A wrecking yard, or auto salvage yard, more commonly known as junkyard, is the location of an auto dismantling business where wrecked or decomissioned vehicles (most commonly automobiles, but junkyards for motorcycles, bycicles, small planes and boats exist too) are brought, their usable parts are sold for use in operating vehicles, while the unusable metal parts, known as scrap metal parts are sold to metal recycling companies.
Many junkyards operate on a local level—when an automobile is severly damaged, or has malfuntioning beyond repair, or not worth the repair, the owner may sell it to a junkyard. The junkyard will usually tow the vehicle from its location to the yard. At the junkyard the automobiles are typically arranged in rows, often stacked on top of one another. Inventories are kept in the office, as to the usable parts in each car, as well as the car's location in the yard.
Often parts for which there is high demand are removed from cars and brought to the junkyard's warehouse. Then when a customer asks for that specific part, he can get it immediately, without having to wait for the junkyard employees to remove that part. However, it is more common for a customer to call in and inquire wheteher the specific item he needs is available. If the yard has the requested item the customer is usually asked to leave a deposit, and to come to pick up the part at a later time. The part is typically installed by the customer or his agent ("his mechanic"), however some salvage yards also provide installation services. Other junkyards allow customers to remove parts themselves, often at a substantially reduced price compared to having the junkyard's staff remove it.
The parts typically dismantled from automobiles are any small and easily removable items, such as the light cages (commonly known as just "lights", e.g. headlights, blinkers, taillights), seats, parts of the exhaust system, mirrors etc. However in many instances major parts such as the engine and transmission are removed and sold, usually to auto parts companies who will rebuild that part and resell it. Other, usually very large, junkyards will rebuild and sell such parts themselves. Some salvage yards will keep older cars in good body condition and sell them to amateur car builders and collectors, who will restore ("rebuild") the car for their own entertainment.
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