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…”
>>> Click here to read Part 2 of Learning How To Buy And Sell Cars For Profit The Hard Way >>
Related Posts
Learning How To Buy and Sell Cars The Hard Way – Part 2
Are You Making Money Now Buying And Selling Cars?
Do Good Used Car Deals Exist During Recessions? Eagle Or Buzzard – What Are You?
Small Used Car Prices Are Rising
Welcome To My World Of Buying And Selling Cars
How Ryan Started His Used Car Lot with Cheap Money
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
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
I’m a college educated automotive painter. I like cars better than cubicles. Just how much of a difference can I make buying and selling cars if I put my painting trade into it? I was self employed for 10 years and sold out. I’ve been working at a reconditioning facility doing paint work for one of the largest used car companies in the US.
I’m ready to go back to work for myself now and I’m looking at the used car business. I’ve thought about buying salvage title cars at insurance auctions to fix and resell. Would I be better off doing clean title cars and using my time more efficiently? I can take a car with NO damage and repaint it in a day or so. I think I’m looking for a starting point and hoping a business model will fall into place once I get more experience.
In case anyone thinks it can’t be done, the facility I’m working at has about 1700 cars at all times (just in my location) being reconditioned to be resold.
A decent paint job is really expensive to have done on a retail level so if you have the equipment and a good place to paint, then yes, you can make good money buying cars much cheaper due to body damage and/or just bad paint and painting them yourself.
Personally, I don’t like dealing with salvage title vehicles because they are hard to sell because most buyers freak out when they see its a salvage title. I would stick with vehicles with clear titles only.
Keep in touch and let me know how it goes.
Steve