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blazin

Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2014
Messages
5
Location
Riverside County, CA
I apologize if this is the wrong place to post this but its my 2nd thread. Anyways ive been seeing alot of old cars for under a grand on craigslist, rollers with no engine, just cabs, and ive been thinking about getting one and simply cleaning it up, maybe replace missing fenders and fabricate whatever it needs even interior, then turn around and sell it and maybe make $100 or $200. Mainly looking to do this for the experience not really looking to make bank. Anyone out there already doing this? Would like to do full on builds buuuuuut $$$$$
 
Ive been buying+selling cars for 30 years or so.You can make a little $ sometimes.Just dont pay too much for something+dont put too much work into it.
 
We are finding it isn't as easy as we thought. My one Son just got his dealer's license and has bought a few cars on CL with the intention of fixing little things and selling them to make a few bucks. Problem is, it's hard to score one cheap enough to leave any room and the repairs can eat up any profit sometimes.

Even the auction locally has cars going through at crazy prices, not sure how the dealers who bid on them make any money. We suspect it is from the buy here pay here crowd who over pay for a car just because they can't get financed anywhere else.

But we are using it as a learning curve and are figuring out what to look for when buying a car now (like the fact a check engine light can cost a bunch of money to get removed)

Don
 
donsrods said:
We are finding it isn't as easy as we thought. My one Son just got his dealer's license and has bought a few cars on CL with the intention of fixing little things and selling them to make a few bucks. Problem is, it's hard to score one cheap enough to leave any room and the repairs can eat up any profit sometimes.

Even the auction locally has cars going through at crazy prices, not sure how the dealers who bid on them make any money. We suspect it is from the buy here pay here crowd who over pay for a car just because they can't get financed anywhere else.

But we are using it as a learning curve and are figuring out what to look for when buying a car now (like the fact a check engine light can cost a bunch of money to get removed)

Don, you have pretty much hit the nail on the head.
My brother flipped cars for years as well as auction buying for full service, new and used car dealers. He doesn't do it any more as the margins are way to slim. The buy here/pay here dealers are driving the prices way up.
Deals can still be found but are getting fewer and farther between.
Torchie.
Click to expand...
 
Remember Guys, that Blazin was wanting to do this to learn about rebuilding old cars. That still can be done, but he doesn't want to break the bank either, while getting his education.
Blazin, I think that if you know you have to learn, you will be able to learn. Maybe you could start on your hotrod project and just keep plugging away on it until you get it right. We all had to start somewhere and some of us didn't have a back-up of really good forum-mates to help. So, you get started the best way you think will work for you.
Keep on tinkering.
 
Im not talking about repairing the engine just simply doing body work, fabricate hoods, fenders and whatever else so someone whos got a v8 laying around might see it on craigslist and decide to drop their engine in it. Also its not a project im not looking to make money from.
 
Might suggest you buy stuff you are familiar with, then expand the learning from there, just remember your goal is experience not money.
 
Not sure what you mean by "fabricate" the missing parts.
blazin, it is a good way to learn about body work, welding and other repairs
I have bought hulks and then replaced missing parts from the junkyard and then sold them as projects.
The best finds are word of mouth, not from CL or the auctions anymore. It seems everyone is trying to flip cars, which raises the prices of the rebuilders or "projects" to the point that you cannot make a decent profit. Five years ago I had a restoration shop and had enough vehicles to make some money, my partner backed out and left my in the cold (heat). Now I cannot find similar deals on project cars.

^2, Don, a check engine light repair can set you back your entire profit on a vehicle.
 

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