When is it a parts car?

Our cars aren't 60s mustangs or anything super collectible. There is a reason we can find them for 3500 to 4000 in pretty decent condition.
What I find hard when scavenging for parts, its more cost effective to try and find a whole car for everything in the long run. This also comes from no luck with salvage yards.

My conscious wrestles with me when I find a car in the right price range (Say $1000), but is too nice to tear apart because the cars are cheap to begin with. It even comes into play when I'm trying to find a running donor car with a Olds 403 and 455. Most of the giant land-yachts are in decent condition despite being unwanted.

What are your thoughts on this? Do these decisions factor in when caring for your vehicle?

Just an observation.

New England cars are parts cars once they have fist size holes in the frame, or the quarters/b pillars/D pillars are just so gone they can't be fixed. IMO.

They become parts cars when the cost of keeping them up is higher than their utility, or when they become dangerous to drive. If the frame, body, and interior are good, and they need mechanical attention, I would fix them. When the rust makes the body or frame unstable, it is time to part it out. You say you have had bad experiences with junk yards, so you need to find more reliable junk yards, and do your own parts inspections, and removal, before purchase. 

You can buy a good engine from a pick-and-pull yard, for about $350, and a trans for about $125. If you have someone install them, you are looking at about another $500. If you drive it 10,000 miles (about 1 year of driving), you are at about $.10 per mile for the repair. At that point the car does not owe you anything. A new car will cost you more in one year than the $975 repair of the car. Even if you had to put an engine and trans in the car every year, it would not cost you any more than a new car.

Interesting points Fred. Thanks.

When you can change the oxygen sensor from the passenger seat:

Yup. that's a parts car. Any other pics out there boys?

95BRMW wrote:

When you can change the oxygen sensor from the passenger seat:

LMAO for about a minute,good one David!