Buy, Detail and Resale?

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Up To Eleven

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Buy, detail and resale autos?



Do you do it or do you think it would be profitable?

What autos would be the best candidates?



In Texas "A person is not required to obtain a dealer general distinguishing number if the person sells or offers to sell during a calendar year fewer than five vehicles of the same type that are owned and registered in that person's name."



I am not talking about a full time job just a little extra cash. With some of the transormations I have seen on this site I would think the top notch detailers could increase their revenue.



What do you think?
 
IM from manheim pa. home of the great and many manheim auto auctions! there are like 30 or so detail shops in manheim here that do wholesale cleanups for dealer wholesalers who make a ton of money. this usally takes a lot of exsperiance buyiung the right car. i have seen so much of this its crazy. the trick to this is to find a dealer who will sell you a car at wholesale. usally this can be done easy with a dealer liceanse. i have done this alot of times. i used to work at a used car lot and a perk was he would sell me cars at his trade in value. which gave me some room to work with. in pennsylvania you can buy and sell 7 cars in a fiscal year. one year my wife and i together sold 13. but to be honest you have to know the market. one week a car could be doing 2500.00 the next week it could be doing 1500 hence this is an example but with todays economy its tuff. we made out great with minivans. i figured where i live there is alot of medium class familys which even today is my biggest market for detailing. every family could use a minivan and it was great. now that im not a dealership jockey i lost this perk. but at times some dealers will work with you. i know some will sell you the cheaper stuff just to get rid of it. a good way is to buy them in balk! it can be done i see it everyday!
 
David Fermani said:
Buy $2500-$3000 foreign cars. People pay top dollar for Hondas/Toyotas even if they have over 100K on them.
Click to expand...



There is no such thing as a toyota or honda with under 100k for $2500-$3000 up here in maine. It just doesnt happen.



I'm a used car dealer, i mainly wholesale, i buy trade ins at the big dealerships, give them a good detail job, sometimes some paintwork (thats how you steal a car, if it needs body work or has some damage) then take them to the local auction. Ive made upwards of 2 grand on some cars, and lost a couple hundred bucks on others. The important thing to remember is- don't buy it unless it seems too good to be true. If you're thinking "id like to buy that but ill have to work awfly hard to make it look good and then ill make 200 bucks" then its not worth it. Its the ones that need a buff job and a new set of hubcaps that you can make 2 grand on that are good investments.



I will tell youthat there is a reason that i mainly wholesale- cheap trade ins are readily available, anything worthreselling ends up at the dealerships. I rarely buy a car that is in 90% or better mechanical condition. I make em clean, announce at the auction what mechanical problems there are and let the purchaser fix those issues.



Keep in mind its alot more practical to buy 5 cars at $500 a pop and make $500 profit per car than it is to buy one car for $2500 and only make $500 profit for that single car. theres alot more money to be made with cheaper cars.
 
I'd think a darker coloured car would help your goals too. A nicely cleaned black or red car always stands out much for me than a silver or lighter coloured car.
 
Altered-Image said:
There is no such thing as a toyota or honda with under 100k for $2500-$3000 up here in maine. It just doesnt happen.
Click to expand...





I never said under?





David Fermani said:
Buy $2500-$3000 foreign cars. People pay top dollar for Hondas/Toyotas even if they have over 100K on them.
Click to expand...
 
I'm detailing my grandma's Lesabre right now and selling it for her. I'm pretty sure there were things living in it for a while, it will bring at least double what it would have if it were sold as was.
 
I've been thinking about doing the same thing recently, there are enough cars being sold and people are just trying to get quick money for them and not worrying about putting the effort into getting them cleaned up. My brother in laws brother is thinking of selling his VW beetle TDI 5spd soon for cheap, I might try to snatch it up.
 
I recently just did this last month for the first time. I bought a 95 honda civic 2dr for $1500, it had 110k on it. I did a small tune up, oil changed, plug, wires, air filter, then smogged it. Then i detailed it, turn around and sold it for $3200 the next week. I made a decent profit and it was kinda fun to do. Ill porb do it again towards the end of a month, most likely another honda.
 
David Fermani said:
Buy $2500-$3000 foreign cars. People pay top dollar for Hondas/Toyotas even if they have over 100K on them.
Click to expand...



