Car flipping..

[Jevik]

So I'm batting around the option of selling the cars I got and doing such throughout this summer. Right now I've got my accord and a 1998 GTP that I'm in the middle of replacing the transmission on.

This was the idea.. The GTP and the accord will likely sell for 2000-2500 each, and the spare transmission from the gtp can be rebuilt and sold for ~1000 which gives me a decent chunk of change to start with. Roughly 5000. Which would be enough to get a good DD and a good bodied car with a blown motor/trans. There's another option also of just selling the GTP and the rebuilt transmission and keep the accord. My buddies getting an H22A with LSD trans and ecu for free that I could swap into the accord.

I figure I dont really have much invested into the 2 I have.. Has anyone done this and is it a really profitable hobby?

 

[Valet]

It is absolutely not profitable.

I would just sell the gtp and keep the accord to play around with and do that swap.

 

[RedRyder]

My wife’s brother did that for awhile, mostly buying Civics with blown motors and/or trannies, replacing them with a group of friends, then selling. From what I could tell, you have to make sure it will be lucrative for you. You need to be able to find parts easily, fix the car for cheap, and have a pool of people who you can sell it to. I know he kept saving more than he was spending while doing it. And it seems the rest of the car needs to be in order too (body, electronics, etc).

But Civics are simple cars, and cheaper in general. My concern with what you’re doing is the level of complexity with working on V6 cars, but moreover the complications that could arise as a result. Once you start spending too much time or money trying to fix it, it’s no longer profitable.

I guess my point is, if it's not something you know inside and out, I wouldn't do it.

 

[thatklazzickid]

There's a show called "wheeler dealers" it's on Velocity, a channel kind of like discovery but more geared towards cars and the like, any way, they buy a car, fix it up, and sell it for a profit. Only trouble is, their profit is on the order of a couple hundred pounds (British show) and they do quite a bit of work and put in a lot of time to the point that I don't see any money as being profit. So like mentioned above, if you can do it quickly and cheaply and sell it quick, go for it. But I think it will cost more than you'll make. Not necessarily in money but the time for sure!

 

[Valet]

I watch wheeler dealers on the regular. And they usually, at least more recently, make 800 pounds, or a little more than $1000, and up. It really isn't worth the time. At least it would seem. I don't know how much time they are actually spending on these cars. They also seem to have some connections for good prices as well as all necessary equipment.

 

[SykVSyx]

If work is all being done "in house", then it may be something to consider.

You definately want to be able to get parts as cheap as possible.

As RR mentioned, Civics would be ideal, because of the availability of parts, I don't know if there would be much profit in it dealing with v6's.

The market you would be looking to sell to matters as well. If no one is buying the type of cars you want to try and flip, then you are stuck with multiple vehicles losing value the longer you are stuck hanging on to them.

 

[Jevik]

I was thinking more along the lines of the popular 4 banger gas savers, like neons/cavaliers with bad headgaskets and I'm able to get just about any motor-trans combo for around $300 at a pick and pull. I originally bought the grand prix to use to replace the accord, but in the process I've discovered too many headaches and just that its a pain to work on. Engine bay is super tight. So right now I'm in the middle of rebuilding the transmission... My parents own a house at the entrance to a college, so it's the prime spot to display the car.

 

[SykVSyx]

That is probably something else to consider, whether domestics or imports are better sellers.

Sounds like you have everything pretty well thought out, though.

 

[thatklazzickid]

I watch wheeler dealers on the regular. And they usually, at least more recently, make 800 pounds, or a little more than $1000, and up. It really isn't worth the time. At least it would seem. I don't know how much time they are actually spending on these cars. They also seem to have some connections for good prices as well as all necessary equipment.

Me too man, i have it set to record all of them. Im not sure of the time they spend on the resto either but i remember one, cant recall the car or the job he was doing on the car but he spent all day on it. it might have been putting in the roll cage of the M3 they had. But yeah, unless you have all those tools and space and resources at your disposal, not worth it

 

[bairdandrew77]

I'm also planning on flipping cars starting later this year. As far as I could figure, the best things to do are have lots of patience, find out what people in your area are interested in, look for those cars with as few problems as possible and as cheap as possible, and don't get too greedy on the price. Also, it might not be a bad idea to go to public auctions.