. All of which are listed on their website.

Bluecycle
www.bluecycle.com
tel: N/A see website
Bluecycle are the e-bay of motor salvage and list literally thousands of auctions for car and commercial salvage each year.
Registration required to access auctions, this requires photocopied ID.
Please also note Bluecycle.com fees before making any bids on salvage vehicles.

Rother Valley Motor Salvage
www.rothervalleymotorsalvage.co.uk
tel: 0114 2280288
Rotherham based salvage yard, offering a range of salvaged cars for sale. See website for more details.

Extreme Salvage
www.extremesalvage.co.uk
tel: 01908 365777
Specialists in dealing with disposal of ex-fleet or leased vehicles, most of which will be un-recorded. Based in Milton Keynes.

4Salvage.co.uk
www.4salvage.co.uk
tel: 0845 4084000
4Salvage offer online salvage auctions for repairable cars, bikes and commercial vehicles. Delivery costs are listed on their site, and registration is required before being able to make a bid.

Forest Auto Salvage
www.forestautosalvage.co.uk
tel: 01594 825423
Gloucestershire based salvage firm selling damage repairable vehicles and parts, also offer breaking. A range of cars are available, all listed on their website.

A1 Salvage
www.assalvage.com
tel: 0121 565 5005
A1 Motor Salvage is situated in Birmingham. This is one of the Country’s most respected Motor Vehicle Salvage Yards supplying many types of quality repairable vehicles. A1 Salvage hold a good stock of both prestige and more modest salvage vehicles. All detailed, along with many photo’s on their website.

Universal Vehicle Services
www.universal-salvage.com
tel: N/A See website
Another member of the Copart group of salvage yards.

East Coast Salvage
www.eastcoastsalvage.co.uk
tel: 01206 213 688
ECS specialise is ex-lease or repossessed cars, most are un-damaged and are ready to go straight back on the road. The most likely issues with these cars would be missing keys or documentation.

247 Salvage
www.247salvage.com
tel: N/A See website
247 Salvage is owned by Citynet Datacom who also own 247 Spares.co.uk network. 247 Salvage have been trading in the motor industry for the past 15 years providing quality salvage to both public and trade. Check out their website to see details of all the salvage available.

DA Autoparts
www.daautoparts.co.uk
tel: 01387 269546
DA Autoparts is one of the UK’s leading suppliers of used car parts and salvage vehicles.
They have over 10,000 used car and van parts available off the shelf at any one time and over 1000 vehicles available for further parts dismantling. Likewise they also have a big stock of over 100 salvage vehicles for sale.

Raw2k
www.raw2k.co.uk
tel: 01226 770257
Barnsley based Salvage auction site. Registration required to search or bid on salvaged vehicles.

Temple Auto Salvage
www.templeautosalvage.com
tel: 028 9263 8359
Lisbon based salvage firm offering salvage vehicles, parts, breaking and engines.

Sheffield Sports Salvage
www.sportssalvage.com
tel: 0114 2562996
As the name suggests, located in Sheffield. Sheffield sports salvage offer a wide range of reasonably priced salvage cars.

Furber Bros Motor Salvage
www.furbersmotorsalvage.co.uk
tel: 01952 840341
Fruber offer car, commercial, motorbike and caravan salvage sales.

Kingsbridge Auto Salvage
www.kingsbridgeautosalvage.co.uk
tel: 01792 896780
Located in South Wales, and offering car salvage, dismantling, breaking and parts as well as a full car bodyshop. Offering a big range of salvaged cars, all viewable on their website.

North East Motor Salvage
www.ne-motorsalvage.co.uk
tel: 0191 567 0187 (Sunderland)
tel: 0191 569 3299 (Peterlee)
With yards in Peterlee and Sunderland, North East Salvage offer a huge range of car, and commercial salvage. They also offer a range of already repaired salvage vehicles, for those looking to cash in on salvaged cars without the effort of repairs.

Broadbent Autos
www.broadbentautos.co.uk
tel: 01254 701022
Situated in Oldham, Broadbent Autos has grown from a small dismantlers into a sizeable Company
Currently processing over 5000 cars annually. Broadbent offer salvage, and breaking services. All cars are available to view on their website.

