Flipping Cars?

[AustrianOak82]

I think I remember reading a post about this topic but after a search, I wasn't able to find it. Has anyone out there thought about or attempted to flip a car? I was thinking the other day that I see a lot of cars on used car lots going for around 2,500 to 6,000 that just look terrible. I feel like I could get it into my shop and overhaul the interior and exterior and turn around and sell it for a profit. However, cars depreciate quickly so it obviously wouldn't yield the same results as a home. Thoughts?

 

[roguerobot]

I think there would be two issues: volume and transportability. Unlike housing, where location is everything, and makes a HUGE difference in price, cars can be easily moved, across the country if needed. Also, most models are produced in the thousands. This makes them far from rare.

Therefore, it is difficult to have a car be 'unique' or the 'best around'. Plus, things like mileage, and year play a far bigger role in value than does condition.

Check this for yourself by using a used car pricing tool, comparing the price you get if you ONLY change condition. Often its maybe a few ten to hundred dollars.

Of course, you will get top dollar for a car in good condition, but that top dollar may be a very small margin on the car, and could be outweighed by your costs: taxes, interest, repairs, advertising, etc will likely eat into profits.

This is probably why dealers don't pay more than a few hundred dollars, at most, to have the car detailed. More often, they 'pay' their own detailers who may not be as skilled as those that frequent this forum.

 

[hogie]

It can be done. I tend to look for cars that have easy to fix mechanical issues that can drive the price down. I drive them for a while and sell after I am ready for something new. I know this doesn't count as flipping it quick, but it does make for nearly free motoring.

 

[mrbtd]

Keep in mind most people could care less about swirl marks, dings and scratches.

 

[JSFM35x]

At the end of the day, a detail makes a car more saleable, but raised value very little. You need to do mechanical work yourself that someone else values to get a hefty profit.

I think I remember reading a post about this topic but after a search, I wasn't able to find it. Has anyone out there thought about or attempted to flip a car? I was thinking the other day that I see a lot of cars on used car lots going for around 2,500 to 6,000 that just look terrible. I feel like I could get it into my shop and overhaul the interior and exterior and turn around and sell it for a profit. However, cars depreciate quickly so it obviously wouldn't yield the same results as a home. Thoughts?

 

[HUMP DIESEL]

Buy low and sale high. It can be done. As long as you are not sinking too much money into. I know a few guys who detail that also flip cars.

HUMP

 

[7.3powerstroke]

If you can do it honestly, go for it. The Auto sales business is competitive, and there are a lot of scams out there. Be careful. Dont get me started on what some shady guys will do when they flip cars.

 

[Busy mind]

A buddy of mine goes to the auctions to flip cars when the mechanical works slows down. He sticks to a certain price range most of the time and they sell for $2000-3000. Over the years he has created a following from locals and sells the cars within days or even hours. At this price range a detail will help sell it but not necessarily raise value. As mentioned most buyers are looking for something that runs and doesn't leak oil when spending under 3k.

Get to know your target audience and flip cars that they will be interested in.

 

[FUNX650]

Take care...There's plenty of
flipping "flood cars" out there.


Bob

 

[Real Riders]

I think this is a great idea. I would start with small pickups and small import cars like the Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic. I would purchase a nice low price import or small truck , detail it, and advertise in multiple papers and online websights. If you purchase a small truck and are not able to sell it you could always use it as a mobile detail rig

 

[MPBGT]

I think I remember reading a post about this topic but after a search, I wasn't able to find it. Has anyone out there thought about or attempted to flip a car? I was thinking the other day that I see a lot of cars on used car lots going for around 2,500 to 6,000 that just look terrible. I feel like I could get it into my shop and overhaul the interior and exterior and turn around and sell it for a profit. However, cars depreciate quickly so it obviously wouldn't yield the same results as a home. Thoughts?

There is a reason that those cars at the dealer are not detailed to a high level. It does not make a difference to their customer. As long as the car is reasonably clean most people are fine with it. Unless you find a car that is a total disaster and bring it back to presentable your not going to make enough money to make it worthwhile.

