I came here after doing an online search for an engine control module for my wife's Subaru. There…read morewere only two auto salvage yards fairly close to me that had the part I was looking for. Grady's was one of them; I called to see if the part was still available, and was told that it was, and was already removed from the vehicle. (In contrast, the other salvage yard had NOT removed the part from the vehicle, which wasn't even in their main yard!).
The price Grady's charged for the ECM (also referred to as the engine computer or "brain box") was a reasonable $75 (in comparison, people selling ECMs on eBay seem to charge around $100-$125, plus there's shipping costs). Now, Grady's offers no warranty on ECMs or other electronic parts - a policy which is not uncommon, for obvious reasons.
As a backyard mechanic since my teen years in the '80s, I've been to just about every auto salvage yard in Rhode Island, and some in nearby Massachusetts and Connecticut, but I'd never been to Grady's before. It's actually not far from Pawtucket, R.I., and easy to get to. It's located in a mostly residential area. Since this is not a self-service salvage yard like Pick N' Pull, I was not able to assess the amount and variety of vehicles in their yard. My transaction was limited to their office area, which is notable for two things: several hand-written signs describing their policies; and several photos/posters of Shiloh Shepherd dogs (similar to German Shepherds).
Out of curiosity, I read reviews of Grady's on Yelp and Google, and saw several 1-star reviews, many of which describe the husband and wife who own the place as rude. While I wouldn't describe them as warm, friendly people, they weren't rude to me over the phone, or in person. They appear to be strict or unwavering when it comes to their business policies - maybe some customers interpret that as rudeness.
I would describe them as all business. I tried to ask them questions about their dogs, since I'm a dog lover too, but they didn't talk very much at all about them - then again, they were pretty busy during my visit.
Anyway, they were one of the few places that had the part I needed, and they correctly confirmed that they still had it before I drove there, so I didn't waste my time. Once I got there, they retrieved the part from their inventory fairly quickly. Overall, a good transaction, and I would definitely do business with them again.