Phoenix Autoparts
www.phoenix-autoparts.co.uk
tel:01159 397 500
Offering scrap, damaged repaired cars, salvage and parts. Phoenix are quite a sizable operation. Phoenix offer ELV services, and are willing export cars of salvage overseas at request.

Aldershot Car Spares
www.universalcarservices.ltd.uk
www.aldershotcarspares.co.uk
tel: 01483 233 447
**Recommended**
My most local salvage yard, who also offer wheels, tyres, and parts along with scrap yard services. Excellent selection of reasonably priced salvage cars, which are perfect for the first-timer looking for an easy repair, to start building confidence.
Details of all their damaged repairable cars can be found on their website.

Charles Trent Ltd
www.trents.co.uk
tel: 0845 458 2042 (Southampton)
tel: 0845 458 2039 (Poole)
tel: 0845 458 2032 (Erith)
tel: 0845 456 7149 (Paddock Wood)
tel: 0845 458 2036 (Kirkyby)
tel: (01638) 750 469 (Red Lodge)
tel: (01788) 541 845 (Rugby)

Charles trent, are potentially the largest Salvage group in the UK offering vehicle services, salvage and parts to both trade and public. Charles Trent often advertise their salvage stock through Salvage auctions such as Bluecycle.com.

Brentwood Autos
www.brentwoodautos.com
tel: 01268 284660
Brentwood Auto Spares is a family run business that has been trading for over thirty years. Their main salvage site is located approx 5 miles from Junction 28 off the M25.
Brentwood Auto’s are members of the national salvage group which means they have a constant supply of repairable salvage direct from the insurance companies.

Burnside Motors
www.burnsidemotors.co.uk
tel: 01333 426549
Specialist Peugeot breakers and Salvage yard, located in Fife, Scotland.

Roger Windley Ltd
www.rogerwindley.co.uk
tel: 01526 342555 Lincolnshire based salvage yard offering spares, parts and damage repairable salvage. See website for more details.

Hills Motor Salvage
www.hills-motors.co.uk
tel: 01695 551 972
Hills Motor Salvage offer parts, salvage repairable cars, and salvage cars which can be driven away. Again, one of the UK’s largest salvage firms.

Tanygroes Car Dismantlers
www.tcdsalvage.co.uk
tel: 01239 811008
Offering salvage, breaking and used parts off the shelf. Tanygroes have been established for over 20 years and are now one of theUK’s biggest salvage dealers.

Overton Garage
www.overtongarage.co.uk
tel:

A.J. Auto Salvage Ltd
www.ajautosalvage.co.uk
tel: 02476 458888
Coventry based salvage yard. Lists some stock through e-bay. All cars and salvage available on their website.

Carwood Auto Salvage
www.carwoodautosalvage.com
tel: 07774 884526
Carwood Auto Salvage are a Sheffield based prestige auto salvage company, offering a wide range of repairable motor vehicle salvage including sports car salvage. We offer a wide range of models which can be repaired from saloon cars to 4×4s.

London Auto Parts
www.londonautoparts.co.uk
tel: 020 8998 8045
London’s largest vehicle dismantles and salvage experts. For over 40 years, our site in the heart of London has been long established in the salvage and breaking business, with over 800 vehicles on site currently being dismantled and our salvage department holding a wide range of light damaged repairable cars.

Dalston Salvage
www.dalstonsalvage.com
tel: 020 7923 9091
Asthe name suggests a Dalston based salvage firm. Specialising in lightly damaged repairable vehicles.

All Audi
www.allaudi.co.uk
tel: 0117 9494136
Bristol based Audi parts and salvage yard. Dealing in Salvage, and Audi & VW spare parts.

HM Salvage
www.hmsalvage.co.uk
tel: 01623 556001
Huthwaite Motor Salvage supply modern examples of all types of damaged vehicles, sold at keen prices to ensure they have a good turnover of vehicles. They keep a large stock of damged repairable vehicles all viewable on their website.

SWL Salvage
www.swlautosalvage.co.uk
tel: 0117 9723444
Bristol based salvage firm. Selling a range of lightly damaged cars. Particularly small econmic run-arounds. All salvage stock available to viewon their website.

