Why does nobody talk about how bad junkyards are for finding cheap transmissions?

I hit up Pull-A-Part over in Memphis last Saturday looking for a 4L60E for my old Chevy van. Everyone always says junkyards are the holy grail for budget builds under $500. But man, I spent 3 hours crawling through mud and dodging broken glass just to find out half the cars were stripped clean already. The one transmission I found had the bellhousing cracked and some rat had been living inside it. I get that it's part of the game when you're trying to flip something for cheap, but I think people gloss over how much time you waste there. Has anyone else had better luck at specific yards or am I just hitting the wrong ones?

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blair_lewis851d agoMost Upvoted

My buddy went to LKQ in Nashville last month for a 4L60E and said the same thing, man. He found one but it was from a 2002 Silverado that had been sitting in a field for years and the fluid looked like chocolate pudding. I mean, idk, maybe it's just me but it feels like the whole "junkyard treasure" thing is a leftover from 15 years ago when cars weren't recycled so fast. Everything's just picked over now like people forgot that parts aren't infinite. You gotta really dig through the busted stuff if you want a deal, but honestly it's getting harder to justify the gas money.