A family-owned salvage business with locations in Pasco and Yakima has expanded to Finley as its capacity maxes out. The new 19-acre facility, which opened May 10, has hundreds of cars customers can pull parts from.

Owner Mark Forcum first launched U-Pull-It Auto Parts in 2013 in Yakima, adding a second location in Pasco in 2016. As demand grew, U-Pull-It in Pasco was able to buy out its neighbor in 2021, expanding the acreage, and the Yakima location did the same in 2020. Forcum has opened his third salvage yard east of Kennewick in Benton County because the company needed a specific zoning, heavy industrial, to do its work. The Tri-Cities has been a good market and Forcum is banking on that popularity at the new location.

“We have a big customer base. We draw customers from not only the Tri-Cities, but our Yakima customers come back and forth. We draw customers from Moses Lake, Hermiston, Pendleton, Umatilla. We’re getting more people that come over from Portland, Seattle, because there’s no retail salvage yards left in those major cities,” Forcum said. 

Construction on the new facility is at 34508 S. Piert Road started in May 2024, and now the location is up and running.  

Do-it-yourself model 

Forcum has been in the salvage business for 46 years. He started out right after high school in Portland, Oregon, working for Foster Auto Parts, which later sold to LKQ. Forcum ended up working in market development, looking for acquisitions across the country.

“After nine years putting over 100,000 miles a year on the United airplane, I kind of had enough of that. I found the Yakima location and just pulled the trigger and said, ‘Time to do it myself.’ And it’s been fantastic,” he said.

His son, Mitchell Forcum, is a general manager for the family-owned business.

As the company’s name indicates, customers at U-Pull-It can go out into the lot of cars and pull their own parts – for a $3 fee.

The company has meticulously organized the cars by manufacturer, make and model so that it’s easy to find everything, and each car is up on a stand so that customers don’t need to bring a jack. 

Free wheelbarrows are on hand so customers can haul heavy parts to the front desk, and Forcum said they’ll even use their forklift if needed. 

All of the car parts are priced the same, no matter which type of car they come from. 

The salvage yard isn’t just for men; women shop there, too, Forcum said. “They don’t feel intimidated to come in our stores because they’re nice and clean, we educate them about, ‘Hey, you can go get that mirror for $29 instead of paying $250 at the dealer,’” he said. 

Forcum said that they will also let customers know if what they’re looking for is at one of the other two U-Pull-It locations. If a part has been pulled and is ready to go, customers can pay for that part at any location and the company will send it to the location of the customer’s choice the next day. 

Customers also can enjoy free water and coffee. Forcum said some regulars will come by every day to get their cup of coffee and check out the parts. Many repair and mechanical shops visit U-Pull-It for parts, too.

“They need the ability to take care of their customers, so we provide them quality product at a fair price, so that way they can sell the job to their customer and save the customer money, and then that independent shop gets to make money,” he said.   

Customers at U-Pull-It can pull their own parts from a lot of 950 cars for a $3 fee. Some parts, like tires, wheels, motors and transmissions, are pulled off by staff and kept in warehouse space.

| Photo by Rachel Visick

Several services

U-Pull-It’s new location is separated into two lots under two business names, both expected to have 950 vehicles each. One lot is self-service while the other lot is full-service, where parts are pulled for the customers. The full-service lot, under the name Supreme Truck and Auto Parts, is focused on premium late model vehicles. 

U-Pull-It doesn’t just fill its lots with random cars; the company carefully selects which cars to buy from salvage auctions, focusing on what is popular. GM trucks are particularly hot, Forcum said.

Before cars go out onto the lot, U-Pull-It removes the vehicles’ tires, wheels and motors. Salvageable motors are housed on shelves inside the company’s warehouses. All motors are tested to ensure good quality.

Forcum said U-Pull-It is also careful about staying up to date on any recalls by running the VIN numbers of every incoming vehicle. If a part, like an airbag, has been recalled, the company removes it from the vehicle before moving it to the lot. 

All of the cars’ fluids are drained and stored in storage tanks: antifreeze, gasoline, oil. The gas is used for company vehicles, and one of the perks of employment at U-Pull-It is getting free gas in addition to discounts on auto parts. 

The other fluids get recycled. 

Since about 10 to 15 cars arrive each day, 10 cars must leave the lot as well. That’s part of the reason U-Pull-It needed the industrial zoning – so the company can crush the cars and haul them out. The cars that have been out the longest are the ones on the chopping block.

“We always want to keep fresh merchandise on the shelf and be ready for the customer,” Forcum said. 

Parts come with a 90-day warranty, with extended warranties sold if the customer wants. The new shop employs about 20 staff. Forcum anticipates having about 30 employees after the new location is fully developed, slightly more than Pasco’s 20 employees and Yakima’s 17. 

The store is open seven days a week, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. the other days of the week. In the summer, hours will run from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day except Sunday. 

U-Pull-It Auto Parts: 34508 S. Piert Road, Kennewick; go2upullit.com.