Discovering the Heart of Pete’s Auto Parts: More Than Just a Junkyard
When you think of a junkyard, images of dilapidated cars piled high and scattered parts come to mind. But at Pete’s Auto Parts, we pride ourselves on being much more than that. Our modern automotive recycling facility in West Michigan stands as a testament to decades of innovation, dedication, and a commitment to quality. Here, we focus on providing high-quality used auto parts while promoting sustainable practices in the automotive industry.
A Legacy Built on Passion
Pete’s Auto Parts has deep roots in the automotive industry that date back to the early 1950s. Our founder, Pete Elenbaas, was a hardworking farmer who struggled to make ends meet. To supplement his income, he started towing vehicles. However, as abandoned cars began to overtake his bean fields, he found a new opportunity. In 1956, Pete registered with the state of Michigan, transforming his side hustle into a burgeoning auto parts business. Back then we did call ourselves a junkyard.
Pete’s passion for the salvage industry didn’t stop with him. He shared this passion with his son, Ron Elenbaas, who became instrumental in shaping what Pete’s Auto Parts is today. While initially focused on towing, Ron saw the potential in auto parts and shifted the company’s focus entirely to automotive recycling. By investing in the latest technology and purchasing low-mileage vehicles, Ron laid the foundation for a modern auto parts operation that prioritizes quality over quantity. He was the person who first saw Pete’s as *more* than just a junkyard.
Fast forward to today, and Amber (Elenbaas) Kendrick, Ron’s daughter, has taken the helm, ensuring that the family legacy continues. Under her leadership, Pete’s Auto Parts has embraced a new era of efficiency, technology, and customer service.
Not Your Average Junkyard
Many customers find us by searching for a junkyard, but we don’t consider ourselves one. At Pete’s Auto Parts, we operate as a state-of-the-art automotive recycling facility. We take pride in the fact that we don’t sell junk; we offer thoroughly evaluated and inspected parts from vehicles that have been in unfortunate accidents. Our trained professionals meticulously evaluate each vehicle, remove all fluids, and salvage the parts that can be reused or recycled. Plenty of customers still call us a junkyard, and that’s ok. We can take it. We know we don’t sell junk, or accept old washing machines. We’re not a junkyard, but you can call us a junkyard if that makes you happy. We’ll still continue to provide quality auto parts, whether you call us an auto parts store or a junkyard.
What Sets Us Apart
- Quality Assurance: Each vehicle is assessed for usable parts, which are then inspected and cleaned before they are made available for sale. This ensures that you are getting a product that meets high standards of quality and reliability.
- Environmental Responsibility: Our approach to automotive recycling isn’t just about profits; it’s about sustainability. By salvaging and recycling vehicle parts, we help reduce waste and promote a greener environment. Our facility is designed to minimize environmental impact, and we responsibly dispose of any materials that cannot be salvaged.
- Exceptional Customer Service: Our team operates by the golden rule: treat others as you would like to be treated. Whether you’re searching for a specific part or need assistance navigating our website, our dedicated team is ready to help you every step of the way.
Exploring Our Easy-to-Use Website
In an era where convenience is king, Pete’s Auto Parts has made it simple for you to find the parts you need without the hassle of visiting a physical location. Our website, https://petesauto.net, serves as a user-friendly platform where you can search for parts with ease. You don’t have to use it, you can call in or text in and find parts (616-669-6592) but if you choose to, https://petesauto.net is an easy way to search for parts for your vehicle.
Features of Our Website:
- Comprehensive Search Functionality: Use our search tool to find specific parts for your vehicle. Whether you’re looking for a rare component or a common replacement, our extensive database allows you to filter by make, model, and year.
- Pictures: They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and we take a ton of photos of every vehicle and even multiple angles of our major body parts so that you can see what you are buying before you commit! We will also send you more pictures once the part is pulled and staged in our shipping area under bright lights.
- Detailed Descriptions: Each part listed on our site comes with detailed descriptions and photos, giving you a clear understanding of what you’re purchasing. We believe that transparency is key to building trust with our customers.
