Flipping cars from CL?

[plumb4u2]

Has anyone here done any flipping cars from CL?

I am not a mechanic but a master plumber by trade and am very comfortable doing all the work on my 911 and my other cars.

I search CL all the time and some prices people are asking for these mechanic specials are very low

If I were to get into this I would be looking at cars that just need the minor fixes to get them going and could be flipped quick

So anybody here into this?

[BReif61]

Has someone been watching Wheeler Dealers?

The thought has crossed my mind as well, but once I figure in the time it would take and the hassle of dealing with selling it in Maryland, I always seem to conclude that my time is best spent elsewhere.

[Cannonball996]

I usually flip 2-3 a month, mostly 944s, there is a good price margin wit them, usually easy fixes, and fast to resale.

[plumb4u2]

Originally Posted by BReif61

Has someone been watching Wheeler Dealers?

The thought has crossed my mind as well, but once I figure in the time it would take and the hassle of dealing with selling it in Maryland, I always seem to conclude that my time is best spent elsewhere.

Lol
I know, some of these ads and prices are crazy

I wasn't thinking about making a fortune just some spending cash

My wife would probably kill me cause she would get kicked out of the garage as the cars would be fixed

[plumb4u2]

Brad, what's so difficult with selling cars in MD?

I have only ever sold one car in my life (all others were trade in's) and it was a 20k deal with a Dr. Who paid me cash, that deal was easy and smooth, parked the truck in a park and ride in fallston and had it sold in a weekend

[BReif61]

Originally Posted by plumb4u2

Brad, what's so difficult with selling cars in MD?

I have only ever sold one car in my life (all others were trade in's) and it was a 20k deal with a Dr. Who paid me cash, that deal was easy and smooth, parked the truck in a park and ride in fallston and had it sold in a weekend

I've had bad experiences with the MD inspection process. Sour taste in my mouth.

[VincentVega]

I've done this a few times, but not CL cars specifically. Common issues to think about


registration. Will you get a dealers license? Look into selling a car not in your name. If you register you pay taxes. There goes the profit margin.

market demand. Sometimes you get burned but you need to figure out what cars sell quickly and return the most $$ with the simplest repairs.

market. There are tons of people doing this, why are you better? Who will buy your car?

I dont have the time or I'd being doing this more often too.

Good luck

[t-tom]

I flip a few cars here and there off CL. I do it a little different I only buy cars that I like, Datsun Z cars, FJ40's old porsche's that kinda stuff so if one does not sell for a while I can just have some fun with the car till it sells. I've had good luck, every car I have sold on CL but one was bought by the first person to look at them.

[speeder]

It only works as a business model if you have a place to work on them, (a pretty good shop space), tools and the knowledge to do all labor yourself. IMO but also IME, of course. As others have mentioned, you need to know markets and what sells easily for good $$.

Another factor in buying "birds with broken wings" is that you often do not get to test drive them and sometimes not even get to start them. You roll the dice on the condition of other components. Still, there can be $$ to be made. My recommendation is to focus on cars in nice cosmetic condition with lower than average miles. Most of us can do our own mechanical work but not body work or paint.

[plumb4u2]

Originally Posted by VincentVega

I've done this a few times, but not CL cars specifically. Common issues to think about


registration. Will you get a dealers license? Look into selling a car not in your name. If you register you pay taxes. There goes the profit margin.

market demand. Sometimes you get burned but you need to figure out what cars sell quickly and return the most $$ with the simplest repairs.

market. There are tons of people doing this, why are you better? Who will buy your car?

I dont have the time or I'd being doing this more often too.

Good luck

I would not get a license and I am talking about buying cars 1k or under so taxes would not be that much
I understand the market and would facter that in on my buying decision

Again this is just something brewing in my brain

I have a pretty well set up garage including a lift for my 911 that is rated for 6,000 lbs

[plumb4u2]

Originally Posted by speeder

It only works as a business model if you have a place to work on them, (a pretty good shop space), tools and the knowledge to do all labor yourself. IMO but also IME, of course. As others have mentioned, you need to know markets and what sells easily for good $$.

Another factor in buying "birds with broken wings" is that you often do not get to test drive them and sometimes not even get to start them. You roll the dice on the condition of other components. Still, there can be $$ to be made. My recommendation is to focus on cars in nice cosmetic condition with lower than average miles. Most of us can do our own mechanical work but not body work or paint.

Good points Speeder
Obviously making this a business is not my goal, just some extra cash

I would not look for cars that need cosmetic work, I'm thinking more just the tune ups, oil leaks, brake work, that kind of thing

[sc_rufctr]

You can make money doing this if your honest and hardworking... If you've got the space and time then go for it. You'll learn heaps about selling and stuff along the way. But you also need to be able to hold out for the right buyer. So instead of selling a car for $2000 you may have to wait another 2 weeks to get an extra $500. I always state my price and stick to it. The latest thing seems to be that people will send you txt messages offering a lower than asking price. I never answer these because if they were serious they would at least look at the car before making and offer.

The thing is there are some dodgy people doing this as well and we refer to them as "back yarders" locally. They get their hands on older cars or accident damaged cars and rebuild and/or repaint them in their garage using two pack paint and no booth. Just heat lamps to set the paint. I almost got caught once when looking at a car to buy. I became suspicious when the passenger seat belt would not fit into the buckle. As it turned out the seat belt had been scavenged from a breaking yard and it was the wrong one for the car. Which lead me to believe the car had been in a serious accident and had been hobbled together.

[speeder]

Quote de speeder

It only works as a business model if you have a place to work on them, (a pretty good shop space), tools and the knowledge to do all labor yourself. IMO but also IME, of course. As others have mentioned, you need to know markets and what sells easily for good $$.



Another factor in buying "birds with broken wings" is that you often do not get to test drive them and sometimes not even get to start them. You roll the dice on the condition of other components. Still, there can be $$ to be made. My recommendation is to focus on cars in nice cosmetic condition with lower than average miles. Most of us can do our own mechanical work but not body work or paint.

Good points Speeder

Obviously making this a business is not my goal, just some extra cash



I would not look for cars that need cosmetic work, I'm thinking more just the tune ups, oil leaks, brake work, that kind of thing

I understand what you're saying but even if you only do a couple, you need a business model. Doesn't have to be anything fancy, just needs to "pencil out".

If you have a nice home shop with a lift and like to wrench, you could absolutely do this. You just need to make smart buys and get them ready for market in a reasonable amount of time.

[Jrboulder]

From my personal observation, all of the cars worth buying to flip sell in a couple hours and most of the "mechanics specials" need a lot more than "just a head gasket.

There are a LOT of people out there doing this and the vast majority are dishonest scumbags who are probably in the country illegally or dropped out of high school.

The only way I could see it making an honest buck would be only doing one type of car that a lot of the scumbags know better than to get involved with (e.g. E30 or 944) and having a couple parts cars and using the cheapest new parts when nescicary.

Whenever I go look at a car I check the sellers ID and the title. If they don't match I walk away.

[LeeH]

There is a lot of competition for good cars on Craigslist. For the best deals, you have to be hitting refresh and ready to walk out the door with cash if something good pops up. If you're looking at yesterday's ads, you're looking at cars that hundreds of other guys already passed on.

When I had my wholesale license I would search on the word, "moving" in the for sale by owner car section of Craigslist. I bought several cars by telling people I would buy their car, but would do so the day they left town. They were willing to give me a better price because they didn't have to get a rental car.