Hollywood Hates Recycling, Vol 3
Check out the list of Hollywood junkyards – sorted by movie/tv genre – and take our junkyard quiz to vote for your favorite!
“I got one piece at a time, and it didn’t cost me a dime” The Man in Black himself, Johnny Cash. Those were the days. Where you could show up at your local boneyard, grab that plug and play part, for cents on the dollar and really only have to worry about stacked cars falling on you. And maybe Tetnis.
The world of Auto Recycling has evolved and grown exponentially since the days made famous by “Old Car City USA” and “Sanford and Son Salvage”. Yet this industry is still shrouded in stigmata that many look to break away from, while others, well, are content to remain reluctant to change or unaffected by its moniker’s obscurity. Regardless of each recycler’s agenda, as an industry at large, we all walk the line.
So that being said, what are the biggest myths that plague this industry? Do they carry weight? Or if they are debunked, is it enough to showcase to the world, auto recycling’s interdependence and innovation? For those out there working hard to break free from these myths, dismantling these myths would indubitably strengthen the reputation of our industry but also shift the public’s paradigm in favor of a new direction. One that personifies sustainability, is hardwired for cost savings and promotes a circular economic model.
Well let’s get after it, for the biggest myth haunting this industry is that all auto recyclers are junkyards. This is not entirely true. Analyzing how recyclers operate and observing their impact upon today’s society can give us a better insight as to each’s caliber of classification. Who is a junkyard and who is not? Who wants to be a junkyard and who wants to progress the auto recycler’s revolution.
The connotation that the word “junkyard” carries has become a powder keg. There are plenty of businesses that take pride in being a junkyard. To others of the auto recycling community, in the voice of Cooter from Dukes of Hazzard, “Well Dem Dare’s Fighting Words”.
The term junkyard is a key phrase, an identifier and an appellation. It is how all auto recyclers are searched and looked up. But for those out there making pertinent strides to progress the standards of this industry, it has become borderline blasphemy.
Why may you ask? Auto Recyclers are not denying, hiding or trying to erase our history. For many out there, Junkyard is the origin story. It is one’s roots, how we started off but is a term to most, that describes predated practices and past eras.
The J Word or Junkyard, for the public and even for the evolved recyclers, is synonymous with disheveled, disorganized and dirty. You hear that word and you think stacked up cars and oil spills. You envision cut out, low quality dirty parts and Shhhhhiiiii…I mean…stuff everywhere and with an archaic inventory. Maybe even a Herculean Dog that could eat your kids or your Babe Ruth signed baseball.
And that is the big myth, Auto Recyclers are not all junkyards. Junkyards are junkyards. Auto Recycling is something that recyclers have worked tirelessly since before the turning of this century, to show the world that we have changed and adapted to the times and trends of each new day and challenge.
Check out the list of Hollywood junkyards – sorted by movie/tv genre – and take our junkyard quiz to vote for your favorite!
The industry through leadership of the ARA, URG, TeamPRP and its state affiliates have pushed the recycling community at large to apply and adhere to standardization while simultaneously continuing to raise the bar.
These entities have made it possible for anyone who deals with end of life and unwanted vehicles and their parts, to learn and implement generally accepted best practices. Leaders have worked hard to give the tools needed to the industry in order to revolutionize operations, modernize recyclers’ agendas and sophisticate their standards.
Through advocacy, these trade groups and associations stand at the forefront, pushing for change, and uniting recyclers in a plight to showcase their sustainability. A movement to demonstrate the recycler’s significance to not only the waste sector but to also the transportation and safety domain.
Structure, organization, and standardization has banded recyclers together in a fight to prove themselves as not only thought leaders in the automotive industry, but significant and impactful contributories in today’s society and within its economy.
Another myth that needs to be addressed is that all parts from an auto salvage or a used parts store should be cheap. As all of us know, the cost of living is high and going up. You know the feeling, like Cash says, “When the Man Comes Around”. I think paying taxes during a government shutdown says it all, but I digress.
