Used Car Trader

corporate_slave

Hi People. I love watching cars being sold at auctions and can sit for hours wathing the action. I however would like to move into starting up as a part time used car trader, offering finance etc. Any Ideas? Thanks.

motorguy

You wont be able to offer finance easily as i think you need premises.

I sold cars part time for years, and yes there is / was money to be made at it.

Personally i'd stick to the cheaper cars, say below £750.

Learn your market, check out autotraders website, sign up to it, do a search < 10 miles from you, phone up and see what sells, see what doesnt.

I must have sold 100 metros in my time yet most traders wouldnt touch them so dont just aim for corsas and fiestas.

My impression is that auctions are overrun by traders and some private bargain hunters so you wont necessarily get a bargain there.

Check out your local car dealers, get talking to a salesman or two. see if they will sell you trade ins. They want rid of cars as soon as they arrive so will be happy to have someone underwrite it.

Check the autotrader website every morning, new cars are listed on there daily, not weekly. find the cars that are listed a bit cheaper than they should be. phone up, go see it and take cash. offer them significantly less and see what happens.

Take your investment home, spend half a day washing it, polish it, slick the tyres, replace any obvious missing trim like wheel trims. Dont use cheapie wheel trims - buy genuine ones on ebay if you have to. Resolve any signifcant faults.

Of ALL the cars i sold all but two sold to the first man out to see them, using the above methods and i probably averaged £150 - £200 a car profit. You will get the odd one where you will get £500 profit and that will give you a real buzz.

One a week and you have a handy sideline....

Build it from there, see where it goes.

Good Luck!!