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by alimov 1516 days ago
I believe they do a fair bit of recycling to recover various metals. I don’t think its all fixed up and resold (if any of it is fixed and resold at all)
2 comments

Auto parts stores depend heavily on refurbishing cores. Only the most damaged units go to scrap.

You will lose a ton of money trying to buy a 15 year supply of starters and keeping them in a warehouse for 20 years (remember your sales only start once a car is out of warranty/production).

Car parts tend to fail in waves, so all the water pumps from 2012 Volkswagens are going to start coming in - and getting remanufactured - around the same time people are looking for them. You just buy a few from the OEM to bootstrap.

I very much doubt the old parts are re-used. Refurbished Apple devices all have brand new screens and batteries installed, even if they were as-new returns.