The property in the industrial hub of Kopu on the outskirts of Thames at the base of the Coromandel Peninsula, is home to Parts World Thames. The location has sustained various car dismantling firms from the location for some 40-years - the last two decades under its current branding.

As New Zealand’s largest automotive parts recycling retailer, Parts World has 28 locations around the country – supplying both vehicle repair garages and selling direct to the public – with access to Japanese, European and North American cars.

Parts World operates its Thames business from an array of five variously sized warehousing sheds and commercial office space totalling approximately 1,316-square metres. The property is located back from the main road via a lengthy wide driveway leading to a sealed customer parking area.

The largest building on site – a two-storey structure containing the firm’s customer reception area, administrative offices, and staff amenities, with warehousing at the rear – has a new building standards rating of 80 percent.

Sitting on some 1.41-hectares of flat land zoned industrial 7A under the Thames Coromandel District Council plan, the metaled yard space for sale is packed with hundreds of vehicles being dismantled for their parts and accessories. Some rows have cars stacked on top of each other – with a moveable crane used to lift off vehicles when required.

The freehold land and buildings at 27 Kopu Road in Thames are now being marketed for sale at auction on October 28 through Bayleys Hamilton and Bayleys Thames. Salespeople Josh Smith said Geoff Graham said that as a compact suburb on the southern edge of Thames township, Kopu was predominantly tenanted with a mix of engineering, manufacturing, construction, light industry and warehousing tenancies.

“The strategic location of Kopu is key to Parts World’s on-going efficiency – servicing towns triangulating the Coromandel Peninsula to the north via State Highway 25, the Hauraki Plains to the west via State Highway 25, and the Western Bay of Plenty to the east via State Highway 26,” Smith said.

“That means vehicle repair garages within a 70-kilometre radius can quickly order parts to be delivered on a daily basis from this ‘hub and spoke’ location – with couriers having easy access to the surrounding towns of the Coromandel, Hauraki Plains and Bay of Plenty via the nearby Kopu roundabout.”

Parts World Thames is on a current lease at 27 Kopu Road running through to 2024 - generating annual rental revenue of $83,850 plus GST and operating expenses.

Smith said the barn-like corrugated iron warehousing buildings within the L-shaped premises were packed with rows and rows of shelved car parts meticulously categorised by brand and marque to allow for easy location when requested by customers.

“The buildings are conveniently situated at different points within the yard to allow delivery trucks, tow trucks, and utes to efficiently load up larger or bulky car parts once they have been located in the library-like storage system. This minimises vehicle traffic flow around the yard, which understandably has high health and safety standards,” he said.

Parts World Thames operates an onsite contamination containment area specifically for the dismantling of motor vehicle engines – ensuring motor lubricants, fuels, sump waste, and battery acids are collected for later disposal offsite.

Graham said demand for second hand car parts from firms such as Parts World in Thames had always been part of New Zealand’s automotive psyche – partially driven by the cost benefits of purchasing parts cheaper than if bought new, and partially sustained by the positive environmental aspects of re-using as much of a defunct vehicle as possible before its final destruction for metal scrap.

“It’s also far easier for provincial repair garages to order a replacement car or engine part locally from ‘just down the road’ than it is to source a new part from an importer located in Auckland,” he said.

“That is why automotive dismantling tenants on the Kopu site has been so active in this sector for 40-years.”

Click here for more information on the listing.