I've flipped quite a few cars. The best profit I have made was on cars with mechanical issues, minor rust, and dirty. I do all my own mechanical, paint and detailing work so it keeps cost down on work that would cost the average Joe thousands. Stay under 6,000 with your end retail and your in a sweet spot. If I don't think I can make a minimum of a grand profit at the end I figure it's not worth my time.

Your plan will work if you find a deal from a private party. You'll never get a good enough deal to make it worth your while from a dealer.

 

[GSKR]

Stay away from Craigslist was lookin to buy a 03 clk 430 amg conv for 10500 43k mileage she was so shady I ended the deal.You will invest so much time and energy to find that profitable car.Just go to the auction if you can,but beware there are fees on top of the sale.

 

[GSKR]

I think this is a great idea. I would start with small pickups and small import cars like the Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic. I would purchase a nice low price import or small truck , detail it, and advertise in multiple papers and online websights. If you purchase a small truck and are not able to sell it you could always use it as a mobile detail rig

Good luck finding those vehicles for cheap,people who have a import such as you mentioned for sale ,they know what they have and a majority of the time will not give it away for a reasonable price they will hold on to it and get asking price.

 

[sanson12]

I highly recommend getting into buying and selling cars as it is a very easy thing to do on the side if you are smart about it. I would never buy from a used car lot, main reason is because those guys got to the point of being able to afford opening a lot on account of their knowledge with the price points of cars. Along the same lines, I never look at the kbb value or nada value for most cars because that is just a suggestion and doesn’t really mean much. To find a more precise value turn to craigslist and see what they’re selling for in your area. Many times I’ve seen a car worth 1.5-3K less on kbb than it is actually going for on the private party market and vice versa.
A common misconception is that you have to buy a car that needs a lot of mechanical or cosmetic work or sometimes both. Another is that if a car is priced really low its probably because theres something big wrong with it. Both of these are wrong. I buy and sell 3-4 cars a month and I always find great deals on cars that need a mild or sometimes heavy cleaning but really nothing to crazy. 85% of getting the car ready is the detail, the rest is miscellaneous items like an oil change or missing part that you want to get for it. I usually do a full detail but in a “sloppy” manner as the average car buyer cant tell the difference. Certain times you can get amazing deals if you could tell that the person selling the car doesn’t really know much about cars, and they priced their car very low due to their lack of knowledge on what’s really wrong with it. Example, smoke coming from engine bay due to valve cover gaskets or noise coming when accelerating due to a cracked exhaust manifold.
To start out craigslist is going to be your bestfriend! Theirs plenty of deals on there you just have to know what your looking for and know how to weed out the shady people(cause yes theirs a lot of frauds and just plain unmoral people on their but use your gut feeling) and possibly problematic cars. What I would really recommend to do is for the most popular cars, really see the price difference per year/generation and take into account all the options, transmission type, engine size, etc. It’s a lot of research but once you feel like you have a solid base of knowledge you cpould slowly start seeing the deals come to “life”. Dealer auctions are a great choice but sometimes the bids get to high and theirs around 200-400$ in fees depending on where you go so sometimes its not as good of a deal as you would find on the street.
It really would help if you decide to start, to inform yourself on basic mechanical skills and troubleshooting. A nice set of tools is really helpful to vut down on costs of labor and a lot of basic repairs(brakes,valve covers, alternators, light bulbs, etc.)take just around an hour or less. As a side note, you will lose money on a car or cars sooner or later, whoever tells you they buy and sell cars and have not lost money is totally bsing you.
Ford Escape/ F150/Ranger, Chevy Silverado/Colorado, All Toytas,Nissans/Hondas, Dodge Rams. This would be a good basic list to really start searching on.
Hope this helps a little.

 

[GSKR]

I think there would be two issues: volume and transportability. Unlike housing, where location is everything, and makes a HUGE difference in price, cars can be easily moved, across the country if needed. Also, most models are produced in the thousands. This makes them far from rare.

Therefore, it is difficult to have a car be 'unique' or the 'best around'. Plus, things like mileage, and year play a far bigger role in value than does condition.

Check this for yourself by using a used car pricing tool, comparing the price you get if you ONLY change condition. Often its maybe a few ten to hundred dollars.

