Flipping Cars -ETCG1 

My best friend is very successful with flipping cars, and he told me the secret is being patient, and not counting on the income from it. If you try to flip cars for a living, you're gonna fail. Instead, do it as a hobby for extra money....if it takes you two months to find a suitable vehicle to flip, fine. Likewise, if it takes two months to sell at the price you're asking, again, no problem. For him it's just extra money...he's not counting on it to survive.

Got a 01 civic for $1000. Drove it 2 years and added some really nice dents. Sold it for $1,200. WINNER!!!

A friend of mine was in to this. This is generally how it went: A. Find a car for an unbelievably low price. B. Try so hard to negotiate, but ending up paying exactly what the guy was asking for. (After all, it is a great price anyway). C. Get the car home. D. Find out the car had terrible water damage. (That's impossible, the Carfax was clean!) E. Spend months trying to sell it. F. Sell it for literally $50 more than he paid. G. "Hey, at least I didn't lose money on the deal." I totally agree with Eric - time IS money.

I flipped a car once. It was a '78 Fairmont coupe, like your '79. A Dodge Colt ran me off the road, and I flipped it right over on it's side. Wait... wrong kind of flipping. lol

There are several components to flipping a car. There are several factors that you need to know. 1. You actually make the money when you buy. Negotiating a seller down is easier than increasing the price on a buyer. 2. KNOW THE MARKET. I don't care what NADA, KBB, etc says about the "value" on used vehicles. Technically if these were right, they would be in the business of buying every used that is cheaper. It takes time to know the value of used vehicles. The best way to know is to watch what they actually sell for. 3. You need mechanical abilities. You need to know when someone says they replaced the thermostat that you should take a better look for a bad head gasket. Or, to make sure the car is warm and always check for leaks. (Several other things to look for). You either need to do the work yourself or know someone who can do it cheap. 4. The time of year is very important. The end of the year sucks for selling, but great for buying because in February, March, and April, everyone is selling for top dollar due to income taxes. 5. Need to know when to pass up on what appears to be a deal. I have passed up on $300 running/driving cars because there was almost no money to be made. 6. Know the small things that make or brake deals. I've noticed that people hate cracked windshields. ****There are several other factors. Just a few that I have thought.

Damn Eric you know your stuff. You basically said all of my experiences in trying to flip cars. You REALLY need to be good at the initial inspection, and as you said, it REALLY helps to have more inside information on that particular car. I very rarely made a profit and no longer try to do it for money on the side. Once in awhile I will get a car just to have a project to work on for a little bit though.

I've seen many in this game let me lay it out point by point. 1)KBB does not reflect your local market Newspaper, Autotrader but mainly Craigslist does! 2) Most importantly you need to accurately assess the condition of the car, what it needs and realistically what it will cost you to recondition. Cost of purchase, parts, emissions, reg, etc and what it will be worth after the recon also know where to STOP understand the law of diminishing margin of utility (google it if you don't know it) 3) Decide which route you are going to go, either you buy cars needing significant work (engine, trans or body) or you buy good cars that need light recon. If you are a light recon buyer and don't buy cars that need heavy recon or you will lose money at the least on the first few deals, plus you have opportunity loss of light recon deals. 4) If you stick specifically to a few makes / models it can help as you can have a small cache of parts that are common failure items. Part out and buy as many used parts as you can. Use Insurance auctions a wrecked car can be a gold mine and give you 3 home runs Engine, Trans, Interior, Misc... 5) The most successful people in this business come from the car sales side because at some point they learned the art of Condition Writing (AKA beating up the trade) I've worked in sales, service as well as as being ASE A1-A8 6) Understand once you become successful at some point you will have to legitimize, the MVD, City, Used car dealers etc all loathe curbers. Don't buy the media hype, curbers keep used cars affordable! If you can hide cars behind gates or in garages, don't meet people at your residence, disposable cell phones, voip services etc. Dealers services does search phone numbers, your competitors will turn you in. 7) When all is said and done the profit per unit is not nearly what Dateline NBC would have you believe, it is all in volume and consistency.

I work with old trucks . I flip and repair occasionally restore/restomod . I live in those niche markets you mentioned in another video on modified vehicles . While my customer demographic is smaller my product is damn near exclusive you aren't going to find what I'm selling any where else . I specialize in old Dodge and International trucks as we ll as Jeep . Many of the people I sell to bring their trucks back for service and even trade in on their next . Sometimes I sell complete turn key trucks sometimes they are project level rollers . My 2 personal daily drivers are Dodge a 1982 Power Ram and a1978 Ramcharger . Both largely built with parts from other builds . Technically they are both for sale but I doubt anyone will pay the price it would take to separate me from either truck .

BTDT, your comments are spot on. I learnt the hard way. Made money on a few, lost money on more. Buyer's don't want to pay you extra for corrective/preventive maintenance that you performed.

