School Me In "Flipping" Cars

[rcsoundn1]

I flipped cars in college as well. But I was working at a Ford dealer, so I had some cheap resources to get the cars. I would usually register them, drive them, fix what was most important, then sell them. I bought cheap, and knew what they were worth.

[Das Delfin]

to flip a car, you'd want to either hard corner at freeway speeds, or go off a ramp on just the drivers or passenger side wheels

[pandaboo911]

Don't be a douche and title skip. Flip cars that have potential to be flipped, aka you got it for a steal. not every second car you find.

[bmw325_num99]

If you do decide to do it, try to avoid your instinct as a car lover and fix things about the car. This is often wasted money and time that wont get you a positive net return. Yes, replacing the missing ashtray/repainting the scratched bumper and finding a set of good wheels and tires might help sell the car faster but depending on the clientele and car type, it might not be worth it. Keep good records of what you spend and make sure you arent basically giving this stuff away for "Free" when you sell them with the car.

Are you in it for the long haul for low volume and big margins with free storage space and patience? If so, I would be thinking rare, high end cars which could mean either expensive (m3s) or not (manual 928s, for example).

Or are you wanting to keep a frequent cash flow? If so, think Hondas and cars that just about anyone would at least consider buying.

[bmw325_num99]

Read up on "curbstoning". Its illegal in my state and probably yours. This open-title business is not allowed in Illinois and YMMV. I would not recommend it.

Ive looked into flipping importing cars as a side hobby that makes money or maybe even a business. Long story short, Im limiting myself to the 4 cars Illinois allows me to sell each year with no dealer license because the risks and hassle of doing more than that are not worth it to me (I have a full time job that pays well).

Yes you can curbstone to get around this, yes you can pay someone with a dealer license to let you do it on their license but its shady at least and illegal at most.

[Zreberlcoe]

Wow, that's all the information I think I could ever need in my life. I was looking to stay with German makes if this became a real thing after college because like ethrty said, it's a passion and I love BMW's and other German models. I'm going to check out that E34 above and see if it's worth a shit and if not I'll try something else!


Zack Eberl-Coe

[ethrty]

i have done about 40 cars now, almost all BMWs
I do it only because its a passion, its not the making money i do it for. but i love the engaugement in the BMW community, and keeping older vehicles on the road.

Obviously the MOST important thing is DONT get into this "under the table". This applys whether its a fun thing or a business venture. the law does not make allowances for "accidental" profit. if you are going to do it, pay your state/countries taxes. do it all above board, and you have nothing to hide. set up a company if you want to. its not hard to do, costs around $50-100 here, would be the same in the US i would have thought.

regarding the actual cars them selves, over the years, a few tips I have found:

1/ first a foremost, never buy a car for more than you would as a parts car. worst comes to the worst (and it does happen), you can still get your money back. doesnt matter if its an E30 or an E46 M3. knowing your parts market is going to be as important. this way, the worst that can happen is you walk away with the same cash, even if its a bit of fun.
2/ the potential profit is not the most important thing. Time is as important. Choose your car wisely. Take an example (and I am not familiar with prices in your country), but take an E31 850Ci for example, pick it up for 1500 not running, would be worth 6000 running. potential 3.5-4k profit in that, right? but very small market, might take you 9 months to sell it. you could do 4 E30s in that time picking up a couple k on each.
3/ score classifieds, ebay, craigslist, local stuff, and facebook groups, you will be spending more time finding the cars than you will be fixing them.
4/ have several grand in the bank at all times to jump on deals. be under no illusion you are the only person that has seen that cherry 325i manual coupe for $800. as with when you sell your cars, the seller is not interested in $800 from you next week when the other guy will give it to him today.
5/ unless space is a premium at your place, dont turn down any attractive offer, even if you dont have a use for it right now (bearing in mind rule 1). you never know what might be around the corner, that $200 E36 this week might have a good front end you can use for the $400 E36 you pick up next week. again, refer rule 1. I average around 7 cars here at any one time. This also helps to get word around that you are the guy to call. after about 40 cars now, the cars are starting to find me

Edit: this is more an ethical thing than anything else, but I feel it is important.
6/ NEVER repair a vehicle in a way you wouldn't repair your own. leaking oil pan gasket? dont put a bit of filler on the leaking part, change the gasket properly. dodgy distributor? replace with a new one, don't put a questionable thing on to get it across the line to the seller. found rust? get it taken out properly, or part the car out. dont do a dodgy repair that will last 6 months.
It is NOT worth your time, or your reputation, do be dealing with come backs a year later for stuff you did poorly.

there are other techniques too, but that should be enough to get you going.

hope this helps.

[Exodus_2pt0]

Pick cars that hold their value and can be had cheap.

I recommend starting with Civics that don't run. Usually a head gasket, which is an easy job and you can resell it in a heartbeat.

Start by using commuters for your target customers, people wabt reliable and good mpg. You will end up sitting on niche cars much longer and have a higher chance of selling at a loss.

I made about 3 grand on a 1.8t A4 a few years back, replaced the head and sold it for 5,500. BUT I got the car for $800. Had I not gotten it for a steal, it would have been hard to profit off of.

[flyboyx]

when i was in college, the way i did it was i would go to the auction with the dealer. i would walk through the rows of cars sitting in the auction lot. the ones i was interested in i would start them, drive them around the lot, make sure the a/c worked, listen for any funny engine noises and bid to win. i got fucked once or twice making an impulse buy when i saw a car selling at a really cheap price in the auction that i didn't check out beforehand.

the way my dealer friend handled the title: i would buy the car at the auction and pay for it plus 200.00. when the car sold, i would take the new owner to the dealer's place of business and we would do the title paperwork there. nothing was ever in my name and i never paid any taxes on any of the cars i bought.

[markseven]

The "benefit" of open title is passing the sales tax on to whomever registers the car. And you skip the DMV altogether.

[ST1G]

By open title you mean


Zack Eberl-Coe

He means you don't sign the tittle that you actually purchased it, you sell it to the new owner like you're the guy who sold it to you.

Flipping cars can be hard. You can loose your ass. The best way would be if you can get cars from the dealer auction.

[markseven]

^ https://answers.yahoo.com/question/i...3111929AAhgoah

[Zreberlcoe]

If you want to "flip" cars, you have to do it under the table and sell it open title.

By open title you mean


Zack Eberl-Coe

[monticello]

If you want to "flip" cars, you have to do it under the table and sell it open title.

[Zreberlcoe]

You don't, you basically pay him and he makes you a pseudo employee so you can buy cars under their liscence.

Worrdddd


Zack Eberl-Coe