Of course, you will get top dollar for a car in good condition, but that top dollar may be a very small margin on the car, and could be outweighed by your costs: taxes, interest, repairs, advertising, etc will likely eat into profits.

This is probably why dealers don't pay more than a few hundred dollars, at most, to have the car detailed. More often, they 'pay' their own detailers who may not be as skilled as those that frequent this forum.

Mercedes Benz employes get 3.00 per carwash 30.00 for new car prep and 40 for used.

 

[Stevedotmil]

Most dealers don't really have their trade-in's cleaned up the way a detailer would clean them up. There is some money in flipping cars. My dad used to do this a lot when I was a kid. Be smart about it.

 

[jms493]

They money is made on the purchase not the sale. Only buy at a deep discount.

 

[GSKR]

I think I remember reading a post about this topic but after a search, I wasn't able to find it. Has anyone out there thought about or attempted to flip a car? I was thinking the other day that I see a lot of cars on used car lots going for around 2,500 to 6,000 that just look terrible. I feel like I could get it into my shop and overhaul the interior and exterior and turn around and sell it for a profit. However, cars depreciate quickly so it obviously wouldn't yield the same results as a home. Thoughts?

On 2500 or 6000 dollar cars there is no depreciate it's already gone thru that phase.you really have to be patient and lucky,I called a lady on cl about a pt cruiser with 85k for 750.00 1 hr later it was gone.

 

[MickeyB]

They money is made on the purchase not the sale. Only buy at a deep discount.

^^this! I don't know how it works for you guys, not knowing your local laws (LHD, proximity to other countries) but I made some good money importing cars (models that were Japan-only, and relatively rare over here), driving them for a while (a few months), often fitting light modifications (carefully researched and usually good quality second hand parts bought at the right price), then selling them. I was only working through my list of "must-have" vehicles: ones that I,d read about and wanted to own in my younger years, and wasn't in it for the potential financial gain, but I started on the lower prices end of the market, and worked my way up as I bought and sold, flipping maybe 2 or 3 cars per year.

Bear in mind, cars are very expensive over here in general, compared to what you lucky people pay!

Sure, there were times that I misjudged the (very specific: JDM enthusiast) market and either broke even or even lost a little money, but overall, I came out ahead. It would never be enough to make a business out of it in my case, but I was slowly working through my list until the GFC hit: as soon as there was no money flowing around, demand dropped, local prices (traditionally 15-20% higher than importing yourself) dropped, and it became financially unviable. Add to that impregnating my wife a couple of times, thus losing the second income, and I'm now only helping friends import cars for personal use.

For reference, the most I ever lost was around $1500AUD on a car that cost me $25k and the best profit I made was $9kAUD on a car that cost me $15.5k

Given that I was really only buying cars for myself, the 2-7 month wait involving buying the car, having it wait at the docks, shipped, complied and registered wasn't a big issue for me, and made the first drive all the more satisfying. I would always have a buffer of $2000 to cover any unexpected issues, and I guess I was lucky in that I never really had any major ones.

I have friends who consistently turn a profit of between $5k-$20k per year buying (approx 4-5) local cars from auction then flipping them, but it doesn't appear to me: I prefer to drive something more interesting...


No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy

 

[Joe@NextLevelDetail]

This is how I got into detailing.
Flipping cars in new jersey.

I would buy dirty neglected cars for 200-1200$ detail then for a day or two and sell them for 2000-3000.

Each car I worked on I learned how to do paint correction. And detailing, every car I got better.

And it eventually became my hobby and passion.

Easy money. And the cars I bought for the money were diamonds in the rough however I would buff on them for one day and do the inside for one day, taking the seats out. Repainting the wheels , fixing rust, undercoating, engine cleaning.

If somebody was to pay me for a detail like that I would charge 800-1500 for a overhaul detail like that.

So that's where the profit comes from your detail labor for making them look like new.

I dealt with 2000s to 2008s.

And I fed my family paid the bills and lived comfortable.

was it the most honest business no, did I lie, yes, however few years later I run my own detail shop. And this is what I want too do.