I was briefly into car flipping. Only spending money I could afford to loose. Man did I suck at it. I can take apart and rebuild most car parts. I take for ever to do it. The only car I made 100% profit on was a $500 dollar Corolla I spent $250 for. I spent and hour detailing the car;that was it. It had about ten lbs of fast food trash in it. The other cars if I got back sixty cents on the dollar;it was a good day. One car($250) blew up on me driving back from the auction. I put the keys and the title on the dash and shoe polished FREE on the windshield. Gone before night fall. Good times.

Hey Eric... I worked for a dealer around 10 years ago, as lot manager, for about a year while in college. During my time, we didn't have a service department... Instead, they had me. I was 19, and knew NOTHING about the mechanics of a car for $9 an hour vs $5.50 minimum wage. I called it, "hush money". A lot of the time, i would be crammed into a van driving 3-8 hours to auction and driving back whatever POS's we found for dirt cheap, that *might* make it back home. Literally, zip tying bumpers on, fragrance bombs, turning off SES lights, ect. A few months past, and i was sick of it. I seen so many people come in with a 527 credit score, the salesman would turn that 5 into a 6 with a whiteout pen and typewriter, copy and reprint the custom report, then send it to a bank with the loan amount way under value. They wouldn't do this for everyone, but if you had a trade in and they could get your decent car for 25% of its value, while selling you our piece of crap at what seemed like an amazing deal.. They would take the legal risk every time... Even if the car breaks down pulling off of the lot, you just let someone falsify your credit report with your full participation. What can you really do about it? Well, it made me nervous at how often this shit happen... When they started telling me to change mileage, closer to what carfax last reported or losing 25k all together... I was on my way out. But the point is, if a lot is making killer money from selling used cars. They're probably doing something illegal along the way. Flipping cars the right way, i don't see how anyone can make a dime. Oh, and also... The lot owner is now in jail. He lost almost 1M in cars and his real estate company. I dont know what happen, but i'm sure they got to careless after 15+ years in business.

You just talked me out of doing something stupid.

The only way to make money at buying cheap cars and fixing them, is to fix 'em for yourself.

4-4-3 rule. 4 doors, 4 cylinder car and sell them for $3000 or under. people need these types of cars and usually those people can afford more. your own labor cost will be your profit aside from the profit from the sale. most likely the car cost 1000 or less. then 500 for parts. your cost was 1500 or less. anything between $2000- $3000 is your profit.

I drive the cars I flip. So I get cheap transport and fun projects.

The one limiting thing for me was storage or work area for the cars.

video remark at 2:06 - "they find vehicles that might be 'disadvantaged'". That's the most noble description of a used card dealer I've ever heard! :)

Good topic Eric! I wanted to let you know i have alot of success with flipping cars but you make a few good points in this video that i will touch on. the best way to flip cars is to Not buy them. no i dont mean sealing ether i try to get cars that nobody wants because they are broken and i try to specialize in one make or model for instance Toyota pickups and 4runners. the reason for this is because of the interchangeability of the parts in the run of makes and models is quite high if you pick up on that. I have bought a running 2nd gen 4runner with a blown head gasket for 200 bucks then replaced the engine with a newer 3.4l out of a wrecked t100 that i got for free as scrap, swap parts back and forth now i have a 3.4l 4runner with less than 600 bucks into it i could sell it for 4-6k depending on the market. in other words its not about the newest best condition rig you can get to flip, focus on what people want and what you have available to you to put it back out on the road. Another great way to get cars and parts for free is to offer scrap hauling i have gotten many working cars just for moving them out of some ones yard. then part it out and make your cars better with what you find useful..My rule of thumb where i live is 4wd sells, reliable and economical sells. Toyotas subarus and hondas are easy to work on and more interchangeable than most newer domestic stuff. good lick flipping, Rubber Side Down!

You're a wise guy. Real recognize real.

I've been flipping cars for a living for 2 years now. I'm 21 years old and it makes a good profit. You really have to know how to get cheap parts, how to negotiate, how to sell and how to repair your cars yourself.

The idea of wheeler dealers is to show how someone can refurbish and repair an old cheap broken vehicle using their own time. This would be done on a hobby basis. It is deliberately does not factor in edd's time. Mike has explained this a few times. I am a great fan of wheeler dealers like you. Edd has got me into maintaining my own vehicle and guys like you have extended my knowledge further. Over here in Switzerland car servicing and repairs is horribly expensive so now I do my own general maintenance and I have saved 1000s of dollars. That show gave the the confidence. E.g. I have changed fuel pumps and filters. I am currently battling with the struts and tie rods. My local BMW dealership know that I do a lot of the repairs myself even and they are happy to advise me with repairs. With trickier stuff I leave it to the experts like you and even BMW. I know my limits. I am wheeler dealers number 1 fan. The new series has just started on uk tv! The show does gloss over the amount of work needed to repair those wrecks. That is to be expected. Eric! I think your videos are great. I wish I had been a mechanic and not chosen IT as my career. So boring! Keep up the great work!

Best to not depend on flipping for a living.... Remember: Cars are not investments, they're expenses....

