Thread: Cash for Clunkers Wiper Motors?

Tweet

I don't know why I didn't think about it until this morning, but I started to wonder where all those old cars are going, and what's being done with their spare parts...specifically the wiper motors.

Anyone able to tap into that resource?

They're being sold as used cars

The cash for clunker trade are to be salvaged and the engines destroyed (dealers are pouring in a product to seize the motor).These trades are not to be return to the highway. So look for them at any salavage yard...

Nope. These cars will be crushed/shredded. Only a very few parts will be taken off them (ie catalytic converters). Dealers are not allowed to re-sell them or salvage them under the Federal Terms of the program.

Almost right...from what I understand, the cars can be salvaged for 90 or 180 days. After that they get crushed/shredded. The engines are destroyed and no part of the drive train can be salvaged. So you are taking body parts, lights, wiper motors.

In the Southeast and as far north as Indiana and Ohio a company called Pull-A-Part is soliciting dealers to recycle with them. My guess is that they will sell salvage parts from these cars before crushing. In our area they sell a wiper motor for under $15. You have to remove it yourself, but their lots are clean and well-organized. Admission costs a dollar. The website is Pull-A-Part .

My understanding is that the dealers are obligated to chemically treat the gas line so the car cannot be resold and then they are sent out to be crushed.

Someone I knew was really irked that the government basically orders that the cars be made unusable, but wouldn't allow the dealer to accept a car that couldn't be driven into the dealership.

Just traded my nearly dead (water pump failed and really needed tires, brakes, shocks, struts, tie rods, axle, battery, alternator, and differential. It drove 5-10 miles at a time before overheating.) SUV in on the program. The dealer, a friend of mine for the last 15 years, said they were not allowed to take anything off of the cars they take in. Even if it had a $1,500 stereo, he had to keep his hands off it. I didn't think about taking off the wiper motor!

He also told me about the first Dodge truck they killed. They drained the fluids in the service bay and poured a bottle of the killer stuff into the oil reservoir. They drove it out of the bay and it ran for about 100 feet before instantly freezing up and almost throwing the mechanic through the windshield. After that, he said they drive them to a little side lot and park them before pouring the stuff in. I guess they run for about 3 minutes on average. He said they have a mobile shredder/crusher scheduled to come in next week to take care of them all.