Bin 2-2-2
Used Auto Parts in Fort Wayne, IN
Engines, body panels and the parts in between, wrapped and racked by bin inside the yard. Call with the year, make and model and we will tell you what is on the shelf.
Chapter 01
Racked, wrapped and tagged
Every used engine and body panel in the yard sits wrapped in plastic on a wooden pallet, up on a steel rack that runs the length of the Quonset. Each shelf carries its own painted bin number, hand-lettered in yellow, so a part that has been in the building for two years is exactly as easy to find as one that came in yesterday.
That filing is what makes a phone call worth making before you drive out. If a fender or an engine is on the rack, someone can walk straight to the bin and tell you it is there, still wrapped, still protected from the weather and the dust that would otherwise sit on it in an open yard.
Rust-brown steel racks of plastic-wrapped used engines inside the Mills Auto Parts Quonset warehouse in Fort Wayne
What to have ready when you call
The fastest calls are the ones where the year, make and model come first, followed by the engine size or trim and the part itself. A part number or a casting mark read straight off the old part narrows it down further than a description ever will, so it is worth a look at the piece you are replacing before you dial.
For a body panel, the color matters as much as the part itself. Have the paint code ready if you know it, or plan on checking it at the yard, because a fender that is the wrong shade is a repaint bill waiting to happen even when the metal itself fits.
Chapter 03
Have it pulled before you drive in
One customer drove up from southern Indiana and arrived about an hour before closing, only to be told the yard had lost power for most of the day. He had already asked ahead for his part to be pulled, though, and it was sitting there wrapped and ready. Loaded up and taken care of, power outage or not, because the part was already off the rack before he ever left home.
That is the difference calling ahead makes on a long drive to Fort Wayne. Ask for the part to be pulled when you call, and it comes off the shelf and onto the floor, ready to load the moment you pull in off Adams Center Rd.
Check the fit before you leave the yard
Before you drive off with any part, it pays to compare it against what is coming off the vehicle: the connectors, the mounting points, the shape of the mounting holes. A part that matches the description can still be the wrong revision on some models, and that is a five-minute check at the yard instead of a return trip later.
One family spent months hunting a fender for their granddaughter's 2012 Honda Pilot in the right color, without dents or scratches. When Mills had one, Amanda checked it against the paint code herself before it went out the door, and it matched. The family drove over 200 miles each way to get it, had it installed, and that was that.
Mills Auto Parts, rated 4.0 out of 5 across 293 Google reviews. Call (260) 493-1553.
Bin 2-3
More from the yard
If new suits the job better, or you are after a whole vehicle rather than a single part, the rest of what leaves 4200 Adams Center Rd is a click away.