I'm not sure why so many people hate a Flipper. There's nothing stopping you from buying that car for the same price and taking it in to be fixed and still paying just as much as I sold it to you for. Most of the times I've fixed other things that the buyer wouldn't have even cared about. So what if he bought a broke car, put his time effort and money into fixing it, and then sell it for a profit. I've done several and done a great job reconditioning the vehicle. I resell it for a profit and still a good deal for the buyer. I've done 20 over the last 5 years. I negotiate with the original seller. No different then anyone would buying anything. You just have to have an eye for the right vehicle. You have to have the knowledge to diagnose and fix. You have to have the expendable cash to buy the parts etc. So, why hate? I buy something someone listed for sale with a problem. I buy it, clean it, fix it, and I relist it for a fair price. A price and a product that someone is willing to pay. Why Hate? I can certainly be profitable, and some can be VERY profitable, others less.

Whenever people talk about flipping cars - I always tell the story of the $300 Saturn. At the time, I had my own mini graveyard of Saturns I had acquired (some were given to me) to cannibalize for parts, all were wrecked beyond repair. I was offered a 99' SL2 fully loaded in decent condition for $300 with the top end of the motor tore apart. Didn't matter to me since I had a perfect drivetrain (from a runner) ready to drop in. I get the new drivetrain in, and it has zero electrical power, won't even turn over. Car has an aftermarket alarm that I don't have the fob to, so I rip it out (fun job btw). Still no fire, but will now crank. No spark and Fuel pressure is zero - pump isn't getting spark because terminals in the fuse box have melted. Install good fuse box and now have fuel pressure, but the gauge is jumpy, like the pressure isn't constant. Still no spark either. Try several different coil packs and ignition parts from known running cars, no luck. Ground engine block with an old battery cable to the chassis and get a weak spark. Start going through wiring and find major chafing and insulation damage to engine and body harnesses. Start pulling up carpet to change harnesses and find mold and mildew. At this point it clicks - flood car. I pull my drivetrain and anything usable and send the car to the crusher.

Traded my 100 dollar dirt bike, 2 iPhones, and 100 dollars for a 98 dodge pickup truck today. Basically payed 350 for the truck. Needs a leaf spring shackle, exhaust pipe, windshield(it's cracked), and a battery which I already had. Should be able to sell for around 2500-3000. Runs great already!

Eric, there are two keys to flipping cars: one is the very esoteric values of cars that you mentioned and two is not to be greedy. I'll give you an example. I recently bought a 2002 Cadillac STS for $2,100 from a private seller. I put it on CL for $2,500 without doing a thing to it and it sold a few weeks later. I made $400 profit and did nothing. If you're happy to settle for relatively small returns like 10-15% on your investment then you don't have to do a whole lot of work to the car. I sell two or three cars a month doing exactly what I just told you and sure I'm not going to get rich from making an extra $1,000 a month, but it's easy money that I didn't have to do anything but take some pictures and list an ad to earn.

If you live in CA, and your not a dealer, you will also need to pay taxes on the purchase, and have it insured. The Seller also has to make sure it passes smog, so you hope you don't need one of those very expensive CA Cats. I once had a car that would not pass smog, the only cats I could find new that were CA certified cost $2500.00, the car was only worth about $6,000. I was lucky to locate a used cat on craigslist for a couple hundred dollars.

I’ve been doing this for years. This information is very correct. People think this business is easy and it’s not at all. However if you really learn the business well you can make a lot of money. You will loose a bunch of money learning though. My biggest advantage is being a professional auto tech for 17 years so generally even if I buy a bad car I can get out of it not loosing money because I can do the work. I know a lot of small dealers that don’t know a lot about cars and they have a hard time making money. You need to make a lot of contacts in the business from other dealers, body shops, detail shops, parts store, junk yard, repair shops and be very nice to them. They need to know you are a good person and sell quality cars. Send all of them business and they will send you business and this is a huge HUGE part of being successful. They can send new customers your way, they might know people selling cars cheap it’s a must. 110% of not loosing money on deals is knowing your market. So I have a small used car lot that I run myself. The way I figured out my market is this. Say I found a 2010 Malibu that needs a timing chain. Even though I am a dealer I will go on Craigslist and other sites to see what private sellers are asking for the same car with similar condition and mileage. If private sellers are asking say 4-5k I need to be able to sell that car for 4k minimum and make a minimum of 1k profit. So I give myself 500 bucks in miscellaneous work it may need done maybe a brake job, ball joint, couple used tires and a doll up. Then the reason the car is for sale is the timing chain so I figure 200 bucks for those parts then figure it will take me 5 hours to do the job so pay myself 60 an hr to do that so 300 in labor. The reason I plan on paying myself to fix the car is so I am sure I am paying myself for my time. The other profits are for my time picking up the car, showing it to customers and what not. So now I know that it will cost me 1000 to fix the car, I need to make 1000 minimum when selling the car and the minimum I can get for the car is 4000. So now I know that the absolute most I could pay for the car is 2000 bucks and this is assuming nothing else is wrong. Obviously you want to buy it cheaper than 2,000. If you have guidelines like this you will be much less likely to loose money. I generally get more money than a private seller would get because I fix the cars up so they drive great and I have them dolled up so they look fantastic. Say I paid 1500 for the car had 1000 into fixing it and sold for 4500 which is very reasonable I will make 2000 bucks plus the money I paid myself for doing the work. You can’t go buying cars when you don’t understand this. Using blue book values don’t mean anything to me. If I can price my cars similar to private sellers they see that I am priced lower than an dealership.

