Car Parts Stolen Auto Chop Shop Store Older

Oftentimes when a car is stolen in the United States, the car thief will take the car to a chop shop. At the chop shop the stolen car is "disassembled" (taken apart). After the stolen car is disassembled, its parts are sold to "disreputable" (not trustworthy; not honest) auto service and auto body shops across the country that use these parts to repair their customers' cars, usually without their customers knowing that the parts are stolen.

When a chop shop sells a stolen car's parts, it is very difficult for the police to "track" (find; locate) those parts. Individual parts do not have a VIN number printed on it, so there is no way for the police to "identify" (recognize) or "trace" (locate the owner of) a part from a stolen car.

For this reason, it is not easy to avoid buying stolen parts unless you buy your car parts directly from a large auto supply store or a store that is part of a "chain" (a main company with many store locations). If you are getting your car repaired or serviced, you can take your car to the "dealership" (store that sells cars) where the car was purchased, or an "authorized" (having official permission to do business) service location. Those who don't take their car to the dealership, but to an independent auto repair shop instead, can ask if the shop buys its parts directly from the dealership.

Interestingly, chop shops prefer to get older cars rather than newer cars because the parts for older cars are usually worth more money than parts to newer cars. It is easy for people to find new car parts at any auto store, but it's difficult to find parts for older cars.