- Online Ordering: Once you find the part you need, ordering is straightforward. Our secure online payment system ensures your information is protected, making your shopping experience safe and hassle-free.
- Shipping Options: For those who can’t make it to our facility, we offer shipping options to get your parts delivered right to your door.
- Payment Methods: We take all major credit cards, Paypal, and on our website we even offer bank transfer and extended payment term options.
Our Commitment to Excellence
At Pete’s Auto Parts, we believe that quality is non-negotiable. When you purchase parts from us, you’re not just getting components; you’re getting assurance that those parts have been handled with care. Our team of 29 hardworking individuals in West Michigan—and our remote team member, Dan, in North Carolina—are dedicated to ensuring that every part we sell meets our high standards. You can tell when you deal with us that we truly are not a junkyard!
A Culture of Continuous Improvement
Our commitment to excellence extends beyond just the parts we sell. We are continually looking for ways to improve our processes and operations. This includes investing in technology that allows us to assess vehicles more efficiently and effectively, as well as training our staff to ensure they are knowledgeable about the latest trends in automotive recycling. In 2024 we got a new back-end system for our parts techs to update each order with pictures every step of the way – ever heard of a junkyard that does that?
The Future of Pete’s Auto Parts
As we look to the future, Pete’s Auto Parts is excited about the potential for growth and innovation in the automotive recycling industry. The demand for used auto parts continues to rise as consumers become more eco-conscious and seek cost-effective alternatives to new parts.
We plan to expand our inventory, enhancing our website’s functionality, and strengthening our community ties through educational initiatives about the benefits of automotive recycling. We want our customers to feel confident that they are making a responsible choice when they purchase from us.
Join the Pete’s Auto Parts Family
Whether you’re a DIY enthusiast, a professional mechanic, or just someone in need of a replacement part, Pete’s Auto Parts is here for you. We invite you to explore our website at https://petesauto.net and discover the quality, convenience, and customer service that set us apart from a traditional junkyard.
Our team is ready to assist you in finding the exact part you need, ensuring that your vehicle remains safe and reliable. With decades of experience, a passion for the automotive industry, and a commitment to sustainability, we’re more than just a business; we’re a family.
Thank you for considering Pete’s Auto Parts. Together, let’s keep your vehicle running smoothly while being kind to the planet and saving money. There are a lot of benefits to using Pete’s Auto Parts. Let’s explore them:
Save Money
People often search for junkyard car parts near me, salvage yard auto parts or used auto parts because they want to save money. It makes sense that used parts are usually way less expensive than brand-new car parts. Because we test and quality check our used parts before selling them, you can be confident knowing your used part will function as well as a new part. Between our standard 90 day warranty and the extended 1 year and 3 year parts warranties and labor coverage we offer, you can rest assured your part will work correctly or you’ll get a replacement.
So many of the parts sold brand-new (whether they are OEM or aftermarket) are sold individually, whereas at Pete’s Auto Parts we sell assemblies. For example, a used bumper from Pete’s Auto Parts will usually be sold including the bumper bar or reinforcement, any absorbers or pads, and any sensors or cameras or wiring, in addition to the plastic bumper cover. When you purchase a brand new bumper, either an aftermarket knock-off or a brand name straight-from-the-manufacturer, generally it will only be that cover, just one part of the true bumper assembly. By purchasing a used bumper assembly, you will not only save parts cost, but labor cost, as you or your mechanic won’t have to spend time swapping over every little parking sensor wire!
Used parts are typically between 25% and 40% less expensive than new auto parts, and they function just as well. Sometimes we can save customers even more than that – and in today’s economy, every bit helps! We’re not selling junkyard car parts, but we have junk yard prices at times!