Bills do not pay themselves and as the times change so do costs. Overhead, Cost of Goods Sold, Inventory Budget, Payroll, all of the above. Is it fair to think that used tail lights should be $10 or $20 a piece when recyclers are paying $20 and over an hour to multiple people, to do a multitude of different jobs, just to get that tail light to you. That is without factoring in the sometimes ridiculous prices that we are paying for vehicles.
So why then are we so astonished when we hear that a used engine now costs thousands of dollars when the average new car costs roughly $50,000? A factory replacement engine usually costs twice the amount of a used one and the wait time can be a waitlist or be months away from the dealer to just receive it. Let alone the scheduled appointment or the other upsell one may incur with such a job.
With limited supply or a disruption within the supply stream, the demand will dictate the rising of costs. This is also true of used parts. To stay with the same part type, if a certain type of engine is poorly designed and or is often quick to become defective, then less viable used part options are available or trusted.
With less good used engines out there for recyclers to sell, paired with the SpaceX, sometimes out of this world cost of a factory replacement; Recyclers must raise the price to cover these emerging increased costs. And must do so to reflect mileage, reliability and fair market value of having to replace this engine to its customer by potentially sourcing elsewhere. The bottom line is the juice must always be worth the squeeze.
There are recyclers out there that have a minimum charge on all parts ranging up to $100 and the reason for this is to sustain a financial balance and flow.
When we pay a great deal for our inventory there is a margin that needs to be covered. Some recyclers given their operations can not afford to dismantle vehicles that cost them $500 or less. The room for profit is one that is dependent on the scope of each recycler and the available parts and core sales data.
But even the most ambitious can bleed only so much from each stone or penny pinch so much from each vehicle. The public simply does not yet truly comprehend all the costs that go into the overall process of what it takes to recycle just one vehicle.
For those who have adapted to the times, it’s not like junkyard times. It is not just a hundred bucks a car and you pay one person to drain it, inventory it and dismantle it and so forth.
Recyclers spend on average $500 plus just for a parts vehicle. This average is ridiculously low compared to what is paid for vehicles at auction. And if we are buying something newer than 15 years old from the auction, it’s safe to say the cost is 3 to 5 times the average list above.
Besides the age of newer vehicles that drive up the price, it is also the Fees and Costs just to get it to your door. Add in supplies and resources so our people can adequately do their jobs. Oh and then you have all the people we employ, to do all the jobs we need to be done, to supply the best, quality and hopefully competitively priced part we can offer.
Perception that buying used parts shouldn’t cost a dime is at very least outdated. As the cost of living and logistics has changed, so should the public’s view of the used parts market. Although these parts are no longer as inexpensive as they used to be, they are still a viable cost saving and eco friendly alternative.
The effort to reshape consumer attitudes within the auto recycling industry requires effective refutation of these two prevalent myths. However, there are a few other myths worth exploring that may give further insight to what our industry is up against. From Junkyard Dogs to nefarious Mafia repurposes of Car Crushers, there are plenty of quirky myths that shade the industry. Lets quickly review these pestering parables.
Used auto parts are typically dirty, damaged or defective. Again this myth is not entirely true. The responsible recycler employs personnel and even an entire department to product presentation and quality inspection.
Every certified auto recycler is prepping, cleaning, washing and showcasing their parts to ensure quality assurance. The drivetrain is pressure washed, lights are buffed and all parts are cleaned and inspected before they go out to ensure no surprises upon delivery.
Junkyards are again a different story. People, resources or time may not be in place to ensure that their offerings are washed and cleaned. Priding themselves in having those hard to find parts and offering them at a discount to new or aftermarket parts may be enough to forgo the product presentation element. On this one, junkyards may be the outlier or exception for many auto recyclers and definitely the prevalent leaders out there wash, clean and showcase their parts.
Another myth is that Auto Recyclers are primarily concerned with the scrap side of things. Again this is not entirely true. Scrapyards which are often confused with Junkyards and Auto Recyclers, are invested in scrap. However scrap recycling and auto recycling are quite different in nature.