There are a lot of things that I agree with on this video- BUT there are ways of making money flipping cars as well. I started my auto repair shop 3 years ago. Originally started from flipping cars. You really do need to know the market and what people will pay for a car. Aside from that, you need to know the difference between what a massive problem is, and what a small problem is. Not having any mechanical experience, I avoided majority of cars that had problems in the beginning. Time really is money! You can flip 4 cars in the time you take to wait on a technician to finish a large job. I always liked thinking of perfect flippers (the cars that require no repair but a simple car wash) as my cash flow, and my project cars (the ones that needed massive amounts of work but worth way more) as bonuses. ALWAYS keep the money flowing :) As you get into buying cars with bigger problems, you have to make sure the profit is worth the time invested. And you'll need to find yourself a unicorn (better known as a good back yard technician) that can get the job done at a fraction of what the retail shops want for the work.

im a student, and i do it because back then my friend loves cars, and he work on cars and earned him a corolla gts in mint condition, all i want to say is, filping cars is a fine business, as long u know what to do and how to do, everyone is different i mean, its an investment, fliping cars are far more fun than fliping burgers if u are like me as astudent not graduated yet, however when my college degree come out, why do i still flip? i know a day of 8-10hrs brings me 200bucks most. or maybe a bit more, and that really strikes u! opportunity cost is what eric is saying here, however, if u are a teenager, which im not, im fucking 22now ffs, u can do it, fuck fliping burgers, flip cars, u know why? not because of the money, is the experience that is worth ur time. thanks for reading my words here

You just made me cry Eric! I had a 68 cougar I was restoring, and lost it in a flood. I didn't cry over my ex-wife, but I cried over that car!

I found this video while researching whether I want to get into flipping cars. It seemed fun. But I've briefly been in sales before, and it can be grueling. And I realized in the span of watching this video that I never want to be in sales again.

Im with you Eric im flipping cars and is for the mechanic passion because i rarely make a real profit Cheers from Switzerland

There are certain type of vehicles that has more chance of making a good profit. You will never profit flipping Accords and Camrys, Civics and Sonatas, RAV4s and CRVs. You have far more chance to make profit on F150's, Diesel Silverado HD's, Niche Convertibles and Conversion vans. This guy speaks truth. It's all about your knowledge of the market.

If you ever run into a car that gets you into the "negative profit zone"..... either part it out or sell it for scrap metal... Sometimes it can save your wallet or at least minimize your losses.

Right on point eric first of all you have to know the market on what cars are selling around your area, second you have to start with a decent vehicle and try to invest as little time and money as possible to make a profit which many times is not the outcome, and third you have to know when to cut your loses and just get that vehicle out and start allover its not as easy as some people think well thats if you really fix them and not just wash them and sell then like alot of people do

U make many great points . I have been flipping cars on a small scale sense I was 16. In the late 90s early 2000s it was much easier. Before the internet there were tons of great deals. I could just about open the paper and have my pick of 5 or 6 great deals. Everything from just a tune up and killer full detail to a trans swap. I was lucky my cousin had owned a shop and a dealers lic and my best friend worked at a junk yard. I flip cars so I don't have to pay for a car and to make a grand or 2 extra every 6m. I can buy a car fix it and drive it for 6m and sell it . Or I buy a car fix it and sell it right away. No car payments is awesome . Let the cars PAY ME TO DRIVE not the other way around. I flip about 3 cars a year down from 5 or 6. This paid for my many Turbo suby and Honda builds . Flipping has become very hard in the last 5 or 6 years. For the most part the killer deals have dried up. I buy what I know Hondas and Subarus . I don't stray from that. That is 1 way to limit mistakes . If u know a group of cars inside and out its hard to make that wrong buy. I think people think this is a easy thing to do flipping cars. they see it on tv and think hay I got a craftmans set. lets flip some cars. Its not easy . And if u don't love car and love working on cars u will fail .

Amen Eric!! i used to flipped my cars that i used to love to drive... and in reality the time i put into them really just put me in even numbers.. other than that i enjoyed driving them.. doing this as a business u really gotta know what you are doing..

Excellent points! A lot of people think it's an easy, glamorous business but you can lose your shirt.

