Learning How To Buy and Sell Cars The Hard Way – Part 1
One of my readers of The Lazy Way To Buy And Sell Cars For Profit (Joe T. from Tacoma, Washington) generously took the time to share this story with me. At the risk of frightening away the scaredee-cats, I thought Joe’s experience might be helpful to others, so I wrote Joe and he gave me permission to post this on my blog.
Okay, here is what Joe had to say about his School-Of-Hard-Knocks experience that happened before he read my book…
“Back in 2005 when I was in Tacoma, Washington I had a friend who ten years earlier was brokering used cars full time for a couple of years. He was smart too, so I trusted him. We partnered on two cars in the $1000 to $1500 range. I paid for all costs. We bought at two local auctions. I let him make all the decisions because we were buying cheaper cars than I would buy for myself. Don’t recall the exact makes and models, but surprisingly the results were bad.
First car, even though he checked it as best he could, had engine damage and we had to sell it for scrap. Second one, not good enough miles per gallon when gas prices went up and we had to sell it far below purchase price and purchase price was only $1k.
Personally, without him, I would not have bought the first car without either having a mechanic check it out or getting three months insurance. The second I would not have bought because it wasn’t one I knew was as popular as the Asian high quality and good mileage cars. But he was sure they were good buys.
So I learned, first, always protect yourself from loss with a mechanic and/or insurance and only buy cars you know are generally popular because of good quality records and good mileage reputations as verified by Consumer Reports. I also learned that you can’t always trust even an experienced mentor completely. He was going through some tough times emotionally and physically at the time. I didn’t realize how much that would affect him.
He even made one more mistake…”
>>> Read Part 2 of Learning How To Buy And Sell Cars For Profit The Hard Way >>>
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April 29th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
I totally get it Steve. Buying and selling used cars can be as simple a business as you want it to be – or it can be really complicated. I’m like you and do it simple. The guy, Joe from Tacome entrusted to be able to handle the actual buying and selling of cars really had no idea what he was doing. IT REALLY IS AS SIMPLE AS THAT! He may have been a well meaning individual but he was clueless. I was flailing in this business a few years ago not really having all the pieces to the puzzle (because I was putting too much time and money into the cars I was buying) until I finally broke down and bought and read your book. The funny thing is that I thought I already knew everything before that.
Bill
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May 6th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Way to go Bill! Thanks for participating.
Yes, the temptation to “over do it” when preparing a used car for selling is typical when first starting out. Some cars do require doing everything you can to make them look as new as possible. The key lies in knowing what those things are and then don’t bother wasting time and money on the rest.
Steve
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