What Cars Should I Sell When Gas Prices Are High?

Old Gas PumpI get asked a lot about what is the best kind of used car to sell…and usually my answer is… “Well, it depends.”

If you are a beginner at buying and selling used cars, then it depends on how much money you have to invest because you’re going to want to flip your cars as quickly as possible.

And the reason you want to do that is so you can build on your experience (so you can prove to yourself that this really works) – which boosts your self-confidence, and the other reason is so you can recoup your initial investment and move on to the next used car deal.

During “normal times” if you have lots of money and aren’t concerned about how long it takes to flip a car, or you are the kind of buyer that likes to buy a car and enjoy it by driving it around for a while, then you could probably sell any kind of car at any time for pretty close to the price you want…IF you are willing to wait around for the perfect buyer.

Now don’t think that when I said “any kind of car at any time for pretty close to the price you want” means that you can buy a car without knowing what that vehicle should or could sell for…or you avoid doing a decent inspection. Uh, no way vaquero!

Operating like that will guarantee that you will go broke in no time. But if you do your price research like I teach in The Lazy Way To Buy And Sell Cars For Profit then you will know very fast if the car you’re checking out is worth buying or not.

But lets get back to the issue of what cars should you sell when gas prices are high? “Yeah Steve, wasn’t that why you wrote this article?”  Yes it was!

If you picked small fuel efficient cars, then you would be very right. If you picked small fuel efficient cars made by Honda, Toyota, or Nissan then you would be even more right.

The truth is that small fuel efficient four banger cars are always in demand, and thats regardless of whether gas prices are low or high, or whether the economy is good or bad. And all things being equal (like you know how to prepare and advertise the vehicle), the truth is also that your phone will ring off its freaking hook when selling four bangers during a time of high gas prices!

Of course you can still sell gas hogs when gas prices are high, but don’t expect to sell them quickly, or to sell them at all unless you price them super cheap. Selling them cheap requires that you buy them SUPER DUPER CHEAP so there is still room for you to make a profit.

One last thing about selling gas hogs during gas spikes…

Back in the day when I was in construction, I briefly owned a Ford Ranger pickup truck. I unloaded that sucker after only 3 months because it was driving me nuts to have such a small truck! See, I really needed a full-sized truck and had to have one regardless of how high gas prices were. The point is that there will always be a market for certain kinds of utility vehicles, like pickup trucks, cargo vans, semi trucks, etc., etc. Why? Well, in spite of the fact that the biggest segment of pickup truck buyers over the last 20 years were people that didn’t really need a pickup truck (they thought owning one was cool), there will always be “working people” in certain fields like construction, manufacturing, farming, etc., that require the use of big full-sized vehicles.

I would be extra careful with my research before buying gas hogs during times of high gas prices…and during rough economic times. That means I would NOT necessarily go by what the used car value guides say (KBB, Nada, Edmunds) a vehicle is supposed to be “worth” because their updates can lag behind reality or location.

Oh and one more thing…   Big ass nasty and SUPER CHEAP old American V8 beasts from hell will sell during times of high gas prices too because there will always be someone that needs to get from here to there and back. They may have to car-pool with 5 other co-workers to spread out the cost of the gas, but SUPER CHEAP $800.00 wonders will always sell.

It would be really great to read your thoughts and experiences about selling gas hogs in the comments section below – so please don’t be shy!  :-)

Steve

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5 thoughts on “What Cars Should I Sell When Gas Prices Are High?

  1. Maka

    I have totally switched over to selling small high mpg cars only, and like you said, my phone is ringing off the hook (if it had a hook), and i’m selling them at a premium.

    Reply
  2. Ray

    I’m selling whatever I can get my hands on that is selling for alot less than what it should sell for. And that goes for selling gas hogs too. The gas hogs are still selling but I’m finding that I’m needing to be more aggressive with the way I market them, and I’m selling them cheaper than I used to.

    Reply
  3. Patty

    My husband and I sell used cars as a team. I look for them and he does the rest. You are right about how high the demand for high mpg cars is now though. They are selling for a premium of course which means we are paying more on the front-end but because my husband is good at negotiating (he says he learned it in your book), we are still being able to buy for substantially less than what they “should” sell for.

    Reply
  4. William

    Hi Steve,

    Thanks for posting this article! I’m just starting and this cleared up a lot of things I’ve been wondering about with this crazy economy and high gas prices.

    William

    Reply
  5. Ryan

    Hey Steve,

    Great article as always! I’ve found my Niche in selling 2 door sports coupes, whether they be v6 or v4 :-) they sell pretty quick and at a premium.

    I did just buy a 2000 Tahoe Loaded 4×4 z71 edition…but it only has 68,000 miles and I got it for 4650 so I figure I can’t lose on this deal.

    Reply

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