Delmo Salvage Cars and Used Car Specialists
www.delmo.co.uk
tel:01942248684
Wigan based salvage firm offering car salvage, parts and breaking.

Buy 2 Repair .com
www.buy2repair.com
tel: 01692 651052
Norfolk based salvage firm offering a range of lightly damaged, repairable cars and camper vans.

Network Salvage
www.networksalvage.com
tel: 01268 727601
Essex based Network Salvage is where you will find a huge range of stolen recovered and damaged repairable cars and commercial vehicles sourced from he UK’s leading insurance companies. A big proportion of Network Salvage’s stock consists of lightly damaged and easily repairable vehicles.
Again, all viewable on their website.

Quality Salvage
www.qualitysalvage.net
tel: 01293 862962
Gatwick based salvage yard, offering a vast array of different savage cars. Quality Salvage also offer restoration and repair services. Delivery offered at additional cost.
**Reccommended** I’ve dealt personally with Quality Salvage previously, and can high recommend!

G&R Harris Ltd
www.grharris.co.uk
tel: 01243 372866
Established in 1952, this is a family run business, specialising in newer damage repaibale salvage. All cars available for purchase are available on their website. G&R Harris also offer breaking, and recycling services for ELV’s.

Beat the Credit Crunch by changing your salvage strategy

admin    Salvage hints and tips    

Everyone seems to be going on about the credit crunch these days, and as we look like we will soon officially in in a recession, its important to assess how this will affect the salvage and breakers businesses.

Its tough times out there, and cars are not selling for anywhere near what they were 6 months ago, likewise they are taking much longer to sell, meaning people who make a full time living out of the salvage business will be finding it even harder!

There is always the opportunity to haggle harder with the salvage yards your buying a car off, as they will also be feeling the pinch, but there is also the opportunity to take advantage of more competitive prices from bodyshops and mechanics as they will be forced to price better to stay in business.

Alternatively, one other avenue that is overlooked, especially for newer more expensive cars, is breaking for parts. Regardless of whether there is a recession of not, people still need to repair their cars when they are broken. When money is tight they are even more likely to do it themselves, with used parts! Which is excellent news if you are a breaker.

Again, I’d always consider which route before buying a car, as each will come with its own pluses and minuses, when breaking a car, where are you going it store it, and all the parts? Where are you going to list the parts for sale e.g. ebay? Likewise, are you prepared for the cash to come in dribs and drabs.
Make sure you also have the ability and tools to make use of all the cars parts, if you dont have the skills to remove all the saleable parts your loosing out on potential income. Last but not least, make sure you have some method of getting the shell or left over parts of the car to the scrappy, you don’t want to have to pay for expensive removals if you dont have to.

Just something to consider, as times get tougher I can only see the used parts business and opportunities for breakers increasing.

Building a Car History File

admin    Salvage hints and tips    

When selling a damage repaired car, its always important to fully document the cars history since it has come into your ownership. Not only does this help you when you come to sell the car, by showing t buyer the exact details of the original damage and subsequent repair, but it also shows that you are a responsible seller – which is worth its weight in gold when selling a car!

Many damaged cars specifically Cat D & C’s will often not come with any history or documentation of any sort. However, as I have mentioned in previous posts it is often possible to recieve copies from main dealers for servie etc.
Therefore its really important to gather as much information on the car as you can.

Buyers will more of often than not always want to see detailed pictures of the extent of the accident damage before buying. I’ve always previously taken as many digital photos as possible, before repairs, and then a few during repair to show the quality of the repair work.
Once finished, I have stuck all the photo’s in a folder with the VIC (if its a Cat C Car) which then accompanies all the usual book packs.

Being that the credit crunch is biting, take advantage of all the free photo printing offers available from all the online photo printing providers. Details of a couple of the offers are below. Just register upload your pictures, pay a couple of quid postage, and they are on your doorstep in a couple of days.

I will takeadvantage of the below, and print at least 50 photo’s for any new salvage project.

Photo Box – 50 Free Prints

Snapfish – 40 Free Prints