[This message has been edited by Emc209i (edited 09-20-2008).]

Our local scrap car dealer is very sensible about this kind of thing, IMHO. Anything that would cost less than 10 euros new, does NOT warrant being charged for secondhand, and you are free to take them..as long as you declare them, AND buy something whilst you are there. Sadly, no matter HOW low they set the bar, there are always people who will try to wriggle under it. In other words, they now think it is fair game to take things that are less than 20 euros to buy new, without paying.
I have always gone to the owner with anything I have a use for. You would not believe how many things he gives ME for free, and a good price on things I HAVE to pay for, whilst I have seen him charge over the odds to other people for something they have wanted to buy. I asked him why he did that, once...and he smiled, and said 'that guy walks out with more stuff he doesn´t pay for than you would imagine..so I get the money for him by charging HIM more than I would charge you, or anybody else WHO RESPECTS MY BUSINESS. And if he doesn´t come back, I have one less thief to worry about'.
I can also take things without paying for them at the time, because I might see something I didn´t expect to see there, and don't have the money to pay at that visit. I always make a point of going back and paying, then walking out the yard without even looking for something else. He then knows I came back to pay the debt, rather than just pay for it because I want something else That is a luxury that being honest earns, and again, IMHO, makes up for me having to pay for something I know darned well will almost never ever be sold before it is smashed to pieces .
Scrapyards, or wreckers as you call them, have very high taxes and levies to pay here in Spain. They have to ensure that EVERY vehicle has ALL its fluids drained before they are put up for sale as parts cars. They have to pay a LOT of money for the disposal of those liquids legally and properly.My guy told me that, for every 'free car' he gets in, he has to pay Local Government charges, and labour hours for the 'cleaning up' operations, which total around 250 euros per car. Currently there are 150-odd cars in his yard..multiply that by 250 euros each BEFORE he can actually start to sell anything off them..37.500 euros....he has to make that back,before he starts making a profit on the vehicle.
IMHO, honesty is the best policy for all.The wreckers in my area have a 'grapevine', and anybody who steals, or removes things without permission, will suddenly find themselves not being allowed in ANY wreckers yard in the area.
Whether we consider it to be right or wrong to 'liberate' parts, just be sure that the price of it WILL be collected..just probably from somebody else who DOES pay for their parts already.
Edit to add a perspective from an 'Oldtimer's' life experience

I never met anybody who started smoking 60 cigarettes from day 1
I never met an alcoholic who started drinking 4 bottles of vodka a day from day 1
I never met a junkie who started out on crack cocaine from day 1
I never met anybody who started a life of violence passed their teen years.
I never met anybody who exceeded the speed limit by 50 mph from day 1
And there are adages which have lasted hundreds of years for good reason. One being
'great Oaks from little acorns grow'

[This message has been edited by fierofetish (edited 09-20-2008).]

quote Originally posted by madcurl: When was the last time you’ve walked into a store and was charged a flat fee upon entering?

2 months ago, on a buddy's birthday. Cover charge at the strip club. Was worth it though

[This message has been edited by GT86 (edited 09-20-2008).]