Value of vehicles, Also watch seasons. Like towards ends of winter cars will sell better. Beginning of winter trucks will sell high people want them. Area you live in makes huge difference too.

the problem I ran into with flipping cars is appreciating them too much once they're in tip top shape and then getting attached and then saying wellllll ill just keep this one for myself and make it up on the next one

As a person who's been turning cars over ( in England) for a few years I would have to agree 100% with you Eric. I have a good friend who's retired who does my bits to cars so i'm lucky. I also love wheeler dealers but agree there too ( they never mention the cars mileage either, annoying) I make a profit mostly but it's my 2nd job and it's always hard graft to make a few pennies. Experience is gold dust with cars! Great video!

I think if you're going to do it, do it as a hobby. Look for cars that you know well and like and then work on them on in your spare time, maybe with a couple friends and a few beers. Have it be something fun that could end up making you a little bit of money for your savings. Don't have it be something that your livelihood depends on.

Eric, thanks so much for the video. Anyone listening and who cares, I have lost my rear numerous times flipping cars. I have been rebuilding engines, doing bodywork, painting, interiors, etc. for about the last 30 years. Although I still do mostly of my own work (except engine machining) I still lose money. I just have to look at it as something to keep me busy like a hobby and not beat myself up too much when I take a loss.

Also I have made decent money from flipping project cars, buy them at scrap price, mainly clean them up, shop vac the rat turds out of it, spray air freshener, if it has a bad engine pull it out and prep it for the next guy. Let them dump their money into it just eliminate some of the labor for them. Pull the interior and strip the stuff down just to make it easier on the next guy. Also I like buying projects someone else gave up on one step from completion. Example say a guy has a '68 Mustang that he is restoring, engine, trans, bodywork, paint, everything is done but he ran out of money or lost interest and still has to do the upholstery. I buy it and only do that last step to finish it and get the profit. 9 times out of 10 I let another shop do the work and I don't do any work at all other than selling it and cleaning it.

I've been flipping cars for many years. Everything you said is spot on. I've made good money and frequently did a ton of work to cars just to break even. The key is to specialize on one basic model. Also, you need to know what will increase value and what you can just leave alone. The other way is to know the history of the car.

Very true statement. Flipping cars isn't easy. Cars don't bring in as much profit as a house would. Want to flip something, flip houses, and even then you still need the know how, tools, etc etc. , but the profit margin is bigger.

I thought this was going to be a stuntman video....

Like your take on Wheeler Dealers. Yeah, they never factor in the labor and other expenses. New ETCG subscriber. Binging out on your stuff. Thanks!

its not very hard to make money flipping cars. Whats hard though is being poor

pick vehicles that you know inside and out(as you said). Be specialized in one brand or style of vehicle, and have resources either parts or knowledge on that specific vehicle. that gives you the upper hand when buying. Don't overpay for a vehicle that doesn't run. you may know exactly how to fix it, but if you pay too much up front, your profit margin is gone, and if you have extra unseen repairs, you're losing money. Buy vehicles that are in high demand in your area, especially ones that are seasonal, and sell them seasonally... Don't get attached and think you have to "save" every one. Sometimes it's just too much money, or the owner isn't realistic on price, or isn't ready to let it go. don't get sucked in. Thanks for the vid.

It used to easier to flip cars. Everyone wants great condition prices for their poor condition used cars. My favorite BS line(next to someone listing an inline 6 as a V6) is someone saying low miles on a high mileage car then responding "that IS low mileage FOR A Honda, Toyota, ect. Total BS. Now, it's possible to find a good deal for yourself if you are patient and careful but finding them often enough for a business is incredibly hard.

My dad is a mechanic and flips cars to pay for our tuition... Love em'

Do it as a sideline, and find a make and model that's easy to get hold of and popular in your area. If what you bought turns out to be a real dog, don't be afraid to break for stuff you need and weigh in the rest

Finally someone puts out reality, about these reality tv shows. They show purchase price, parts list, of what was spent. Not one of these shows, actually provide what was spent on labour, or the overhead to keep the shop running.

Thanks for this video. I have been flipping cars for years. As for someone getting into this you need to Love cars just like Eric. You need several qualities. As mentioned(you hit the nail on the head Eric)you need to know what you can get for the car both as-is and finished. Not KBB. Start out buying junk cars, be able to make $100 just by junking and then find one that you can fix. You will need a tow dolley and truck. You need to be a mechanic, sales person, and have auto connections.

Around here, it would sell in 30 days. If it looks nice, they can get $3,000 for it. It cost about $1,000 to rebuild a motor and suspension. So if you buy it for $1,000, you can bet it needs a motor and suspension. But once your done, you have a great car.

I think this is pretty sage advice. Me personally I have a shop, tools, experience and I am still leary of buying any car just to resell. Unless. It is a specific platform of car I know inside and out. I know what breaks, what it costs, and how to do the job. I also have a good handle on what I can realistically sell it for. Not the pretend price advertised but the real market price. Since I also associate with other people passionate for these sort of platform cars I always have a line on used parts. The point is Eric here is recommending just that. Money can be made in the above situation but to gain the insider scoop on a particular flavor of car costs. That cost might be time , money, or both. So instead of getting hung up on this guy saying you cant make money on a flip. Understand the guy is trying to provode a real message about the pitfalls of that business.