Reliability
At Pete’s Auto Parts our trained dismantlers, parts techs and quality control agents evaluate each part to ensure they are safe for use and have usable life left in them. In order to better serve the Grand Rapids area and all of west Michigan, in addition to shipping parts nationwide, we take videos of our vehicles running when we inventory the parts, and we post these videos to our youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/@petesauto7873 so you can hear the motor run before you purchase it! Most junkyard car parts are not going to provide you with that level of peace of mind!
We buy our low-mileage, late model vehicles from insurance company auto auctions like CoPart and IAA, meaning the cars, trucks, vans and SUVs had full coverage insurance and were in an unfortunate fender bender. If you were in an accident today, your car might suffer damage to the left or right side, but still have great usable parts in the front or back. Or it might have been hit in the front, but all the doors and the engine and transmission are perfectly good! These parts are just as reliable as the ones that are going down the road today. Junkyards may let you come pull your own parts, but generally when you buy junkyard car parts you are buying parts that were on a vehicle at the end of it’s life. Our vehicles are not worn out, they are in the best years of their lives and are low mileage, they have lots of good parts left to keep your vehicle running.
These are parts that were not damaged in the accident or worn out. We advertise the mileage of our parts and encourage you to buy parts with less miles on them than your vehicle! You can still get plenty of life from these parts without spending as much as new parts. We also recognize sometimes it’s just easier to go with the term you know than the new politically correct term! If you want to call our parts junkyard car parts, we will accept that, that’s ok, we can take it! Keep in mind, just because you purchase a part from a junkyard doesn’t mean it’s junk. We are buying good low mileage cars with good low mileage parts, we’re testing the parts, having qualified technicians remove the parts, then we’re cleaning and inspecting the parts before they get to you. Properly removed and tested used auto parts are reliable for you and your vehicle.
Eco Friendly:
Everyone knows the terms “reduce, reuse, recycle!” At Pete’s Auto Parts we do all three, and you can too. Together, you and Pete’s, we reduce waste and we reduce new materials needed to produce brand new auto parts when we reuse a part that was on a vehicle in an accident, recycling it onto your vehicle driving down the road. Reusing materials (including steel, aluminum and plastic) drastically reduces the environment-harming resources needed to repair your vehicle.
Reusing and recycling automotive parts cuts down on the manufacturing of additional materials and, therefore, reduces our environmental footprint. A 2017 study in by Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) showed that used automotive parts in the state of Massachusetts reduced the state’s carbon footprint by at least 2.2 million tons of carbon dioxide annually! Every time you purchase a used auto part instead of a new auto part, that is a carbon negative action. Even junkyard auto parts are good for the environment!
Speed of “Junkyard” Car Parts
Large, long-standing salvage yards (like Pete’s Auto Parts – we’ve been here nearly 70 years!) typically have an incredible selection of discount auto parts. It doesn’t matter if you’re looking for a part from a vehicle made in 2023 or 1993, there’s a good chance you can find what you need. Often times new parts that go on backorder are only available at salvage yards. Even though new parts are often on a shelf ready to go, and our used auto parts are often still attached to the vehicle and need to be removed and prepped for pickup, shipping or delivery, at Pete’s Auto Parts we are often able to get customers parts just as fast as aftermarket or new parts that need to be shipped across the country! You will really start to buy that are parts are not junkyard car parts when you experience ordering a tailgate or a door from Texas and receiving it in just two days, often sooner than you can get the same part new!
Availability of “Junkyard” Car Parts
Pete’s Auto Parts is a partner in Team PRP, the nation’s largest group of automotive recyclers. That means if we don’t have the part you need at our facility, we can get the part from one of our partners. These strategic relationships are so helpful in being able to supply low-mileage mechanical parts, body parts in the same paint code as the customer vehicle, and parts from states with no rust! Many body shops love buying hoods, doors, fenders, and lids from us that we source from southern and western states that have much less rust than Michigan. At Pete’s we do business with other quality recyclers across the country, so that you can be assured we are sourcing good parts not junkyard auto parts when you buy from us.