Good luck finding them! The trick is finding and buying the cars. Selling them is a no brainer if you have the inventory.

I could sell the elusive $8,000 Honda with 50,000 miles for the next 500 years if I had them. 99% of the calls from people looking for a car were asking that. But I also know the people looking for that were dreamers. Kind of person that says, "If you find a 2008 SL550 with 5k miles for $30,000, call me, I MIGHT be interested".....put down the crack pipe please!





Now you also need to worry about credit. Can people get loans? Are the loans of a reasonable rate? Do they require the owner to put too much down?



I have put hundreds of cars together from 907a's to near total losses, there is no easy road ot cash in the used car business.



I'd like to meet one dealer that still can pull $3k out of a retail used unit under $10k. That hasn't been done regularly in almost a decade. The internet killed it.



I'll challenge any dealer that says he still does. I thought I made a ton of money in the car business, until I got out and woke up.
 
bufferbarry said:
IM from manheim pa. home of the great and many manheim auto auctions! there are like 30 or so detail shops in manheim here that do wholesale cleanups for dealer wholesalers who make a ton of money. this usally takes a lot of exsperiance buyiung the right car. i have seen so much of this its crazy. the trick to this is to find a dealer who will sell you a car at wholesale. usally this can be done easy with a dealer liceanse. i have done this alot of times. i used to work at a used car lot and a perk was he would sell me cars at his trade in value. which gave me some room to work with. in pennsylvania you can buy and sell 7 cars in a fiscal year. one year my wife and i together sold 13. but to be honest you have to know the market. one week a car could be doing 2500.00 the next week it could be doing 1500 hence this is an example but with todays economy its tuff. we made out great with minivans. i figured where i live there is alot of medium class familys which even today is my biggest market for detailing. every family could use a minivan and it was great. now that im not a dealership jockey i lost this perk. but at times some dealers will work with you. i know some will sell you the cheaper stuff just to get rid of it. a good way is to buy them in balk! it can be done i see it everyday!
Click to expand...



Good post. I have a picture of my last High-Line Thursday at Manheim. The shot of the 20,000 car parking lot loaded with Mercedes, Lotus, Lambo's and Ferrari's is insane. People on the site would be stunned if they saw what went on at the sale.



My wife used to say, "you only have 60 seconds to bid on the car? What if you don't like it"? HA, I'd need to leave with at least 5 cars for the day to consider it a work day.
 
jdoria said:
Good luck finding them! The trick is finding and buying the cars. Selling them is a no brainer if you have the inventory.

I could sell the elusive $8,000 Honda with 50,000 miles for the next 500 years if I had them. 99% of the calls from people looking for a car were asking that. But I also know the people looking for that were dreamers. Kind of person that says, "If you find a 2008 SL550 with 5k miles for $30,000, call me, I MIGHT be interested".....put down the crack pipe please!





Now you also need to worry about credit. Can people get loans? Are the loans of a reasonable rate? Do they require the owner to put too much down?



I have put hundreds of cars together from 907a's to near total losses, there is no easy road ot cash in the used car business.



.
Click to expand...



There's a crap load down here to choose from for under $3000. No rust and no suspension problems either(typically). If you're interested, get some $$ together and I'll find you a car hauler full to ship up to you (for a small fee :D) After a simple clean up, you'll make a minimum of $750 a copy.



The key is selling cheap cars that people will pay cash for. Offering more expensive vehicles(that usually require financing) narrows down potential buyers too much.



Here's a sample:



Cars For Sale: Car Details - AutoTrader.com



Cars For Sale: Car Details - AutoTrader.com
 
Dealers only, no consumers.



Every third Thursday of the month all of the "high-line" manufacturers bring their used cars to Manheim, PA.



I think there are 20 lanes at Manheim, maybe 24? Almost all are fully loaded with lines of cars.



All run simultaneously, each car sits for about 60 seconds and another is on the block (not like that fantasy Mecum or Barret-Jackson pipe dream auction)



Mercedes will have 800 cars there, Ferrari will have 150, Lamborghini 20, Porsche 100-200. Then there are the banks and individual dealers who bring 1,000's



1000-2000 dealers show up to buy.



Each lane is sponsored by a manufacturer or bank. 60 cars per hour run through. Move fast, think fast, act fast, know what you can pay, or don't go.



You can try to get there early and look through the lot for a specific car, but chances are you will miss something as there are so many.