Gotta love logic and reason. Ed China gets paid as a character in a TV show, not as a mechanic. I save a lot of money doing my own car repairs. Money I can use for other things thanks to Eric.

You would also have to factor in the cost of registering the vehicle, sales tax, insurance. These costs don't increase the vehicles worth at all. Unless you're willing to risk a car in your driveway with no plates on it. :) The worst flips I'd think are the buy something "in need of fixing up" and getting milked fixing this and that, and this and that...hoping you end up with a car thats worth more than you spent. Doesn't happen.

Bought a 06' Outback XT turbo w/rare manual transmission for $1500 with blown turbo. Body 6/10 interior 7/10 condition. Put a rebuilt turbo on it, changed its oil, cleaned the crap out of it & did an alignment. Got MD inspection & sold it for $7200 privately. New owner is happy, i'm happy i see nothing wrong with it!

Remember the golden rule when you're buying your next used car: Ask 'How long have you owned it?' 5 years, consider it. 5 minutes, question it.

Completely agree. Always its ups and downs. ...... the auto mobile industry is a very difficult market. ... is not as easy as some ppl may think. From mechanic, body and Paint, to selling and making profit.

At the end of it all, like you said, it's about what someone is willing to pay for the car. When I flip a car I have learned to quit trying to rebuild and restore them and instead bring the car as close to the value I would like to sell it for. If it needs a trans, well crap... But if it will eventually need a trans remember it is working now. I would love to sell a car that will last for years and years but sometimes that is not the case. Just be fair in your selling price. Sometimes it means breaking even and sometimes it means spending a little to eventually sell it for a little loss. Don't ever put junk on the street but remember that you don't run a restoration business either.

I flipped cars for about two years and everything Eric says is absolutely true. Pay as little as possible for cars you intend to flip. Seriously, you have to REALLY lowball the hell out of the seller. Tell them that you know they are selling it because it's a problem for them and that you aren't their parent so you don't owe them anything. Pay as little as possible but even then some cars are so bad it wouldn't matter if you got them for free.

Every business is a hard business, with down sides and upsides. You should be cautious and know as much as possible before jumping into something, Having a business is always going to be harder than having a job, if you already know that then i think you will be okay.

I've been flipping cars for almost 5 years now. Here are a few things I've run into. ONLY FLIP FOREIGN CARS. If you have the knowledge to work on them. GM and Domestic cars don't have the resale value. Also try to avoid hybrids. I recently bought a 2002 Honda Insight for $800 thinking I can sell it for $2500 after minor work. I ended up spending about $500 in unexpected timely repairs and then sold it. Granted, I still made a profit, but the parts were special order on everything! Special brake pads for the CVT, special plugs depending on what letter was etched on the block, special tires, and a special windshield. All in all, do your homework before purchase! There is money to be made, but be careful. The seller might be doing the same thing you are trying to do and may have found a big problem that he wants to pass off to someone else to recoup some lost money. I do this for enjoyment. I love working on Hondas/Acuras and own 5 of them right now. Wouldn't recommend this as a full time job. Craigslist is full of a lot of junk, but occasionally you will find a gem!

Home mechanic work has saved me a fortune. I kept a 1988 model Ford Taurus alive for 21 years and bought a 2015 Highlander for a much bigger discount than the repair it needed. I wouldn't go into business as the tools and infrastructure are too much relative to income.

Before the video even starts, let me say It's about time! Epic win for a video idea! I will be taking some notes on this one for sure! Sounds like so called "Hoopties" are the market. Buy em cheap, get wrecking yard or aftermarket parts, & sell em cheap. Can't pay yourself for your time very well buy hey: A penny earned...

I'm glad you brought this topic up, and you said what I was thinking. Fixing cars is so much fun that the idea is appealing. But, becoming a used car salesman ain't me. I couldn't ethically gloss over problems for potential buyers. And a slight difference there would mean all the profit. The best way to make something like that viable would be to do the repairs as part of an entertainment channel, like ericthecarguy, ha ha.

Shops like those in Fast N' Loud and Counting Cars also get to upcharge quite a bit on there reputation as well.

I am very good at inspection, valuation and repair but I am not a good salesman so I end up fixing everything to make the car perfect so that the car is so good that it will sell itself. I still usually make money but not a lot.

