There are not many things that intimidate me as much as anything having to do with the maintenance of a vehicle. When I was first learning to drive my father tried to educate me on checking the oil and radiator, but the only thing about the car I was interested in was having the keys so I could drive it. Once I bought my first vehicle I rarely did anything but put gas in it. When ever I visited my parent’s home my dad would check the oil and radiator and tell me when it was time to go in to get the oil changed. When I got married my husband took over these tasks. After thirty plus years of driving I still know very little about the care of the vehicle. This makes me quite vulnerable to mechanics.

A few weeks ago my husband was doing some minor repairs on his vehicle and he asked me to pick up two parts for him. He told me to go to a salvage yard that sells discount auto parts. He wrote down the parts he needed. I told him I was not comfortable going to a salvage yard, but he told me I would be fine and sent me on my way. The salvage yard was across town from where I was going. I went to a new parts dealer and asked if they had the parts in stock. They had them and when I paid for them I thought they seemed quite expensive. When I went back to the car I called my husband and asked how much the parts should cost. The price he quoted me was about half of the amount I had spent. I returned the parts to the dealer and drove across town to the discount auto parts section of the salvage yard. My husband had called ahead so the parts were waiting for me to pick up. I could not believe the difference in price.

When I returned home with the parts I asked my husband why there was such a huge price difference between the salvage yard and the other store. He explained that the discount auto parts section of the salvage yard sells reconditioned parts. They take parts from vehicles that have been in accidents or no longer run, and they clean them up and repair them if they need it and then sell them. He said that there are other places where you can buy discount auto parts, but the salvage yard that he had sent me to is usually the cheapest and they have the best selection. I certainly learned a good lesson about where not to shop for parts.

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