Jemo

I'll be upfront, this is new territory for me. I have never bought a complete engine/tranny out of a salvage yard before and so far have been frustrated.

I'll look on car-part.com for a 4.8L or 5.3L and then call the yard up and they just don't seem to take my interest very seriously. They've never had a complete take-out engine/tranny and just want to piece everything together from various cars/trucks. I've left my number with a couple of them and told them that I have cash but never hear back.

How do you get these guys attention? Are the prices they quote on car-part.com firm or negotiable? How do I find the best deal so that I don't bust my budget? What am I doing wrong?

Thanks a bunch. I'm in Dallas if that helps.

marxjunk

I personally would be afraid to buy anything from car-part.com. I have heard many, many horror stories of people taking money, and never getting your stuff, or it's junk, many stories floating around about it.
I bought a 6.0 on ebay, was a great deal for me.PLUS the guy would ship it. ya hear stories about people buying motors and paying for it, and then the guy wont ship it. THAT could be an expensive road trip.
I would go to the biggest salvage yard in your area, and if they dont have one, they will search for one, hear it run, and then pay for it, and they will pull it, that way no surprises. mj

Mark IXZD 150

iTrader: (1)

I got mine from these guys. Very easy to work with.

http://stores.ebay.com/Fparts

Andy1

This should be pretty straight forward. 4.8 or 5.3 is a truck motor. Find the largest two or three truck salvage yards in your area (should be easy around Dallas), and make a couple of calls. You ought to find an abundant selection of low mileage take-outs. If they are not willing to provide a VIN number (a reputable dealer will), pass on it....Deal with the company you feel most comfortable with.

Andy1

diognes56

iTrader: (3)

+1

David

Alexp

Fparts is great. They are a little expensive, but have great customer service and great products. Thats where I got my engine.

30th TA 0219

look at nordstroms on eBay. I'm not sure exactly what the deal is on the vehicles they dismantle, since most of them have like 5-10 miles!
But, they have 5.3s and 6.0s ALL DAY LONG!!

ufsnola

iTrader: (13)

I used car-parts.com to locate my motor and trans. Car-parts.com is just a database from junkyards around the country that I guess subscribe to their service. You don't buy anything from car-parts... I searched by distance from my zip code and found a place close to me.
If you call a salvage yard saying you want to put a truck motor in a car they my not take you seriously. I told the first two places I called the whole conversion story to get about the same response as you. After that I just said I need the motor/trans for whatever model car-parts said it came out of. Seem to make things go much easier for some reason.
Money talks with these guys. Also the quote they give you is not written in stone, I got my yard to come down $300.
Mine was $2700 03 2500 express van with 24k miles on it: 6.0L(LQ4), 4L80E transmission, all accessories, wiring harness, and computer delivered 120 miles to my house.

keliente

iTrader: (22)

I buy lots and lots of computers on car-part.com. Some of the salvage yards are ********, some of the guys are really nice and give me good deals because I buy a lot at a time and continue to use them. Luck of the draw I guess.

G-Body

iTrader: (4)

I found mine on car-part.com and didn`t have a problem, picked it up from grand valley autoparts in grand rapids michigan, he usually has at least a few motors complete with harnesses. I talked to brian in sales and he said that he sells most of the motors to people who wanted to swap them. Said the first 5.3L that they got in he swapped into his jeep. But I called a bunch of yards before I found them, all the ones around chicago seemed to hack the harness as they took it out.

dynosmith

iTrader: (1)

I purchased mine from Cleveland Pick-a-Part. They provide all documentation including copy of title to verify mileage. They also provided me with both the engine harness, computer and pedal assembly. They also included the car wiring harness for a very reasonable price. They have LS1, LS6 and LS2 available all the time. Oh, they also include a 6 month warranty!

FunkyTownFBody

iTrader: (1)

I have no idea what you're talking about. Like stated above, car-part is just a database of parts that yards have on hand. I generally just do a local search for what I need and go pick it up. I purchased a transmission that I found on car-part and had no problems at all. In fact, I got it for like $625 and it only had 17k miles on it. I decided not to do the swap I was planning, I think I sold it for $700

I've purchased a complete engine from LKQ as well. They list on E-Bay and car-part. You may want to check them out.

I have noticed that the salvage yards don't really seem do give a damn about you. Even the local ones I've walked into act like they don't really want to sell you anything. Just the nature of the beast I guess.

pwrtrip75

iTrader: (8)

LKQ on ebay is a chain of salvage yards all over. Found my 5.3 complete w/ harness for $500 in my own town.

rnp.ent

I'm in the north dallas area & have a 2000 ss camaro hit in the front that is for sale. It has auto trans 70k miles eibach springs borla cat back exh leather int let me know if you think it would work for you..
I don't want to sell parts it must go all at once asking $4500.
if your intrested email @ d.siemens@comcast.net & leave a phone # & i'll call you

marxjunk

OK, let me restate what i meant. I have heard of people not getting good deals using car-parts.com. It's not really the "deal" part it's usually customer service issues. I understand it is just a data base. I have never used them, but from what i have heard i never will.
MOST of the businesses using the service, are reputable people, but I heard of some bad deals, just like ya hear of bad deals on ebay, but I have never had a bad deal on ebay....never!!! I use paypal for the protection though, just in case some one tries to pull a fast one.
I personally would like to hear good and bad stories, and then make my own descision, I didn't single anyone out, just made a statement, thats all.....

Andy1

Me thinks that the Dallas area, not unlike SoCal, is abound with truck take-out's, so why shop elsewhere? A couple of things come to mind. Don't buy anything sight-unseen. Don't buy anything that can't be started for your witness. I personally prefer to see the vehicle before the pull out, as it's condition can be a good indicator of how well the vehicle was cared for before an accident. A construction vehicle/work truck for example, may have seen some pretty rough duty, where regular servicing may not have been what it should be as opposed to say a soccer mom GMC Envoy. Save on shipping, and buy local, especially if you have a means to pick it up yourself. Someone here will have to help me with the year the TBW was introduced; point is, ask that the deal include the throttle pedal, harness, and control box with the eninge/trans purchase. Otherwise you'll be buying those bits separately, or converting to a cable system (which requires some messing with the harness). Don't worry about explaining what you're doing, and don't get too caught up with junk yard attitudes. There are, on occasion, a few refreshing examples of a salvage dealer that actually cares, but it is rarely the case. These guys do get a bit more friendly once the deal actually goes down, and that is a good occasion to ask them to throw in some incidentals.

Andy1

defrag010

a little tip that I always seem to get good results by when using car-part...

Call them, and just ask them if they have Stock #xxxxxx ready to be purchased.. nothing else. Complete engine pullouts have stock numbers, and I've had 100% good luck with tons of salvage yard deals from car-part.com by just calling in the stock number they list.

Oh, and if you can talk like a redneck and dresss like you haven't showered for days, they will pay more attention to you!! haha