>I bought a transmission at a wreaking yard yesterday, but since I'm
>not going to pull it 'till next week, I paid the yard owner up front
>to "hold" it for me.  As we were settling up he causually mentioned
>that I could pay the core charge when I actually come back to get it.
>
>It never occured to me that there might be a core charge on a piece
>bought at a wreaking yard.  Is this normally done on rebuildable
>parts?  What's a reasonable core charge in this situation?

A couple of local (Pa.) junkyards have a similar policy.  I think they 
charge around a $35 core on transmissions.  They don't rebuild your old 
one, merely sell it for scrap metal value.  I have found that they don't 
seem to know or care what transmission you give them back as a core. I once 
gave them back a Bug transmission in exchange for a used Bus one, and they 
just had me throw it into a huge dumpster along with all the other "cores." 
 

-Ron Salmon
 The Bus Depot
 http://www.busdepot.com