[07E92TT]

Hey everyone, I had a crazy idea the other day and was wondering you alls thoughts. I'm a student (19 years old) and inherited some money a while back, some of it went to my car, most of it went to mutual funds. Anyways, while I'm still in school I was thinking of maybe getting a dealers license to enable me to buy cars for cheap and then sell them privately for profit. Nothing big just like 1 car a month or so for extra cash, maybe buy a car for like 10k and turn around and sell it for 13k? I'm a huge car buff and want to eventually work around cars and thought this may be a good start. Not entirely sure of the process as I need to research it more but was wondering if you guys had any thoughts or inputs, maybe even personal experiences about this?

[CollinsE90]

I dont know about how they do it where you are, but im pretty sure its not easy to get a dealers license. It will be more headache than you think as well, if it was easy as buy for 10 and sell for 13, everyone would do it. Its possible, would take a lot of time and attention that you probably dont want to do while in school.

[bmwmthree]

Do you even know how much a dealers license costs...

My advice is to do more research than when you have specific questions, ask. I would give you info but as far as I remember you were bragging about how you speed a while back so i'm not gonna waste more time that I already have.

edit: you might wanna check to see if you can sell cars out of your backyard. some places require a commercial location or else an approved residential location is allowed. you probably also need insurance/bond.

[BMW F22]

Getting a license isn't that expensive. You don't have to go all out and get a new car license (that actually needs permission from the manufacturer). However, if you do want to open up a small lot (or simply just buying a car, fix it up, and then resell) you could do it out of your home (if you have ******* or just rent a small office. You will have to find out the details/restrictions of your office (or home if you wanna run it from there).

Also keep in mind that if your mind set on a car you think you will be able to resell for a profit, many other people are thinking the same thing (especially dealers). Honestly even if a dealer resells the car for much more, any buyer would probably feel more comfortable buying from a dealer than a private seller. Another thing you should consider is insurance to protect yourself in case your car fucks up/breaks down/etc.

[Feyd]

Also keep in mind that depending on what type of auctions you go to, cars are typically sold as-is and you don't have the ability to drive/hear them run, etc. before you buy so you could end up spending lots more money post purchase to get them ready (even legal in some instances) to sell.

Also getting a car re-titled (if it doesn't have one) can be a royal PITA. Granted you can bypass lots of this stuff by purchasing cars with titles and at auctions that are selling late-model cars... but the price of admission will be higher and your margins will be lower.

[Freakazoid]

as everyone said, it's not that easy.... if it was that easy everyone would be doing it.

Also as whomever said above, the majority of the time you're buying it without knowing ANYTHING for all you know it may not have an interior.... it's the reason why there's entire lots and businesses dedicated to it, and not just someone doing it on the side.

For every X cars you buy, there will be several that will be close to junkers and take a lot of work to bring to a sellable state. (virtually cars that you overpaid for). You also have to remember these auctions aren't like ebay auctions. You can't back out if you decide you don't like it.

[07E92TT]

ah, stupid idea then I guess. I thought you were able to view the cars before the auction and then decide which one(s) you wanted to bid on accordingly. I would've been most interested in newer cars that appeal to younger crowds (scion tc, altimas, corolla S, GTI) things like that. Oh well

[BTM]

Originally Posted by Feyd

Also keep in mind that depending on what type of auctions you go to, cars are typically sold as-is and you don't have the ability to drive/hear them run, etc. before you buy so you could end up spending lots more money post purchase to get them ready (even legal in some instances) to sell.

I was under the impression that a buyer has 1hr after the sale to drive/inspect and potentially refuse the sale. I believe the deposit that is placed when the hammer drops is lost, but the rest would be never paid.

[BTM]

Originally Posted by 07E92TT

ah, stupid idea then I guess. I thought you were able to view the cars before the auction and then decide which one(s) you wanted to bid on accordingly.

You are, but you're not able to drive them or take them anywhere to get looked at.

[Feyd]

Originally Posted by BTM

I was under the impression that a buyer has 1hr after the sale to drive/inspect and potentially refuse the sale. I believe the deposit that is placed when the hammer drops is lost, but the rest would be never paid.

Could be.. again it depends if you are at a govt. auction/police auction/or private, and probobly varies by city/county/state.

All I was saying was that if OP does his homework and knows what he's in for he can pick and choose which auction to go to. But I don't know where he's at/what the circumstances he'll be under before/durring/after a purchase so I was just suggesting he should be careful.

[Louchie]

Send me a PM

[csav330]

I know if you buy from Manheim you can indeed drive them before you bid on them.

[Cozmos]

Originally Posted by csav330

I know if you buy from Manheim you can indeed drive them before you bid on them.

Manheim is definitely the way to go, but its expensive. You can show up and have test drives of potential buys. It is largely online based and you can bid live on cars in any of Manheims numerous nationwide auctions. The best thing about Manheim is that for most cars there is a full condition report that is very thorough. Also if the car is under 100k miles, and you discover a problem after you buy it, they normally will take it back if it was not disclosed before the purchase. Everything over 100k is as is. Also if you plan on driving the car your going to try to sell, make sure you like it because sometimes you have to hold on to them a lot longer than expected to make a good profit.

[BobKingerman]

Your best bet would be to find someone (ex. friend of a friend) that has a dealer license that would let you go to the auction with them and bid on cars under their name. You pay them some commission and then you sell the car on craigslist.

I have a friend who does this with crap cars. He makes money but he is selling them as is, which could lead to angry buyers.