Commonly Rebuilt / Refurbished Auto Mechanic Parts in Tampa

Last week, Tampa auto repair site BigMechanic.Com performed another monthly recycling of salvaged automotive parts. As technology changes, so does the salvage & rebuilding portion of the auto mechanic industry.

From our experience with muffler and auto repair in and around Tampa Bay, catalytic converters are some of the more popular components for recycling. They provide platinum, rhodium and iridium through a smelting process typically harvested through steel mills in the Northeastern US. As one of the top auto mechanic companies in Tampa, we recycled over 160 catalytic converters this month.

Additionally, our “core buyers” have found a rebuild value in A/C compressors, blower motors, cooling fans and radiators. But what is even more interesting for any Tampa auto mechanic customer is that they are now cataloging parts such as distributors, map sensors, mass air flow sensors, PCM’s, ECM’s, wiper motors, window regulators and turbo units. We have always known that starters & alternators are re-manufactured, but we are very happy to see these parts be refurbished and put back into service at a lower price option for our auto repair customers, allowing them to reenter the Tampa roadways for less.

As you may guess, we also are one of Tampa’s top auto mechanic salvagers of aluminum and copper AC condensers and non-rebuildable radiators. Some air conditioning accumulators, driers, expansion valves and hose assemblies can be dissected for value once the steel brackets are removed, but that isn’t always an efficient process. Either way, things are changing for auto repair shops in Tampa.

We even learned that oxygen sensors (aka O2 sensors) also have a small amount of platinum at the very tip of the porcelain guard. This basically means that a 55 gallon drum full of O2 sensors can fetch a Tampa auto mechanic company like ours about $3500.00 in salvageable material. These precious metals are valued far beyond the Tampa auto repair industry: platinum, iridium and rhodium are even traded on the stock market!