Making/loosing money on cars

[302 XC]

With all the interest in "Whatsa wurf" ect around i thought id ask the big question
So it can really be for any model here,
Who has made or lost on cars ???
I hear many say "Oh it cost nufin and i made a few hundred" but they never add in fuel to retrieve, towing costs,advertising ect
Or then many who say "Ive spend 10K" and thats the total costings like fluids, breakpads and general wearing parts,then wonder why they only get a few grand
Then theres many who make money parting things out, but is time not a factor in the overall scheme of the profit ???
Surely there isnt many that have actually made money ???

[aussie muscle]

Wheeler dealers always seem to make a few pounds, but they don't count the labor costs for their mechanic Edd. I guess if you can do everything yourself, there is money to be made, but the risks are there. Mostly though i think people loose money on restoring cars.

[blackf6]

Wreckers make a little bit of profit on cars- give you a couple of hundred for your car if your lucky. First thing they do is cut the catalytic converter off, they get money for that, then sell what parts they can, then sell the crushed shell to scrap metal. Easily recouping their $200 outlay plus paying their labor and cost. Also car salesmen make money or they wouldn't be in the game.

[Mr Hardware]

I have made money on 3 or 4 cars now.

Each time i've bought them in a not-roadworthy and generally grubby state for cheap. I've known the right guys to bring them up to roadworthy for the right price, and i've done a lot of work myself to prettify them.

Total costs:
Purchase price
Rego transfer costs
Insurance whilst you own the vehicle
Mechanical work
RWC
Ad costs

Then I will sell the car for more than the total of these costs.

The profit I make is really only paying myself a wage for the time I spent, and I realise that. Profit has ranged from about $70/hr to as small as about $8/hr. But my theory is that I would have only spent that time being a "bludgerigar" or goofing off on AFF anyway.

[XRTickfordNZ]

Bought a XAGT Coupe back in 2004 from aussie, owed me $10k, landed in my workshop here in Christchurch. Paid $7500 for the car, $2500 shipping, gst in NZ etc. Spent 1k on tuning, wheel alignment etc. Did 100miles in total in the 4 years I owned it. Regretably had to sell due to a seperation in 2008 for $45000AUD ( $48000NZD ) and it now resides back in aussie. Guess the timing was right when I first bought it......

Does this count?

Cheers,

Brendon

[matty88]

I bought a VL for $100. No rego/rwc, put a new thermostat and radiator hoses in and sold it for $650 unreg

[Nikked]

My mate at work bought a gemini for pretty much nothing...


sold it for 6 grand...

[pmacc]

every now and then the auctions supply some real bargins

Bought a hilux last year for 9k at the auctions spent 3k cleaning it up, traded it in for 18 when i got my g series

[Bossxr8]

I bought a brand new Territory Ghia with employee discount back in 2004, kept it the minimum 6 months I was required too and found a private buyer for it, made a $4000 profit.

[jixel 78]

Bought a rust free XF with a new motor for $1000.Bloke thought the auto was shagged,fitted a new pan gasket, adjusted the bands and kickdown,then got a bit carried away. Put on a Holley,manifold and extractors, dumped it on new springs, replaced the ignition, dizzy and starter,tints, wacked on some XR6 mags, gassed the A/C. Wheel aligned it,poured 100 bucks of fuel a week in it for 6 months,loved it and sold it for $2000. Lost $1000 not counting the rego or insurance. Nice car.Waved my hands in the air and waved it down the street for a song. Got a bit over enthused about that one. Wont be the last I`m sure

[grandtourer]

There are many people who make money from cars (aside from licensed motor dealers) some that make a damn good living from it. Although it is harder on newer cars, old cars are much easier because there is always someone out there who is willing to pay a little extra to own it.
Is there anything wrong with making money from cars?

[TheZHLANE]

Me and dad bought an 02 v8 explorer with a blown motor + spare, paid 2k. spent around 5k in parts. sold it for 12 or 13, cant remember exactly.

[old_mate]

bought a XY when i was an apprentice, paid 3k.

Got it up to QLD and parked it in dads shed to be rebuilt when I got the money together.

Got a mortgage, got married, pulled the XY out of the shed 4 years after it went in because I had sold it for 11k.

[grandtourer]

Originally Posted by old_mate

bought a XY when i was an apprentice, paid 3k.

Got it up to QLD and parked it in dads shed to be rebuilt when I got the money together.

Got a mortgage, got married, pulled the XY out of the shed 4 years after it went in because I had sold it for 11k.

You won't go broke making a profit that's for sure. Who else out there has made/lost money on cars?

[Stagg]

I bought an AU Fairmont S2 for $2750 in December 2010 with 320,000km on the clock in Gold coast. Drove it to Melbourne, didn't have any problems at all, nor did it have any while I was driving it to work here in Melb.

Probably spent about $500 on petrol between December 2010 to February 2011 (including the drive down), then it got rear-ended by a sparky, insurance payout was $6700.

Replaced it with an 86 RX7, spent a few grand making sure it was running, ended up losing a few grand on that. Decided to sell it before it died, then bought another fairmont.

The buyer of the RX7 got stranded with a ********ed rotor driving back to Sydney, so got rid of that one just in time!!

[302 XC]

Originally Posted by grandtourer

There are many people who make money from cars (aside from licensed motor dealers) some that make a damn good living from it. Although it is harder on newer cars, old cars are much easier because there is always someone out there who is willing to pay a little extra to own it.
Is there anything wrong with making money from cars?

