With spring under way, Lou Appel’s Auto Spares has a message for drivers across Johannesburg: when a scarce second hand part is proving impossible to track down, the quickest fix is often to simply ask for it by name. Operating out of Selby, the firm has carried the Lou Appel name in some form for over ninety years, and it is now steering motorists, independent workshops and DIY mechanics towards its online part request service as the warmer season brings its familiar surge in repairs, restorations and pre holiday servicing.
By September, much of the work South African owners have been putting off finally lands on the workshop calendar. Vehicles that scraped through winter on a worn engine, a whining gearbox or a split bumper are back up on the ramps, and the cost of brand new original parts pushes plenty of owners to hunt for a used option instead. Filling exactly that gap is what a well established second hand spares yard does, and it explains why Lou Appel’s built its website around a straightforward request form instead of a bottomless parts catalogue.
How the part request service works
Six pieces of information are all the request page needs: first name and surname, a cell number, an email address, the make and model of the vehicle, the model year, and the exact part or parts being sought. After the form goes through, the business phones the customer back. Nothing about the enquiry is binding, and there is no requirement to have a part number ready beforehand, which is a relief for owners who can explain the fault but not name the component. Prefer to talk to someone immediately? The yard can be reached on 011 493 8260, or you can use the WhatsApp option on the site, where an agent is waiting.
What makes the callback approach a natural fit here is the constant turnover of stock. Vehicles come in, get stripped, and their serviceable components land on the shelves, so the parts available in the second week of September will not match what was there in the first. Logging a request with the make, model and year allows the team to compare it against what is actually in stock right now, rather than against a list that was correct four weeks ago. It also gives a customer who is out of town, or unable to reach Selby during trading hours, a way to still get an answer.
Stripped vehicles, tested components
The yard itself is what sits behind that request form. At the Scrap Yard, whole vehicles are dismantled carefully so that every part worth saving remains in usable shape, and it counts itself among the most established operations of its type in Johannesburg. Engines, gearboxes, body panels, electrical parts and a long list of smaller items all come off the vehicles passing through, and the inventory shifts as fresh stock is brought in.
Every component is checked and tested before it is put up for sale. Customers have two choices: head to Booysens Road in Selby to view what is on the floor, or send through the vehicle details online and have availability and pricing confirmed before setting off. If you are restoring an older car, or keeping a work vehicle running on a tight budget, being able to see and handle a part before you buy it is a large part of what a real yard offers over a faceless online listing.
The engine room
Engines are handled as a distinct part of the business. Local and imported second hand petrol and diesel units, along with gearboxes, fill the Engines for sale section, which is arranged by manufacturer so a buyer can head straight to the marque they are after. The list spans more than thirty makes, ordered alphabetically from Alfa Romeo down to Volvo, with the stock figures beside each brand giving a truthful sense of depth. Volkswagen, Audi, Toyota, Ford, Nissan, Opel, Kia, BMW and Mercedes all show substantial counts, mirroring what genuinely arrives at a Johannesburg yard rather than what a catalogue would like to claim.
Naturally aspirated and turbocharged units are both catered for, across newer and older vehicles alike, and reconditioned and low mileage options sit next to standard second hand stock. Anyone weighing used Engines against the price of a rebuild or a new unit is generally asking three questions: does the unit fit, has it been checked, and what will it cost. Lou Appel’s says its engines are carefully inspected and tested for quality, performance and dependability, and that prices stay competitive without lowering the standard of what leaves the yard.
Who the yard serves
Roughly three groups make up the customer base. Independent workshops and mechanics rely on a dependable supply of second hand components so a repair quote can stay within what the owner is prepared to pay. Private owners tend to arrive after one particular item, frequently a body panel following a knock or an electrical part that has given out on a car too old for the dealer network to still stock. Then come the restorers and enthusiasts, chasing parts for vehicles that lost official support years back, and it is they who gain the most from a yard that has been building up stock over decades.
The makes covered take in most of what travels South African roads. Toyota, Ford, Hyundai, Kia, Nissan, Opel, BMW, Mercedes, Volkswagen, Audi and Renault all appear, so the greater part of the passenger and light commercial fleet in Gauteng is provided for. It is that range which makes a single enquiry worth sending instead of ringing round, since one request reaches a business that already deals with the bulk of common makes.
A third generation business
For a spares yard, the company keeps an unusually detailed record of its past. Some ninety years ago it was founded by Lou Appel, whose father Max was a blacksmith, and it originally traded as Lou Appel’s Motor Graveyard. Lou remained at the helm until he died in February 1982, after which his son Raymond stepped in during January 1983 and set up Lou Appel’s Auto Spares TVL (PTY) Ltd. In 2014 Raymond handed the business down to his own son, carrying it into a third generation. Few businesses in the trade can claim that sort of continuity, and it is part of why the yard is happy to invite people in to inspect stock face to face.
The business does more than sell parts; it also buys damaged cars, and that is where much of its incoming stock comes from. A vehicle written off as uneconomical to repair after a crash still carries considerable value in its components, and sending it through a yard that strips it properly keeps those components in use rather than scrapping the lot.
Trading hours and getting hold of the yard
Trading runs Monday to Thursday from 08:00 to 17:00, Friday from 08:00 to 16:30, and Saturday from 08:30 to 12:30. The yard shuts on Sundays, and the business asks customers to phone ahead regarding public holidays. Both the website form and the WhatsApp option stay open outside those hours, so anyone can file a request in the evening and take the callback on the next working day. Full details of the stock, the engine listings and the part request form are on the Lou Appel’s Auto Spares website at https://louappels.co.za/.
About Lou Appel’s Auto Spares
Lou Appel’s Auto Spares is a used auto spares business based in Selby, Johannesburg, supplying second hand car parts, engines, gearboxes, body panels and electrical components for most makes and models. Now in its third generation, the business has traded under the Lou Appel name in one form or another for more than ninety years. It strips vehicles at its own yard on Booysens Road, inspects and tests components before sale, buys damaged cars, and takes part enquiries by phone, by WhatsApp and through an online request form.
Media Contact
Lou Appel’s Auto Spares
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +27 11 493 8260
Website: https://louappels.co.za/
