flippin autos fer profit

OK here is my idea, im a salesman and a car guy I can fix almost anything and I live in a town where market prices are higher than most others.
I want to make my tools pay fer themselves, and the garage I just built also. Make a little profit for fun and justification to build my truck.
So here it is, minimal investment of 3-5 k , stick to vehicles that are low mileage and popular, and known for reliability, KBB indicates that the Honda accord is a good bet as its the most sought after used car.
keep in mind the moto buy low sell high, wait for the right deal. Some times peoples' situations ie divorce or inherited estates or whatever cause them to get rid of good cars at decently low prices.
Find something that needs minimal repairs, ie suface rust or just dirty, clean it up, paint it economically, and sell it, 3500pur 5000sell, not impossible.
For example here in FSJ I was looking at a 88 CRX it was rusty and didnt run so good, it was on the lot for 4000.00 and they got that price for it.
I didnt buy it , cuz, a few hours away, ie Prince george BC there were newer ones in waaay better shape w / less milage and no visable rust cleaner nicer interior everything, and there were lots of them too.
In the Vancouver area , you could get a turboed show quality one with a new engine, wheels, etc for 3500-5000, and again plentiful.
The key is do not risk what ya cannott afford, know yer market do not go over budget do not borrow moola to do it, wait for the right deal, get a mech inspection done in a shop before you buy, do your homework !!!

So, the Q is, what do yall think and are any of you doing this already?

oh yeah, only a few can be done in a year without paying tax on it as income and then ya gotta be a dealer with a licsence and a lot.

i remember a few years back...

me and my dad bought a ford ltd from an auto auction for 300 bucks... ran decent, looked ok...

we put some wheels and tires on it that we had, new paintjob, cleaned the interior, degreased the engine...

ended up selling for 1500...

yeah auctions are the best way to find deals like that.

Everyone loves a good cert & e-tested car too. probably the most important part.

glad ya mention it actually, up here there is no air care cert. is nececsary so if some southern owner has to put out too much cash to make it approved, I would have an opprotunity to buy it cheaper than market !

I kind of use to do this before I got into mazdas, but it wasnt really to buy and sell, I was trying to find what I liked, ended up selling a few of the cars/trucks I really shouldnt have sold I miss them, but, I did make some good money off of it, and being 19 (20 in a 2 weeks) with no job, I was doing pretty good, always had extra cash.
I now have an 83 rabbit conv. sitting in my garage that I have put about 1500 into, its going into the shop for a little more work, then I am going to put 2500 on it.
Prolly my best flip(and the most stupid one for selling) I picked up a 89 mazda b2600i LX 4x4, beautiful truck, for only $400. The owner said it had a blown motor, and that is what we let him think, it actually had a cracked head. went out to the wrecking yard, got a head off of a MPV, valve job and about $200 into it. It also came with a LEER canopy that I sold for $250. so I was into this truck $350. now here a good running mazda 4x4 goes for about $3500. Mine needed the boots replaced on the front driveshafts and leak a very little bit of oil. Sold it for I think $2200, so a profit of $1850. I really miss that truck

You can make good money, but to make good money, plan on doing a car every 2 months, if you think about it, if you sold a car for 4000 every 2 months, that is 2k a month, which equals out to $12.50 an hour, on a regular 160 hour month(40 hours a week) this is not an out of the box figure either, it is pretty easy to find a car and sell it for more then 4k.

My friends tease me about a certain power I have to find cars that need almost nothing, fix em and sell them for a crazy amount of money. I have thought about picking up hondas, doing a cheap but racy looking paintjob, putting a stupid fartcan exhuast on it (its not what you want, its what the consumer wants) lower em, pick up some cheap and used rims with nice rubber on em, and turn around and sell em for a good 6-7k.

and body kits for them little ricers and that bad of price, or you could go to shuckes or checkers or what ever you have up there and by the cheap little air diffusers they sell for these type cars, they look like little wings, you keep the stock bumpers but it makes em look like body kits.

I am having trouble finding a job around where I live mainly for the fact I have always worked for family and the few times I worked for other people, either it wasnt enough to keep me going, or I just got bored way to fast. I really wish I find a paint shop or auto restoration place that would take me in. I have thought about flipping cars, and if I dont find something soon, I might just go get a dealers license and start doing it, your only allowed to sell 5-6 cars a year here i think.

It is also nice to have a younger sister that is into the whole ricer thing, so if she likes the car, I know I can sell it for a lot.
-Mike

That's a cool idea Dan. I've been wanting to go get my dealer licence since I was 18. I took a week long course on sales training and have a graduation certificate for it.

I would get into the flipping thing,except that I have little money,and the money I do have is spent on personal stuff I need (ie: food,clothes,bills etc) and the rest is spent on my truck.

I just turned 21 and in 5 years of driving now,I've owned over 10 vehicles. The lucky ones that did get sold,were sold off cheap. The others I drove into the ground and junked.

I could flip the Rodeo,but is it worth it to rebuild or put a new engine in it (~$1500-1800),a new sending unit and new wheels (again,looking atleast $1000)...so there's over $2000 into a truck I might not even get $2000 for...

But I agree,if you're successful,it could be a fun little thing to do on the side. BUT,you've got to try and stay away from vehicles you nay get attached to and want to keep and before you know it you've got a couple extra projects sitting outside the shop.

That's right. You won't make any money or sell many cars if you've got a lot full of as is specials.

No kidding... when I'm checking the Autotrader for Mazdas and Honda Civic wagons, the prices in BC are out of this world... always a least a couple grand more than what's for sale in the Prairies and the East coast. What's up with that? I also find that Québec has the lowest cost for cars over all.

It might be worth it to buy something in the Prairies and sell it in BC ??