Buying rust free cars for resale

[Charlie Olson]

I am thinking about going to MN to attend the "back to the fifties" and the Rochester POC meet up and I got to thinking that I might be able to start a hobby/job by buying a few rust free SW cars (MoPars), bringing them to enjoy during the Summer and sell them to cover my vacation costs and maybe a little bit more, for my time. Any of you know some one who is already doing this type of mini-biz?

For example, I might be able to get this 50 Biz Coupe for less than the asking price: http://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/cto/2123748482.html

Any ideas, warnings, suggestions would be appreciated.

Charlie Olson, thinking too much

[BobT-47P15]

I guess the question is.....so you get it for a bit less than the asking price,

then what can you really sell it for? Looks like a nice car in this case.

The sad news is the old Mopars don't tend to bring major money and you

need to somehow determine what kind of price you can hope to command.

Otherwise, aside from a little fun driving it around for a while, you might

end up simply trading dollars.

I realize this is a pessimistic view, but what do you others think????

[aero3113]

I would say go for it if you think you could make some extra cash. But I know if it was me my wife would kill me because I would end up keeping them .

[austinsailor]

My opinion is, if you have to ask the question, you probably shouldn't be in the business. At least not if a loss will hurt you.

[JIPJOBXX]

Better think of it as just a hobby as our old cars have probably just about the top of what they are worth. Kids don't want 50 year old cars and old people just want something that's dependable. I guess there are a few of us old fogies out here that still love the feel of the old machines but in the long run they are all going to be put in museum or whatever? Most young people today don't have any spare cash to place into old cars probably just enough to get into a nice Japanese tin can car. Now those are just my thoughts.

[greg g]

How to make a small foutune selling old cars.

A) start with a large fortune.....

I guess you would need to determine the market in your target area. Seems to me the whole country has gone pretty soft at least for the time being.

That car looks like a good solid start but how much over the initial cost would you need to put into it to make it road worthy to relocate it? If you had a ow vehicle and trailer it would make it less of an issue but to buy, refurb, relocate a car and try to seel it out of state, might make it difficult to recoup costs let alone realize a profit. would you title it in AZ and then sell it somewhere else? what are the costs and raifications of that. What does the target state require for transfer of vehicle and title that makes it an easy deal for the buyer?

[Charlie Olson]

Thanks for your combined input. I think I'll concentrate on just enjoying the two events and maybe just get a car I can use for the Summer and then resell it. Hauling cars is expensive, I am learning. I should stop watching the Barret-Jackson reruns.

[hkestes41]

Charlie,

My two cents would be that if you could get the coupe for about half the asking price you should be able to make enough at a show like back to the 50's to cover what you are looking to do. I think you would need to buy low about half of retail to cover fully your expenses. If you trailered the car to the selling point there is a lot of wear/tear on the tow vehicle not to mention fuel. If you drive it to the selling point how are you getting home? A second car driven there with you or an airplane ticket? Or you could ship it to the selling location but then if it does not sell you have to ship it back home.

I have a good friend who goes through about 8-10 cars per year and makes money on just about all of them. That said many of them he makes money on people trading him a different car plus cash or a more valuable car for one they "have" to have. He then turns the car traded to him for a profit.

I think his secret is that he is totally emotionless about the deals. There are no cars that he has to have or to hold onto once he has them. So, he can look at it as nothing more than a financial transaction.

[Young Ed]

Charlie I will tell you one thing. Rust free cars sell well here in the rust belt. And if you have a valid AZ title that helps too. Getting them cheap enough and getting them up here without eating up all the profit would be the challenge. And how will you get home?

[JerseyHarold]

Charlie I will tell you one thing. Rust free cars sell well here in the rust belt.

When I lived in western New York I saw lots of people go crazy over the most mundane car just because it was rust-free.

[Greenbomb]

I don't know, Charlie....I thought the rule to never break was "Buy high, sell low". At least, that's how it always seems to go for me!

[thrashingcows]

That's a nice looking car...I'd drive that in a heart beat!!

[Tim Keith]

Selling cars short term might work if you had a relative or friend who would work as your agent. Otherwise it would most often be the right car at the wrong time. Which means if you wanted to sell right now, it would have to go for cheap to a guy who would wait and flip it for a profit.

[Young Ed]

Tim that sounds like a good job for me. I could drive and enjoy the cars until a buyer is found. Of course taking them to shows etc would be advertising them at the same time