No Respect for Auto Recycling Facilities

On behalf of the salvage industry, I object to your use of the term "junkyard" ["Clunker Parts' Crossroad: Useful Spare or Gritty End," front page, Aug. 21]. That term went out when "Sanford and Son" went off the air. These days we prefer to be called "auto recyclers."

Although many of our businesses have been around for generations, we have modernized considerably over the years. When my grandfather's cousin set up shop in 1916, he kept the inventory in his head. In the '50s, my grandmother created a paper recordkeeping system. In the '80s my father introduced computers. Today, a significant amount of our transactions are Web-based.

In fact, many auto recyclers have sophisticated computerized inventory systems, interconnected on nationwide networks that facilitate commerce and foster competition, which bring more choices and lower prices to consumers. Used parts valued from as little as $5 (gas caps) to tens of thousands of dollars (Mercedes engines) regularly change hands coast to coast. These tech-savvy modern facilities have come a long way from the "junkyards" of the past.

Although I am now a Washington bureaucrat, I cannot deny my auto recycler roots.

-- Genevieve D. Sapir

Washington

The writer's family owns Intercity Auto Wrecking in Walton Hills, Ohio.