so some of you know im out of action at the minute but im really struggling with sitting about the house and my income isnt great, was thinking of keeping an eye out for cheap cars, cleaning them up and selling on again for a profit, can it be done? and i dont mean wheeler dealer style fixing a load of parts just a clean up.

 

Yes, but finding that car is hard work, only has to have one issue you missed and your out of pocket straight away. Not enough of these kind of cars around to make a living though if you ask me.

 

depends if you can buy them at a reasonale price in the first place as alot of cheap cars at the auctions seem to go for quite a bit now as to many people trying to earn a bit extra, also insurance as most people want a car taxed so will be easier with traders insurance and easier to keep the cars and offer test drives
.

also no such thing as sold as seen unless sold for spares so everything you sell has to be fit for purpose, i always drive the cars around for a week or two just to make sure there are no known faults.

 

well i have bought and sold a few before, dont like buying from auctions as i think theres more chance of getting stung with a shitbox, would rather buy private and sell private, just the sort of car that could be cleaned and presented for sale better, i agree i wont make a living from this but at least a few £££ and will give me something to do, what about contacting local traders for any trade in cars?? good idea?

 

It can be done, but its not as easy as it used to be with the current economic climate, you used to be able to go to auctions and come away with bargains which colud easily sold on for a profit, but now its a fair bit harder. Also, you need to watch the taxman. You don't want anyone accusing you of running a buisness buying and selling cars, that can put you in a heap of trouble.

 

very true mate but plan to keep it a small operation

i do think its alot harder than it used to be but i think i could have a punt if im carefull

 

as for the taxman as soon as you sell one and make a profit it is should be declared but obviously not many do.

 

whats wrong if i like to change my car? alot haha

 

I think your allowed to sell upto 6 cars a year before it becomes a business,

 

6 cars a year sounds fine to me

 

breaking will make money if youve got the room, its something im thinking of starting soon as a side line.

 

or you could buy cheap sub 500 quid bmw's, jags, and merc's with leather ,alloys and goodies, and sell them in parts could make a fair bit

 

dont have the room or thats what i would be at

 

theres good money to be made if you can find the cars, my current 420 whp gtr has cost £4500 finished id guess it would break for atleast £9000.

 

its a no go for me im afraid! looking for cheap cars on the net here but nothing is catching my eye!

 

Cracking idea with one flaw everyone is cottoning on to the idea with likes off eBay! Can't see it being long before too many are at it just like selling cars on!

 

it wont affect it though, if a new set of turbos are £1800 then there worth £900 if there mint and in as new condition and someone will pay it, ive stripped a cossie and an r32 and made a combined profit of approx £7000 plus i owned a 472 hp cos and a 580 hp skyline for free in the end

 

my advice is look for something that is tuned and has some uprated parts on but is poorly and hunt out a bargain. fix it and sell for a profit.
whatever you buy will have to be ill to make a profit.
i had a classic example years ago i bought an e30 325i bmw mint in canary yellow but i was told clutch is gone, majorly overfueling possibly ecu issue wasnt sure and a leaking sump. so i got it for £800 which was mega cheap at the time, clutch was slave cylinder £20, overfueling was temp time switch £10 and i bought a scrap 323 for £100 and fitted the sump and manual steering rack from it onto the yellow one, sold it on for £3000.
take your time and find the right car with a bit of a non mechanical owner and money can be made.

 

im staying at my parents at the minute and my dad would go daft if i start breaking cars or doing any major work to them as we just dont have the space. a clean up is all i can do really and small jobs

 

was a taxed and mot'd jaguar xj6 supercharged for 495 on autotrader a while back... was frantically trying to get the money lol... but if u havnt got the space then i see why doing them up for some profit is your idea, would need to find the right cars though like the scoobyslayer says.... theres a scooby wrx in croydon area for 600 with t+t on gumtree,

edit...example

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/JAGUAR-XJ6...item4d03073782

 

yeah theres bargins out there to be had, but alot of them are expensive cars to start with which people can't afford anymore hence have flooded the market! I keep seeing cheap land rovers, jags, mercs but they're all petrol, lovely cars but people are having had time shifting them for scrap money so you've got no chance making a profit after a quick polish.

