Flipping Cars/Trucks Advice

BigBody79

BigBody79

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 30, 2005
Location
Lumberton
I know that this is a bit more common place that flipping houses. But I want to focus on the people that buy/sell only a few cars a year. I am looking at trying to do some of this maybe one car ever three or four months.

How do you pick out the right cars/trucks? I'd rather stay away from paint but that seems to be about the most important thing on a used car.

The truck that I am looking at getting started with is a 1994 F350 Crew Cab 7.3L Auto 2wd. Man wants 1500 for it as it sits. No batteries, and it has some slight cosmetic issues. I would estimate right at 250 worth of cosmetic repairs(if not repainting-it's a work truck-not a top priority.) However he bought it and was told it had a knock. He got it from a auction sale and has never messed with it. Rolled it off of his trailer and has let it sit since (at least 1 year)

Does this truck sound like something I could make money on or get burned on? If I had to replace the short block would I even get my money back out of it? Your E-opinions are always welcome.
 
Offer him $300 bucks.. I bet he'll take it..
Look at it this way. Its a 2WD. Its a 7.2 L. You didnt mention the miles but im sure it has over 150k. It has no batterys to start the motor and check. It has been sitting a yr. Cosmetic issues. This truck doesnt sound like its worth :poop: IMO.

But hey, to each his own. I would move on to something else. I know Wranglers do hold their value. I rarely seem them fall under $5k.
 
I try to stay with what I can easily find parts for in the local junk yards. Little things that alot of us don't care about bother alot of people, like turnsignals that don't cancel, ashtrays that don't stay shut, slow power windows, no stereo etc... Pull-A-Part is your friend. I also look for popular body styles and try to avoid any "custom" or aftermarket modifications. If something needs minor body or paint work, most the time it's best to leave it how it is. One big thing that will cut into profits almost as much a motor or transmission is tires. And always remember, sex sells. Make the vehicle as clean and appealing as possible. My rule is dont pay more than $700 and don't put any more than another $300 into it. Cheap cars sell fast and they don't hurt the wallet as much if you have to sit on them for a while. as far as selling them goes, unless it's something really special, eBay sucks. Craigslist works great for anything after you weed out the deadbeats and scams. It's all part of the game. All this may not work for you but it's done well for me.
 
I recently made about $2500 on one I bought awhile back in a roundabout way, that is after repairing anything that needed to be repaired. I got lucky though.

Only way you can make money is to make sure it is fairly easy to sell, pay BOTTOM dollar, and remember, scared money never wins.

If you can't spend the money and be able to sit on it for awhile, don't do it. Basically, don't drain the bank account to buy something if you need to make the money back quickly, because chances are you won't. Took me more than 5 months to make that $2500....
 
95yj said:
You need to be licensed and bonded to do this in north carolina.
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yeah - seems to me what you are talking about is called a "used car salesman" lol
 
95yj said:
You need to be licensed and bonded to do this in north carolina.
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don't listen to that, you can sell quite a few before the DMV says anything I used to sell about one a month before I became a dealer and they never said anything to me. DMW enforcement spends most of their time on theft of cars, people who sell 6-12 cars a year are very far down their list. As the others have said start off with cheap cars and things you are interested in. I started off selling cheap jeeps and 4x4's because thats what I enjoyed, Wranglers are a good bet. You have to hunt them to find them cheap, but if you have them priced right they sell quick, second thing to remember, don't buy someone elses problem aka the truck you are talking about, right now look for smaller cars you can score for 700 to 1000 that run good, but need a good clean up, shine em up and put them on craigslist its free, try to make around 500 or so. Don't be discouraged if you break even or lose a little bit to start, Rome wasn't built in a day:beer: Good luck
 
you make 100% if your money on the purchase.
Do not forget this, you cant shine it, market it or sale it good enough to make up a bad purchase.

