Dismantler's task: Value all that stuff

Real estate appraisers generally look to recent sales of comparable properties to establish a reasonable value.

The sale of an automotive dismantling operation at Mound House, a transaction that will include thousands of rare automotive parts, is likely to challenge an appraiser's skills.

D&L Auto Dismantlers, a fixture in the Lyon County community for 35 years, was put on the market by Roger and Vicki Haas, who listed the property with Rob Joiner of Coldwell Banker Commercial Premier Brokers in Carson City.

The asking price is $475,000, and Joiner says long hours of study were required to come up with that number.

The real estate occupied by D&L Auto Dismantlers is fairly straightforward roughly two acres zoned for a wrecking yard, a shop and office building and quarters for a watchman.

But what's the value all the stuff on those two acres, stuff that's to be included in the sale?

What's the value of a row of hoods from cars from the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s? Hundreds of engine components for classic cars? A rusting cab-over truck that might find new life as a hauler for a classic car? A complete 1938 Chevrolet? A group of fire hydrants? Some old bicycles? Automotive memorabilia?

It's believed to be one of the largest assemblages of classic cars, trucks and parts in the region.

Item by item, Roger and Vicki Haas checked prices in reference books and began accumulating the total that became part of the asking price.

"I'm not a car expert," says Joiner. "They are."

The two-acre inventory of stuff, Joiner explains, began as a sidelight to the Haas family's business of building hot rods, both in California and northern Nevada. Instead of sending potentially useful parts to a crusher for recycling, they saved them.

Now the family hopes it amounts to a gold mine for someone who can look beyond the occasional patch of rust.

But first Joiner needs to find a buyer who gets excited about the potential of a bunch of stuff.

He's marketing the property through car clubs and working to reach them through events such as Hot August Nights.

"This is a real niche market," he says. "It's going to click with someone."