No theres no issue with people making money from cars and good for them
But its funny how more loose than make
My XC ,is from what i paid and what its realistically worth , even in parts is better than money in the bank,one of my late 90s patrols is the same
But theres many ive bought that were just a total waste of time ,space and money
Surely there are many who have bought and lost

[grandtourer]

True. But what if you bought cars for the intention of selling them for a profit? With that goal in mind, surely the odds would be tipped in favor of making a profit rather than a loss. Obviously, you'd need to buy them under what someone else is willing to pay.

Here's another question. Let's say you saw a nice old car in the supermarket carpark and you left a note on it asking if they would consider selling. Arguments sake, lets say is a one owner low mile XR Fairmont V8. The owner calls you and says they want to sell, but only want a fraction of what it's really worth, lets say $500. Would you buy it? Would you negotiate a better deal? Or would you pay market value for it?

And finally, would you feel guilty selling it a few weeks later for a very healthy profit?

[pottery beige]

Originally Posted by grandtourer

True. But what if you bought cars for the intention of selling them for a profit? With that goal in mind, surely the odds would be tipped in favor of making a profit rather than a loss. Obviously, you'd need to buy them under what someone else is willing to pay.

Here's another question. Let's say you saw a nice old car in the supermarket carpark and you left a note on it asking if they would consider selling. Arguments sake, lets say is a one owner low mile XR Fairmont V8. The owner calls you and says they want to sell, but only want a fraction of what it's really worth, lets say $500. Would you buy it? Would you negotiate a better deal? Or would you pay market value for it?

And finally, would you feel guilty selling it a few weeks later for a very healthy profit?

sounds like fun.. ripping off old people......

how would you feel if some wheeler dealer flat out ripped off your elderly parents in a said such deal..........

[Burnout]

Only ever got more than I paid for a car.
in 1982 I brought a brand spanking new XE ESP 5.8L, I paid $17,800 cash and sold it back to the same Ford dealer 10 months later for $19,500. It was one of 104 built.

[Feathers]

My uncle used to buy cars from the damaged vehicle auctions, repair them and sell them on. He made a bit of money on it.
He was a towie and mechanic, had friends in panel beating etc, so there were a lot of deals between them for mates rates towing, bringing in business - you know the old "you scratch my back..."

The NSW laws on statutory write-offs has changed now, so that's put an end to that.

We've almost always made money selling our old buses.
Bought one for parts in November last year @ $2,500, then changed our minds, no longer required it, and sold it to some poor fool on ebay for $6,100.
We did end up pilfering some bits off it for my bus. Exhaust brake, better heads...

[grandtourer]

Originally Posted by pottery beige

sounds like fun.. ripping off old people......

how would you feel if some wheeler dealer flat out ripped off your elderly parents in a said such deal..........

That was an example....old car = old people. Are you ripping them off if you are paying them what they are asking?

What would you do?

[pottery beige]

Originally Posted by grandtourer

That was an example....old car = old people. Are you ripping them off if you are paying them what they are asking?

What would you do?

i dont rip old dudes..

now..

may i interest you in a bag of beans i have for sale...

[grandtourer]

Originally Posted by pottery beige

i dont rip old dudes..

now..

may i interest you in a bag of beans i have for sale...

Nor do I. You keep the beans, you need them more than I do.

[pottery beige]

Originally Posted by grandtourer

Nor do I. You keep the beans, you need them more than I do.

my beans not good enough for you....

[Stagg]

Originally Posted by pottery beige

my beans not good enough for you....

ahem.. well then...

That principle of selling something for more than what you bought it for is essentially the principle of trading.

i.e. a brand new 335 GT will cost more to me than it would for Ford to actually employ the workers, manufacture and source parts, pay the leases on dealerships etc...

[T-Pak Addict]

I was doing a rouring trade at one stage buying EF/EL Vic Xcabs for $700 - 800 driving them to SA and giving them a good clean and selling them for $2500 with rego (We can get 3 months rego here) was selling one every 3-4 weeks.. EL's had a good name and it all stopped when AU;s started going cheap. No one wanted them! Scored a very nice AU S1 Xcab from Sydney for $1400 in 2006 and drove it home, clocked up 35,000 kays in that in 9 months doing Vic runs buying EL's... I sold about 8 all up I think.. was making a about $1000 each car... It was easy back then, alot harder to do that now tho, people just get on Ebay and buy them....

[Stagg]

Originally Posted by T-Pak Addict

I was doing a rouring trade at one stage buying EF/EL Vic Xcabs for $700 - 800 driving them to SA and giving them a good clean and selling them for $2500 with rego (We can get 3 months rego here) was selling one every 3-4 weeks.. EL's had a good name and it all stopped when AU;s started going cheap. No one wanted them! Scored a very nice AU S1 Xcab from Sydney for $1400 in 2006 and drove it home, clocked up 35,000 kays in that in 9 months doing Vic runs buying EL's... I sold about 8 all up I think.. was making a about $1000 each car... It was easy back then, alot harder to do that now tho, people just get on Ebay and buy them....

Gotta love the AU's!

[T-Pak Addict]

Originally Posted by Stagg1991

Gotta love the AU's!

Wife still drives one and son drives a AU Ex-Cab...

Wife doesnt like the BA... Go figure

[gtxb67]

i guess i have never made or lost money on cars
in almost 25 years of ownership, i have never sold one

[JamesR]

i bought a car for dad, an '96 EF Futura, it had been sitting in a shed for 5 years, had less than 190k on the clock and was in really good condition, just missing a heap of parts [long story..]
we picked it up for 700 and had it on the road for maybe 1200ish
dad got rear ended and insurance paid out 4.5k for it.
which was a pity, cos it was a good car!