Good video Eric as usual. I've been a used car dealer in the past and have pretty much come to the same conclusion you have about it, that it's not easy at all and especially if your just starting out by yourself that is which is how most people do it I would guess, I mean most people don't have a rich dad to pay for everything, or as Robert Kiowasacky or however you spell his last name says you've either got to have a lot of money or be real good/smart in a lot of different areas. It's defiantly one of those business' that it helps tremendously to have experts in several different fields on your team but of course for the common little guy just starting out this is just not feasible. I've had to be the expert mechanic, seller, body guy, lister/market guy all rolled into one.. At first your completely at the mercy of mechanics and what they charge you which ends up eating all your profit because they want 500 bucks to change the spark plugs and so on and then there's the aspects of buying car's at the auctions and finding out that most of the car's you can afford are cars that other dealers couldn't fix so they pass there headache on to you so you have to figure out who to buy from and who not to buy from and then negotiating with the buyers to get the most out of it with out selling for less the what you can actually get which takes experience in the market and on and on and on, and I'm not even going to go into getting your dealers license and all the bull that in tells. What I will say is if your real good at any of these things you'll have a leg up over the competition so for instance if your a crack mechanic who can figure out things most can't you'll be doing better then most but it will still be difficult just a little less difficult..

i was a general manager at a repair shop and a mechanic for many years. flipping cars is tough you never know what your gonna get into ive dealt with it all bought cars for 150$ that needed a clutch and turned around and sold them for 2500$ and tried the same thing with the same type of vehicle to find out i had a bad trans and lost my butt in labor. things are changing though people are asking way too much for vehicles in az at least you get 2-5 hundred from the recycle yard here. and honestly time is money as a side thing sell 2 -3 cars a year and be careful what you buy ok cool a little extra money in your pocket if your good. as a way of living though good luck i was able to keep a roof over our head for my wife and kids but i was very lucky.

Good point! That is very true... I'm a dealer and when I get a car in my inventory that doesn't meet my standards for me to sell, I just send it to public auction. I get my money and I have no liability to the car after the sale. I may lose a few bucks but in my eyes that is better than hurting my reputation!

kkb says a 95 Civic EX in good condition goes for $1,429. Good luck buying one at that price. One in good condition starts at $2,500 in my area.

Breaking cars for parts might be a better prospect for some people considering flipping. The main things you will need are time and space you would be amazed at how much space a full car interior takes up. I do a little bit of car breaking to supplement my wages and it is hard work getting a car for the right price with the right bits on it that fetch good money but once you know your market and what they want it can turn in a pretty dollar.

Great video! There is a huge auto action place by me but you have to have a dealers license. I was considering this until I saw the used car place near me go under. Even still, I wouldn't tell people not to try. People need hopes and dreams. Coming across a deal is rare but with enough patience and knowing when NOT to buy I believe it could be done.

I love how you can hear the echo around the shop

fast n loud is phony3 as is dallas car sharks

It's feast or famine.... Stick to the most popular cars in the market today. Classics have a huge learning curve.... I barely make it and I do all the mechanicals/bodywork/marketing and selling myself. I do the best with 4x4 SUVs. I buy my cars all over the United States-- from Seattle to Long Island. Don't buy anything massachussetts as they get too rusty. I love cars and was born to do this but have a hard time getting good prices for my stuff because of location. I still love it though!

I literally was JUST thinking about doing this! Thanks for the video eric.

Yeah I tried to flip a couple, but when you get done it's hard to make a profit. It's not the big things that eat you up on you margin in my experience, it is the little things, like it need brakes, rotors, and alignment, oh it got a leaking strut. Plus I get attached them, I ended up keeping both of mine. I find more joy in doing repairs for people in need once in a while for the cost of parts.

Just like flipping houses. You need a ton of knowledge, know the market, deep pockets and be able to do most of the work yourself. The guys making the fortunes are the auction lots. They get a cut from selling, buying, storing and you name it. Thats the real secret

#1. Flip cars that actually sell and people buy. #2. Know what that car actually & truly sells for in your market. Don't lie to yourself; you don't make your profit until the car is sold. (KBB & NADA is fantasy). #3. Look for cars that have only one really bad thing about them so you can buy and fix at discount. Like a blown head gasket or just a wrecked fender & hood or anything that renders the car undriveable or visibly junky....... (Don't buy a huge project for yourself) AND Never buy a car that doesn't have a title; in most states it is a hassle to get a title no matter what the seller says. #4. Fix it yourself for the huge discount; every dollar you spend cuts into your profit. Look at your car from the eyes of a buyer. #5. Get it done quickly and onto the market. #6. Never lie or cheat & make sure your paper work is in your name and in order. You don't want any car to come back and haunt you because of your shady dealings and so you can sleep at night. This is extremely important. #7. Keep your day job and do this on the side; keep your profits in cash so you can jump on great deal when they show up. Your profits are not "spending money" until you have a lot minimum of working capital. You will want to buy tools and equipment that make your job of fixing cars easier & faster. You will need extra cash to jump on deals when you already have cash tied up in an unsold car. You have to be a car person and enjoy tinkering to make this work. You have to be able to let go of your project when it is done. You need to shut up the voices around you who don't understand & talk to other people who do this too. You can learn a lot from kindred spirits. Extremely important...your spouse or significant other has to be on board or your life will be hell. You may lose your companion if they don't like this greasy hobby/business; you may have to come to some sort of compromise with others in your life..

I dig that organ in the intro!