I flip about 6-8/year....I spend a lot of time looking for deals and if it feels wrong I walk.
 
when in college I went through about 8 cars in additional to my "main" daily driver. I only bought vehicles that i enjoyed and that I wanted to drive. Getting them at a good deal ensured I would make money on them when I sold them (usually in about 6 months or so). Also making sure they are desirable vehicles helps too. (wranglers, tacomas, 4runners, etc). Also, being patient helps alot too.
 
95yj said:
You need to be licensed and bonded to do this in north carolina.
Click to expand...

Only if you are selling more than 8 cars p/yr (not sure on the number) and they are on your property, thus you are then a used car salesman with a lot.

But they dont enforce it. You might have the IRS raise a few red flags, but as long as you keep receipts or just dont claim it you are good :)
 
There is an older fella that I help out, he goes to the salvage auctions and buys tbirds, explorers, and such for $300-$600 wrecked. We will take 2 wrecks, make one, sell it for about $2500, parts out the other one and make another $1000, then scrap the body for another $300. We can do about 1 'new' car in 2 weeks. He is retired and I work full time doing something else so thats why it takes so long. We usually sub out the paint to a SCHP that also sells used cars, but he uses our dealer # so he gives us a good deal on the paint jobs and the guy that owns the scrapyard where we take the scrap to also sells cars through our dealer #. Right now we are at about 50 cars a year sold, which qualifies us for 4 dealer plates.

A lot of $$ can be made, just dont expect it to happen over night.
 
My advise would be to stick with small car's/4cyl truck's.Gas/fuel is down right now but everybody know it will go back up.
 
However he bought it and was told it had a knock.
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If it's a PSD I would bet more on a bad flywheel than a rod/bearing.About $500 to replace the dual mass flywheels for the PSD's.
 
There was a guy that used to live down the street from me who did stuff like this.

As far as I know, besides his wife working as an assistant at an orthodontist, most of their income came from him flipping cars. I do believe the wife's family came from money though, but Im not 100% sure.

I know he was typically into the higher end cars, older corvettes, old American muscle and the like. I know he once even managed to flip a HUGE British 8 wheeled military transport type deal...as far as I know he got a good bit of cash out of that one. It was a long time ago, and I dont remember it that much.
 
picked up a chevelle, 1966. Been sitting in shed. About 2 hrs of my time to go look at it and winch it up on the trailer, turned profit 2k. Not running had it 4-5 hrs. Don't get greedy I could have held out for more, spent more and maybe have to sit on it. Go with cash and be ready to buy. I like that $500.00 - $700.00 profit for a quick sale.
 
You ever considered boats? I have flipped a couple of them and done alright. Winter is a good time to get one and hold on to it till spring.
 
I have been doing this for years I used to be a dealer.

first get your self a "Real" Kelly blue book and not the consumer one.

Never ask more than Wholesale KBB for a clean title car and no more the 75% of KBB for a Rebuilt Salvage.

you should pay no mare than 50% of sugested retail KBB for clean title and no more than 50% of whole Sale for Salvage.

I mention the Savage becuse they are usual better cars than the clean title crap that is out there. and they get you a higher profit. but they can be more work and a little harder to sell somtimes.

Also Currently stay with cars that get good Fuel mileage

and a very big NO NO is do not buy Stuf to sell be cause you think it is cool
 
Diesels are too expensive to work on. Pick a certain car and go for it. If you do the same thing all the time you will learn it and start to gather extra parts. I did it on mustangs for several years and made decent money.
 
You ever considered boats?
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I personally would stay away from boats.The classifieds are full of boats for sale and based the current economic state nobody is gonna buy a boat when they are loosin their job/house. Unless maybe it's a house boat.:D :lol:
Small cars are the way too go.Like Gub and others have said,pick one(common)brand and stick with it.
 
Another piece of advice is don't shit people, lie, take advantage of, or just patch something up that you know is going to break soon as the customer leaves. If you do it will come back and bite you in the ass.
 
X2 on the pick one type of car.
that is what I did and still do. you will end up having extra parts that can save your ass in the future or allow you to pay a little more to get that real nice car that you all ready have all of the parts to fix
 
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