Bit like that jaguar xj6 above, £400 for a 3.2 for a 17 year old car with no tax or test? sounds like a money pit to me worth no more than £750 any day of the week with tax and test.

It's not an easy game anymore, even car dealers are offering more money than usual on trade in's just to win deals, so the trade cars you'd pick up from a dealer a few years ago miles below bottom book price are now close to forecourt price as dealers know they will make money on trade cars at auction as theres a shortage of half decent cheap cars.

My advice is keep an eye out for something that is clearly a bargin, then turn up and try to haggle and you might get lucky and make a few hundred per car. But as said, be warned buyers think it's a buyers market, they're the customer and if you are selling a car you must be a trader. Therfore they want EVERYTHING to work, will be on the phone every five minutes complaining if something goes wrong will be threatening trading standards and all this crap.

My advice is buy convertibles in the winter to sell in the summer use the money to buy a 4x4 and sell when it snows in winter! You WILL make a few hundred on each sale and get free motoring and a flash car every six minths! Aslong as you play it right!

 

i did this years ago while i wasnt workinmade a living out off it shifting 2 a week hard goin though hitting auctions etc now i only buy from salvage places ie hbc there is a 04 punto on there what needs a front wing 400 quid its at stillmoney to be had

 

i wouldnt touch a jaguar with a barge pole! im talking about small engined petrol and diesel cars with tax and test

 

exactly mate, small little run abouts with a few quid to be made! im not running a big time operation trying to sell jags. people wasnt small economical run abouts!

 

Thinking that there is still money to make it is just not as much as there used to be

 

he who dares wins!

 

gonna see one tonight!

 

2.0 tdi's like a4 etc have a problem with tensioner on oil pump as its chain driven they break on a lot of the and they go cheap a friend of mine got a 07 plate a4 estate for 2500 we fixed it on the drive without any extensive tools or knowledge the new chain and tensioner cost him around 150 plus the oil etc anyways he sold it for 4500 might be something to look at im pretty sure the 1.9tdi later ones had the same prob

 

Its very hard work and people will phone you tow months later complianing a bulb has gone,the cheaper the car the more people expect and will haggle.

Finding the cars is the hard part as every fooker is trying the same thing,search autotrader every day and be prepared to get up the crack of dwan to get the bargains.

 

if someone phoned me a day later, they have on more than one occasion they can do one, its a piss take and they should know it, heck i paid £27000 for my supra and have had loads of problems but i dont go whineing to the seller, you pais ur money and takes ur chance and live with it.

 

I just said are you kidding or words to that affect,but 995 of the time had no problems or people phoning me after I had sold the car,onl;y had 1 real arsehole though but was [polite but firm.

Yep people do piss take

 

I think the sub £3000 mark is the area that you would do well in,
There is a market for lower priced cars right now.

 

im talking cheapies!

 

wanted advert on gumtree (in for sale area or it wont be seen) so similar and see what pops up

 

i do a little bit of breaking but i buy cans ive seen sat up
recently a jeep grand cherokee
escort tennis cabrio
reno scenic
ive kept the bits i want (1/2 leathe r'caros and consumables for 'her' scenic) and outed the rest but its all about the purchase price

 

I used to do the odd non runner/ cheap car. Be prepared for it not shifting straight away. You might have it sitting for a while before you can shift it. My advice would be buy something you wouldn't mind driving yourself so if the worst case happens you can still get a bit of use out of it till it sells.

 

hmmm i was always under the opinion that if you buy a car to sell on dont drive it cause thats when things go wrong

 

thats an idea actually

 

I was buying, fixing and selling cars a couple of years ago (usually headgasket/cam belt snapped sort of cars). I was averaging about £500 -£1000 per car profit.

I've been abroad and i'm coming back to the UK in a weeks time. I've been looking around on the internet and the profit margins aren't the same any more as far as I can tell.

Half the time the cheapest cars being sold are getting shifted by traders. That's putting me off getting back into it.

When I come back, i'm going to start stripping cars instead. Going to be looking for modified Evo's, Scooby's, GTIR's, RX7's, and Boxsters, M3's etc. That's where I think (hope) the money is.

 

best cars to buy and sell are small cars ie saxos, fiestas and especially peugeot 106s