I've never had to big of a problem flipping cars. Now granted i don't expect to sell vehicles right away, and i also critique the gell out of a car before i buy it. also after doing it for as long as i have i also know what market to advertise too! if you live in podunk hill billy central dont try to sell them a a foreign sports car, if you live in the city chances are high that they dont want the big old gas guzzling truck

This is so true I've done this a lot and when you factor in your time I didn't make much I did profit from it however if you have 2 ppl like you talked about it can be very profitable I've seen it go both ways 💯

Edd China on Wheeler Dealers is THE man!

I agree with you, Eric - by and large. However, I'm Very Cynical about those who "flip" anything, as there are so many out there who feel it's an easy way to get rich quick, and just don't have the chops to do a decent job of repairs. This would be especially hazardous with vehicles under a salvage title, such as water or hidden structural damage. This reminds me of the whole CarMax crap that's going on now, and how car manufacturers and many used car sellers are fighting tooth and nail to weaken the consumer protections that are in place. "Damn the TSBs! Full cheat ahead!"I've seen the damage that people who flip houses can do. My nephew was at first sold a bill of goods in their flipped house, when inspection revealed TOTALLY ILLEGAL knob and tube wiring, among other problems. It was only after months of serious negotiation that the flippers brought the place up to code.The problem with people like these is that they plunk down some money for a seminar or two, learn how to slap some lipstick on a PIG, and hope that no buyer notices. They do NOT have the training to know about structural or system defects, nor do they care as long as they can turn it. I HOPE that the automotive industry is better in this regard, however, one can still lose their life due to someone's laxity or ignorance.My opinions, but I hope that it will provoke some thought on this whole process.

bought a car for 525, after fixing minor issues and getting it safety certified by a shop total expenses came to 1000. sold it for 3 grand and made 2 grand profit. the key to flipping cars is finding the right vehicle with do able repairs that aren't costly.

The thing about those shows you mention is that they have ruined the hot rod hobby. Especially for middle class diy guys. Now everyone thinks that they are Richard Rawlins and wants 10 grand for a 73 Chevy C10. Craigslist is proof of that.

I had a friend in college, we were in Arizona. Every summer vacation and christmas vacation my friend would drive a car from Arizona to Ohio and sell it there. He did pretty well selling the rust free cars in midwest. He also wasn't trying to live on it, just make some extra money and pay for his travel. But that's a pretty specific niche.

I flipped cars more as a hobby for something to do or even to help disadvantaged people. Can you lose money? Yep. Do you buy it for the price of scrap basically? Yep. I have run into a number of projects that were just not fixable but doing something like selling the engine payed off the car plus a bit. Have never lost money doing it. Was it "worth my time?" Yes, because I believe time is worthless until you give it meaning. Have yet to hear of the ones that I sold dying (besides the ones that hit deer, and most of them were repairable). It's not a hobby with good turn around time or even guaranteed return on investment, but it has kept me moving and doing, and staying that way is critical for me. Park is an easy gear for me to get stuck in.

My experience about flipping cars is that you buy a modified car for 5000$. You start trading the aftermarket parts against stock parts plus cash to someone who wants to build his car. After you sold every aftermarket parts, you sell the car for 3000$ but you made profit with the parts you sold and you still have a running car with stock parts. Another really good thing is to buy crashed cars, rust buckets or cars with blown transmission or engines and keep whatever is good on it and then try to find a car with a blown engine or transmission that you buy for dirt cheap and get the other car as a parts car.

Haha I bought a 2003 Focus for $650 put $600 into it (parts and labor) + 4 hours to clean, and sold it for $2300. All in a months time. I learned allot and it paid for my next semester of university. I was happy I got really lucky, and had fun working on it.

I would do it as a hobby. Something to keep me busy. But only if I get a car dirt cheap. Yes the amount of time is probably exceeding. But the way I figure it, I was going to do nothing, and I am having fun with working on stuff. So yeah, labor wise I lose, but in the end I win because I kept myself busy, I did something I like, and it's not my main job. But I don't do it often. I don't think I could do it as a full time job and quit my day job. I'd be screwed lol.

Also I might add is that you have to now when to let a car go or in another words when to say that's going to cost way more then I originally anticipated and let her go instead of throwing parts at it and just digging yourself deeper and deeper in the mud.. What I mean by letting her go is just go ahead and sell it to someone else who may have the ability to fix it for cheap, yes you may loose a couple of hundred but that's better then a couple of thousand.

A friend has a contract to tow for AAA in a metro area. He gets quite a few deals from people who wants to get rid of their problems cars. Often times, they'll sign over the title straight out. Min. $300 to the crushers. Rarely goes underwater on those deals.

I have done it before, as a technician I have some insider knowledge that has allowed me to make a few bucks a couple times. The only stuff I try to buy and flip are things that I KNOW i can fix quickly and sell quickly. Case in point: Many Toyota vehicles, older ones especially, are non-interference engines. So if the timing belt goes, the engine doesn't destroy itself. People don't know this though, so I will buy that MR2 for a song, throw on a new belt and set the timing, and sell it.