I did this job three days per week for 10 years. I'd go to Adessa, Manhiem, and Newburgh.
 
David Fermani said:
There's a crap load down here to choose from for under $3000. No rust and no suspension problems either(typically). If you're interested, get some $$ together and I'll find you a car hauler full to ship up to you (for a small fee :D) After a simple clean up, you'll make a minimum of $750 a copy.



The key is selling cheap cars that people will pay cash for. Offering more expensive vehicles(that usually require financing) narrows down potential buyers too much.



Here's a sample:



Cars For Sale: Car Details - AutoTrader.com



Cars For Sale: Car Details - AutoTrader.com
Click to expand...



So why would someone buy the same car from you for MORE money than they can out of the Auto Trader?



See my point?



Try and get enough of those people selling those cars for $4,000 to sell them to you for $3,000 and PRAY they need no work. Then PRAY you can sell them for $4,000 with no expenses....

Think of doing that 15-30 times per month. It just doesn't happen.



The best way to get a used car for the right prince is to find a few used car managers at new car dealerships that will sell the trade in's to you. Nobody STEALS more cars than a new car dealer (TRUST ME....I KNOW)
 
People buy cars from people they feel they can trust. (I'm sure you know this with all your experience). How many times have you've witnessed your sales people selling Caddies for $5000+ over sticker? Tons of times right? Probably got sold/closed on monthly payment in most cases?



These 2 cars I posted are priced at the low end of the spectrum. 99 Corollas with the same mileage are priced up to $6000. Most of them are priced @ $4000. So if you can buy it for say $2200, ship it up there ($300-$400 if you ship in bulk) you can do pretty good. Perfect car for a street corner parking lot.



This isn't the ideal situation for someone who wants to move 15-30 vehicles per month obviously. How many part timers move more than 5 cars per month? Those numbers are for someone with a dedicated car lot. But, it can be done. The cars down here are Cherry compared to the ones in the north. each one doesn't need a major rehab & I'm sure people would eat them up.



Your right about buying cheap trade-ins from a dealer. I serviced 15 new car dealers, so belive me I know too.
 
David Fermani said:
PMost of them are priced @ $4000. So if you can buy it for say $2200, ship it up there ($300-$400 if you ship in bulk) you can do pretty good. Perfect car for a street corner parking lot.
Click to expand...





That is the PhD of the car business....



How do you buy the "mint" car listed at $4,000 for $2,200 over and over again.



One time hits are out there these days.



To maintain it is an extreme challenge.
 
jdoria said:
Dealers only, no consumers.



Every third Thursday of the month all of the "high-line" manufacturers bring their used cars to Manheim, PA.



I think there are 20 lanes at Manheim, maybe 24? Almost all are fully loaded with lines of cars.



All run simultaneously, each car sits for about 60 seconds and another is on the block (not like that fantasy Mecum or Barret-Jackson pipe dream auction)



Mercedes will have 800 cars there, Ferrari will have 150, Lamborghini 20, Porsche 100-200. Then there are the banks and individual dealers who bring 1,000's



1000-2000 dealers show up to buy.



Each lane is sponsored by a manufacturer or bank. 60 cars per hour run through. Move fast, think fast, act fast, know what you can pay, or don't go.



You can try to get there early and look through the lot for a specific car, but chances are you will miss something as there are so many.



I did this job three days per week for 10 years. I'd go to Adessa, Manhiem, and Newburgh.
Click to expand...



now there is 32 lanes lol to correct ya jdoria! it got even bigger!

'

they run the high line sale every other thursday now there is no big highline sale! the spring sale is coming!



60 seconds lmao i remember them days now its about thirty seconds! last friday they ran 9,000 cars on a normal sale!



the funny thing is i got so tired of doing this work i actually stopped doing the auction prep it was insane. we would detail about 150 cars a week! 4 buffers 3 degreasers 4 interiors guys and two detailers! lol it was insanity for a high volume shop! all in 4 days work. a lot of guys in my town made some real fast money. now the market here is saturated with detailers in my town doing this type of high volume work they forgot how to truely detail a car! i never been to adessa but i live about three miles from the manhiem sale. the auction now owns everything in this town! the lot is twice as big as it was ten years ago! but anyway jdoria its nice to know someone who knows where im from!!!
 
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