Here is the issue. A consumer will think that if their vehicle is complete with what they think are usable or sellable parts and commodities (All converters still on it!!), that they must get top dollar for their end of life or unwanted vehicle.
While the reasoning behind this assumption is not too far off, the customer’s knowledge of markets and sales data is definitely misconstrued.
It is 2025 and each new day is full of market swings, political strife and economic challenges. Yesterday Rhodium was $7800, Platinum was $1600 and Palladium was $1400. The average price of crushed cars a net ton is between $135 – $165 market, location dependent.
These facts & factors are currently not the forceful drivers that once pushed junk vehicles to be worth offers of $500 and more.
Certain vehicles are just not good parts cars and after 15 years old, the profit margin for each vehicle significantly decreases. Especially when you pair age with damage and higher miles.
So saying your vehicle has all these good parts and valuable commodities on it, unfortunately does align with the recycler’s perception.
If vehicles are not in demand for parts or cores, then recyclers are not paying above their budget for this caliber of vehicle, regardless if you have x amount of time and money sunk into it.
In times of market downswings, playing it safe and not offering the moon for basic parts cars or scrap vehicles is a rule of thumb and something the public would do well to learn from.
If the theft of converters are down, then the price is usually down, making converters less of a selling factor. Rendering many of these vehicles to be considered scrap vehicles that may be destined for crush or passed over with recommendations for the owner to contact a junkyard or scrap facility.
The overall take away from these myths is that they have become umbrella beliefs that at one point or another held or hold merit.
However the truth within them predominantly seems to apply to Junkyards and Scrapyards, and less to legitimate Auto Recyclers.
Auto Recyclers may do well to go on the offensive against these misleading misnomers. Leading and operating by example, and continuing to dismantle these myths by re-educating the public about themselves and other progressive recyclers. Until this becomes more prominent, the narrative may stay the same, and the public will continue to believe these half truths and even falsehoods.
Those out there working hard to leave behind that “Ring of Fire” and shed this Junkyard Moniker are now hard pressed to make it happen. Junkyards should exist and they fit to serve the needs of those looking for those older and harder to find and acquire vehicles and parts.
I am no Johnny Cash, and unfortunately the “I’ve Been Everywhere Man” mantra does not apply to me. But I have seen some stuff. Prosthetic Legs left in the back of cars. Drugs, Guns, Stamp Collections, Big Screen TVs and the occasional risque magazine. Quite the treasure troves cars can be.
Though I have not seen piled cars topple over, I have seen frames break in half, air bags mistakenly deployed and even consequences of using the torch that Smokey the Bear would not be too proud of . As for the mafia using car crushers for their own nefarious purposes, one can only speculate. I have known Junkyard. But I also have seen grimy engines plugged and cleaned to look almost brand new. I have seen the transition from oh ya we have it, to quality inspectors and inventory control.
The transcendence of auto recycling is upon us and continues to push forward into an age of innovation, digitalization and AI. So whether we allow these myths to continue to define us or not, the auto recycling community will continue to face new heights and challenges.
It is up to each recycler to decide how they operate and what part they will play in the impact of these perceptions. But regardless of how the public or the auto recycling industry views these myths, as Cash Man has said, “Ain’t No Grave Gonna Keep My Body Down”.
If there is something that bands all types of yards together, it is the universal truth of their resilience and persistence in the wake of change and challenge.
CEO of Westover Auto Salvage, a leading automotive recycling facility in Western Massachusetts known for its commitment to quality, environmental stewardship, and modern industry standards. With years of experience in dismantling, parts operations, and facility management, Brian brings a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities shaping today’s recycling landscape
From its beginnings in a pop-up trailer to today’s solar-powered growth, Westover Auto Salvage is breaking the junkyard stigma. Discover how this family business is redefining eco-friendly auto recycling through innovation, customer care, and partnerships that put sustainability at the forefront.