Gotta throw my .02 in here. I owned a wrecking yard for 10 years and then worked at another for another 10. Loved the "Game", hated the business. Slowly changed it from a "Junkyard" to a "Wrecking Yard", never made it to a "Automotive Recycling Yard". (junkyard has stoves, refrig, etc in piles; wrecking yard has all cars and trucks; automotive recycing yards are fully computerized, nerds on the counter that drive riceburners that don't know what muscle cars are and don't care!!)
My yard had inventory as early as the mid '30s, and lots of the '70s muscle type cars.
The reason for core charges is simple (we sold parts and asked for an core or exchange also). Scrap has a very high value now and it all adds up. (when I crushed my yard in '97 I got $36 a ton, this year crushed cars are $250+) Also, on things like exchange or "core" doors, there are salvageable (and resellable) parts on them... Over half of the tilt columns we took in exchange, we rebuilt and resold....
And core buyers came by weekly, buying core steering boxes and racks, yellow metal (rads and copper wire), catalitic convertors ($10 then, now as high as $150), FWD axles, engines, electrical components (alt, starters, and now computers). It was good money, and CASH!!!. A core buyer will drop a $1,000 plus cash on the counter nowadays.
So, there is a reason for the core charge.. One has to get every bit of income they can nowadays in a business.
sorry for the long post, but I thought this needed an explanation.
Do I miss the business? YES! Do I regret getting out of it and getting rid of the headaches of the regualtions? NO!!!!!!!
