Anyone else flip cars on the side?

[sawtooth4x4]

I like to buy old VW's, BMW's and Land Rover's to flip on the side. I can usually get good deals on them and they usually sell pretty easily once they are fixed up. I only do my legal limit per year without a dealer license.

It seems like during the last 4-6 months selling stuff has become nearly impossible, no matter how awesome the car is. Is anyone else having these issues. My neighbor across the street is a wholesaler and he is also having issues selling cars. He has about 5 he has been sitting on all year. he has only flipped 2 cars this entire year.

 

[Kiel]

My flipping has been pretty good. All my stuff is sub 1300 dollars when done though. The last one sat for a week without anybody looking at it, which had me worried, but it sold the next weekend. I upgraded all my ads to the 15 dollar special ads on ksl, that helped me triple my views

 

[jeeper]

I flip a lot of motorcycles, atv's, and trailers. I have also recently sold a few of my own cars. I have also noticed stuff not selling nearly as fast as usual.

A theory on this: With the bad economy, people were keeping their old cars longer, driving up the cost of used cars, making older/cheaper cars more desirable. Now that things are getting better, is it possible people are looking for new items again, creating less demand for used stuff?

 

[Deleted member 12904]

I flip a lot of motorcycles, atv's, and trailers. I have also recently sold a few of my own cars. I have also noticed stuff not selling nearly as fast as usual.

A theory on this: With the bad economy, people were keeping their old cars longer, driving up the cost of used cars, making older/cheaper cars more desirable. Now that things are getting better, is it possible people are looking for new items again, creating less demand for used stuff?

I hope this is the case. It seems used car values and even more so used truck values have gone up over the past 5 years not down. The last time I bought a used truck was about 5-6 years ago. I have been looking at trucks again recently and that same truck but with another 50K miles seems to be going for the same if not a little more then they where 5-6 years ago.

 

[skippy]

I flip Jeeps like crazy, pricing anywhere between 10k and 40k. I do about 4 per year and have done very very well at it. I havent noticed any slumps in the market.

 

[sawtooth4x4]

Maybe it's what I'm selling. I've been trying to sell my VW Camper bus for a few months. Its has had some looks. I'm selling it below where most are selling. It runs, it drives and doesn't have any rust. Seems like a lot of the other ones are selling just fine.

 

[RogueJeepr]

It's also back to school season. Things slow down a bit.

 

[sawtooth4x4]

I have my 1993 Range Rover up for sale. Some guy came from 6 hours away, drove it for an hour and used a 1/4 tank of gas, couldn't really find anything of worth wrong with it. It is 23 years old, not new off the showroom floor. Nothing mechanical wrong with it. He then complains that the rear windows go up a little slower than the fronts and wanted $3000 off the asking price. I said no, good luck finding another one in as good of shape as mine. There are many more of these in poor condition selling for $3000. I told him to go buy one of those. My seats are perfect, no holes, leather is perfect. The only let down on the interior is the driverside arm rest on the seat. the stitching has come undo, and I haven't had it repaired yet. The only thing not original on it are the wheels, stereo system headunit and deletion of the air suspension in favor of more reliable coil springs. Everything else is original.

I want to start a business flipping old classic cars. Mostly European classics, I'm just not sure it's worth the effort. When they do sell I do very well. I would just like a higher turnover rate.

 

[sawtooth4x4]

My truck doesn't seem to be losing any value. I'm happy with that. But I'm not planning on selling it any time soon. It works, I'll just keep it. Plus spending (financing) $75K for a new one is insane.

I hope this is the case. It seems used car values and even more so used truck values have gone up over the past 5 years not down. The last time I bought a used truck was about 5-6 years ago. I have been looking at trucks again recently and that same truck but with another 50K miles seems to be going for the same if not a little more then they where 5-6 years ago.

 

[dutchman]

I want to start a business flipping old classic cars. Mostly European classics, I'm just not sure it's worth the effort. When they do sell I do very well. I would just like a higher turnover rate.

I think this would be a cool business bc older Euro cars are awesome.



On topic: Do you guys find your cars on KSL or go to auctions?

 

[sawtooth4x4]

I use KSL, Craigslist and when I'm driving around Wyoming, I look for cars.

 

[KWight]

I flipped cars when I was in college several years ago. I tried to keep things in the $3000 to $4000 range. I typically priced things about $800 over what I had into them and tried to make a $500 profit on each one. I operated under a friend's dealers license and would typically sell cars within 4-5 days of listing them. Between Thanksgiving and New Years was always a very hard time to sell. I don't have the time for it anymore, but have had no problem selling my own personal cars when I get tired of them a couple years ago.

 

[nnnnnate]

I only wish I had the knowledge, skills, and patience to do this. I've taken a hit on everything I've ever sold...I've also never bought the "right" vehicle to be able to flip or ever had that in mind while looking.

 

[Gravy]

I've noticed parts haven't been moving as fast lately in our own classifieds.

 

[skiboarder]

For selling your VW. Look up thesamba.com .. It's a great VW site.

 

[Houndoc]

Every time I see this post I can't help but think "I have seen plenty of pictures here of cars flipped on their sides".

 

[sawtooth4x4]

Every time I see this post I can't help but think "I have seen plenty of pictures here of cars flipped on their sides".

I fell lucky that has never happened to me. I almost rolled my 85 Toyota Xtra cab rock crawling once. I stuck my arm out the window to catch it, quickly realized my mistake and pulled my arm back in. Luckily I let out the clutch and rolled back out of the flop.

 

[N-Smooth]

Every time I see this post I can't help but think "I have seen plenty of pictures here of cars flipped on their sides".

This. I saw the thread title when it was posted and was all happy thinking "ooh, me me me! I flip vehicles on the side."

Lol

 

[sixstringsteve]

I hate it when I'm looking for a specific vehicle for myself (not to flip), and the full-time car flippers beat me to it. I'm not able to search KSL all day and leave work at the drop of a hat, so usually the decent deals are gone when I get home and check. It's super frustrating, but I guess it's the name of the game with the used car market.

 

[Troop92]

I flipped cars in college to supplement my 20hr-limited campus job. If you know the area market, not hard to make $500+ on a flip.

I've been surprised how long my Murano had been on the market, honestly. Over two months now. I'm not asking more relative to others, and it's in fantastic shape.

I think we all hate the low offer based on nothing. Had a guy the other day drive the Murano, not give any reason, but offer $4k less than asking. Ha, no.