I chipped the lens of the taillight of my car while I was changing a bulb. It's the second time I've chipped it (Subaru makes it a pain in the butt to get the lens off). I've glued all the pieces I can find back together -- but I dropped one and it fell into the bumper cover. Darn!

So, I went online to see about a replacement. Of course, you can't just buy the lens, you have to buy the entire taillight assembly.

There was a link to a website that's a nationwide parts locator that claims to contact dozens or hundreds of wrecking yards around the country. I put in the make, model, year, part, and side. And, stupidly, my phone number and e-mail address. I clicked "submit" and it takes me to another page offering to expedite my request for $6.99 for a 48 hour response or $8.99 for a 24 hour response. I closed the web page.

Within a minute, my phone rang. The person said his name was Mike and he was calling from some wrecking yard in Oklahoma or somewhere. He asked if it was a sedan or wagon (I had already picked "wagon" on the form) and asked if it was mounted on the rear quarter panel (that's where taillights are, no?). He said he had one in stock and it was $140. I told him I wasn't that desperate. Oh, and "Mike" had a very strong Indian accent.

A few minutes later, I got a text, an e-mail, and a phone call from another place. I called back. This guy said his name was Vince Gallagher. He asked the exact same questions. He said he had one and it was $170. I said "no". Oh, and "Vince" had a very VERY strong Indian accent.

Since then, I've gotten over a dozen voicemails from numbers around the country. Every one said the same thing... as if they were reading from a script. I got calls from Tony, Nick, Eric, Simone, and several other people. Each and every one of them had a very strong Indian accent.

Color me skeptical, but I don't think any of these people actually has a single car part, much less a taillight assembly for an Outback wagon.


Oh, and I got four e-mails from four different people claiming to be the parts sales manager at the same "All-America Car-Parts".


Next week, I'll get on my bike and hit the local junkyards and see if I can find a real person named Mike or Jim or Nick with a real taillight assembly.

You might find it on eBay. I’ve bought parts that way.

I am sure there ARE slightly crazy people across the USA who do have acres of land filled with car parts. Or appliances. Or old furniture. Every so often somebody writes an article about them.

I read your post to Mr wtg; he found it immensely entertaining and wants me to thank you for sharing it.

Jeez Louise. What kind of tracking cookies are on that site you looked at. If that's what it is? Either way, yikes!

quote:

Originally posted by RealPlayer:
I am sure there ARE slightly crazy people across the USA who do have acres of land filled with car parts. Or appliances. Or old furniture. Every so often somebody writes an article about them.

For cars, they're called wrecking yards. Acres of cars and if you're lucky, they have an inventory on a computer with the make, model, and year of each one and which parts have been removed.

They sometimes go by catchy names like "Pick-A-Part" or "Pull-A-Part".

quote:

Originally posted by wtg:
I read your post to Mr wtg; he found it immensely entertaining and wants me to thank you for sharing it.

You're both welcome.

Oh... and my new phone on AT&T identifies spoofed numbers, telemarketers, and other sketchy calls. I now have a page and a half of recent calls all listed as "SPAM RISK".

Fortunately, the calls, texts, and e-mails have subsided since about noon.

Three brothers in my home town worked hard constantly answering the phone and talking to a flow customers at their auto salvage business.
They sold and shipped parts to points all over this country and probably other countries.
They did well and the business is carrying on.
http://deltaautoparts.com/

There is a legit junkyard service. Go to a proper junkyard and they’ll put your part on the radio.

Nationwide.