OEM Parts Available at Affordable Prices
When purchasing a part for your vehicle, you surely know you can order new parts direct from the dealer. You can also find cheap parts online that are new but are knock-offs. Those parts are aftermarket parts, and it’s very difficult to determine the quality of these parts since so many manufacturers make low-quality auto parts on the cheap. They often look fine on the outside, but they’re often poorly made and may put your vehicle’s functionality or safety at risk. Many body shops complain aftermarket fenders and hoods do not line up on the vehicle properly, creating odd lines/gaps and downgrading the overall look of the vehicle. Other aftermarket issues include headlights that are not as bright as the originals. Even junkyard car parts are going to be original manufacturer parts and not aftermarket parts!
When you buy discount auto parts from a salvage yard, you typically get OEM parts, not aftermarket. OEM stands for original equipment manufacturer and means that the part was created by the manufacturer that created the part for the brand-new vehicle. At Pete’s Auto Parts, we do sell some quality aftermarket products when used are not available, but we prefer the ROEM parts over knock-offs! Whether you accept our parts with the fancy name of ROEM or you still call us junkyard car parts, we want your business!
Summary
When it comes to buying ROEM (recycled original equipment manufacturer) auto parts from a salvage yard, there are many that are almost always an easy decision, while others are better to buy new. An example of parts to buy new would be water pumps: they are cheap and readily available new and you can get a high quality water pump for not much more than a lower quality one.
An example of parts you may consider buying new or used would be brake calipers. Brake calipers are a “wear item” they are expected to wear out and be replaced. If you can find very very low mileage brake calipers, it often does make sense to purchase them used and save, however brake calipers with more miles, even from a vehicle considered low mileage such as one with just 80,000 miles, you start to see a decline on the return for the part, because it’s expected you will have to replace those parts and then the labor of doing it twice outweighs the cost savings of buying used.
Ready to Buy Junkyard Car Parts?
We hope you enjoyed this blog post on buying so called junkyard car parts and that it may have convinced you to give it a try or perhaps it reassured you that purchasing used vehicle parts for you car, truck, van or SUV is a viable option. At Pete’s Auto Parts we really believe that buying used auto parts is the best choice for many reasons. To save money, to help mother earth and be a good steward of the environment, because used parts are reliable and available, and because the best parts for your vehicle are the same parts the manufacturer intended to be on your vehicle — they made them after all!
No matter what part you need for your vehicle, you can reach out to Pete’s Auto Parts by calling or texting 616-669-6592 to learn more about our top-notch used car, truck, van and SUV parts. Or if you prefer to search our site, you can do that now on our used auto parts search page..
Even if you decide that you don’t want to buy from Pete’s Auto Parts, we hope you’ll go with recycled parts from a locally owned and operated company, such as one of our friends and competitors Weller Auto Parts or Morris Rose Auto Parts or Premier Auto Parts or Schram Auto Parts or Grand Valley Auto Parts or Joe’s Auto Parts. Although we’d RATHER you search for used auto parts near me and purchase all your auto parts from Pete’s, our second choice is for you to stick with a family owned company instead of from a big consolidator or chain. We believe in supporting local!
Check us out on facebook! https://facebook.com/petesautoparts
Find videos of our vehicles running on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@petesauto7873
You can search for parts on our website at our used auto parts search page.
If you would like to read more about Pete’s Auto Parts and about buying used auto parts, we have many more blog posts you can find below:
https://petesauto.net/used-car-parts/used-car-parts/
https://petesauto.net/used-car-parts/best-website-to-buy-used-car-parts/
https://petesauto.net/auto-body/aftermarket-car-parts/
https://petesauto.net/used-car-parts/why-buy-used-auto-parts/
https://petesauto.net/auto-body/battery-breakdown /
https://petesauto.net/auto-body/buying-a-used-engine-near-me/
https://petesauto.net/used-car-parts/salvage-yard-near-me/
https://petesauto.net/tires/buying-tires-near-me/
https://petesauto.net/tires/buying-tires-near-me/
https://petesauto.net/used-car-parts/used-auto-parts-near-me/
