My problem is I can't see past what "I" like.
The last few cars I bought for challenge money turned into DDs 
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Aug. 31, 2011 1:41 p.m. Strike_Zero HalfDork
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Aug. 31, 2011 1:46 p.m. alfadriver SuperDork
AC- you should video what you do. Would make a good TV show.
All of that wheeling and dealing.....
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Aug. 31, 2011 2:18 p.m. RX Reven' Reader
alex wrote:
calteg wrote:
Sounds like you need car detailing secrets, not car flipping secrets.
Yeah, that's what I'm focusing on for the time being, I guess.
And I know the nun thing sounds like a line, but I swear its true! I should have got her picture in full penguin regalia with the thing...
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Aug. 31, 2011 2:40 p.m. JThw8 SuperDork
Strike_Zero wrote:
My problem is I can't see past what "I" like.
The last few cars I bought for challenge money turned into DDs
That is usually a problem with flipping. Not so much for me because I get bored easy with cars.
But more importantly the cars we like are rarely good flip candidates. The best quick turnover is on appliance cars.
A cheap Fiat/Alfa/(insert your favorite toy here) is hard to pass up but you've limited your market and are usually dealing with a very educated crowd who will pick your car to death.
A toyota corolla or the like will be easy to be tired of quickly and its just what everyone out there wants. Quick easy sale, and the owners are usually uninformed non-car people so that (exaggerated example) minor harmonic vibration you feel at 2500 rpms but goes away at 2600 and drives you crazy will go right over their heads.
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Aug. 31, 2011 2:45 p.m. poopshovel SuperDork
AngryCorvair wrote:
In reply to dyintorace:
my sales are typically challenge-ish money. my buys are typically around $500 - $800, rarely more than a grand unless there's something special about the car. like $1500 for the '86 944 with fuchs and sport seats that i drove home, or the $1200 miata with hardtop.
jthw8 really nailed my philosophy. buy for $500, clean, sell for $1500.
Dittos. I'll add "Drive for a year or two" into that equation though.
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Aug. 31, 2011 3:03 p.m. njansenv HalfDork
I try to find interesting cars that have mechanical issues that the owner would need to pay a mechanic to fix. Non-running cars are HARD to sell, which drives the price down like crazy. For example: clean 520i (Euro) w/bad HG. $300. Cleaned it, installed a new headgasket, and the new owner is ecstatic with his $2200 car.
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Aug. 31, 2011 10:33 p.m. 93gsxturbo HalfDork
My friend buys every late 90s 4x4 Blazer or S10 with a blown up trans he can lay his hands on. Fixes the trans, cleans them, and sells them for about 3x what he has in it.
Thats the secret. Pick one or two common cars with cheap parts and good interchange (GM) and that you can work on. Once you do 1 or 2, you know all the tips, where to go for cheap parts, and can do the work quickly and easily. There is no end of blown up 700R4s fortunately, so business is good. -
Sept. 1, 2011 11:26 a.m. dj06482 HalfDork
How do you guys who regularly flip vehicles deal with the registration/plates/etc? I can get temp tags, but I think any buyer who's worth their salt should be nervous about buying a car with temp tags.
Once I go through the registration and tags, $200 in profit has just evaporated. Are you guys using your own dealer tags (or borrowing them)?
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Sept. 1, 2011 1:29 p.m. 93EXCivic SuperDork
I would not do very good at the flipping cars thing. I get attached to cars and I wouldn't buy appliances.
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Sept. 1, 2011 2:14 p.m. poopshovel SuperDork
dj06482 wrote:
How do you guys who regularly flip vehicles deal with the registration/plates/etc? I can get temp tags, but I think any buyer who's worth their salt should be nervous about buying a car with temp tags.
Once I go through the registration and tags, $200 in profit has just evaporated. Are you guys using your own dealer tags (or borrowing them)?
Living in CT is probably part of your problem. I registering a car costs around $40 in my county, and tags are transferable. Liability insurance only on a $500 car is nothing.
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Sept. 1, 2011 2:23 p.m. ClemSparks SuperDork
My only advice is to NOT drive it anymore than you have to. If I have a car and become familiar with it, I'll become the anti-salesman by telling every little darn thing that I've noticed wrong with it.
What I forget is that as a buyer of a cheap, old, used car, folks EXPECT there to be little problems.
So...If I get a car and fix the big problem, I can sell with a more clear conscience if I don't get in and give myself the notion (probably completely fabricated in my own mind) that the transmission is going to grenade next week. Ignorance (as a seller) is the key to a good conscience.
Sounds funny, but it's true. I don't think it's unscrupulous...I've never blamed a seller when I bought something that broke a week later... Popeye had a saying for that, I think.
Clem
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Sept. 3, 2011 3:28 p.m. madmallard Reader
poopshovel wrote:
If you don't mind wrenching a little, a great strategy is to buy cars that have a typical mode of failure once that part has failed. A friend of a friend buys nothing but dodge caravans with dead transmissions, replaces the transmission, then sells it for no less than $1k more than what he's got into it in parts and labor. Do that once a month and you've got an extra $12k a year free and clear in your pocket - or to max out your retirement fund with.
any idea where to start? or just start from cars you know how to work on?
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Sept. 3, 2011 7:03 p.m. JThw8 SuperDork
madmallard wrote:
poopshovel wrote:
If you don't mind wrenching a little, a great strategy is to buy cars that have a typical mode of failure once that part has failed. A friend of a friend buys nothing but dodge caravans with dead transmissions, replaces the transmission, then sells it for no less than $1k more than what he's got into it in parts and labor. Do that once a month and you've got an extra $12k a year free and clear in your pocket - or to max out your retirement fund with.
any idea where to start? or just start from cars you know how to work on?
If you have cars that you know well that is obviously the best place to start since you should know the common failures and repairs. I have ventured into cars which aren't familiar at times but only if the repairs are common and its a worthwhile flip.
