Parts Seekers Get Help in Beating the Crush

In a victory for restorers, hot rodders and those who simply prefer to do their own auto repairs, state air quality regulators have agreed to give consumers the chance to buy scrapped vehicles, or parts from them, before they are crushed into blocks of steel.

The rules were written by the California Air Resources Board. The board has been the chief proponent of destroying older cars and trucks on the grounds that many of them are heavy polluters.

Under the new program, administered by the state’s air quality management districts, interested consumers are notified by e-mail of a vehicle’s pending arrival at a salvage yard. The system also provides for a waiting period before vehicles can be reduced to scrap.

Previously, cars and trucks sold to state-approved scrap programs could be destroyed within days of arriving.

“This makes parts that would otherwise have been lost become available, and it gives the public the chance to find rare parts,” said Frank Bohanan, technical consultant to the Specialty Equipment Market Assn.

The Diamond Bar-based trade group represents a large portion of the automobile performance and customizing industry and was a major player in the effort to halt wholesale, automatic destruction of scrapped vehicles.

The so-called voluntary accelerated vehicle retirement program typically pays motorists $400 to $600 to turn in older-model used cars and trucks that still run.

Scrap yards participating in the program earn pollution credits they can sell to businesses seeking to avoid installing costly antipollution equipment.

But many auto enthusiasts complained that the scrap programs were too draconian. By insisting that all components of a vehicle be destroyed, opponents said, the programs eliminated valuable repair and restoration parts.Intensive lobbying by groups such as SEMA resulted in adoption earlier this year of rules that permit scrap program operators to sell body, trim, upholstery and other parts not associated with a vehicle’s powertrain.

The scrap yards also can sell entire vehicles to motorists who want engine, transmission or other drive-line parts. But the state will not issue pollution credits for vehicles sold instead of scrapped, so the value of those credits probably will be added to the asking price of the junked vehicle, Bohanan said.

The new notification program, which began last month, enables consumers to register their interest in particular vehicle makes and models with the air resources board. Consumers can sign up for e-mail notification through SEMA’s Web site at www.enjoythedrive.com.

When an owner makes an appointment to turn in a car or truck for scrap, the system automatically logs the vehicle, scans the list of interested parties and sends e-mail notifications to those it identifies.

A consumer interested in salvaging parts from the vehicle can then call the scrap yard for an appointment, inspect the vehicle and negotiate for parts.

While the old system encouraged scrap-yard operators to junk cars and trucks as soon as possible, the new system requires them to wait 10 days from the time an owner calls to arrange to sell them a vehicle.

The scrap yard must add seven days to the waiting period--for a total of 17--if a consumer then calls to make an appointment to inspect the car or truck for parts.

The e-mail messages notifying consumers about a vehicle will include the dismantling yard’s location and the time the vehicle will arrive.

“It’s a good program,” Bohanan said. “They are being proactive. They are notifying you.”