Is there money in used cars?

Soldato
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Im thinking of a semi-carear change at some point and im thinking of a used car lot.

The reason being is that i have a few friends in the industry who are fairly wealthy, though they do keep telling me there's no money in used cars - i do think its more they dont want to have a piece of there pie.

At the moment i buy the odd bargain out of the auction, do what ever work that needs doing then sell it on for a profit - not a huge profit but enough to make it worth while imo

The only thing im not sure on is where the money is! Is it in prestige cars where you get a bigger profit margin but sell less of them or in cheaper cars where you have a higher turn over but less of a profit in each motor?

My current business already offers finance through black horse and ive spoke to them about it and they are happy for me to offer car finance as long as i keep to a few rules by some governing body, cant remember who but im sure ill found out more when i further my enquiries.

Is it too risky a business?
 

Zip

Zip

Soldato
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I would say there is.
Most Used car dealers say there is no money in used cars but they all seem to be very wealthy.
Importing and exporting cars can make a lot. Buy them cheap from other counrtys and sell them a little bit lower then what their UK counterparts are going for and you should make quite a lot:D
Might be worth something to look into.
 

Dup

Dup

Soldato
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I'd say there was if you know how to shop for a used car and you can carry out your own independant check, weather it be you or an independant party for any immediate mechanical faults.

Also, all used cars have to be HPI checked by law before you can resell it and this must be available to the customer.
 
Associate
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I would say so, a mate of mine has a used car lot which has less than twenty cars for sale on it atm and he is still making enough money to drive round in an Aston Martin.
 
Soldato
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The_Dark_Side said:
does it matter?
if the wealth is there it makes zero difference how he chooses to distribute it.
an Aston and a council house or a Focus and a £100k apartment...financially they both need the same amount of funding.

but that doesnt make him wealthy though does it?
A bloke driving an aston martin and living in an ex council house imo doesnt seem wealthy at all, therfore its not really impressive.
 
Soldato
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jamoor said:
but that doesnt make him wealthy though does it?
A bloke driving an aston martin and living in an ex council house imo doesnt seem wealthy at all, therfore its not really impressive.
a bloke running an Aston IS wealthy. end of story.
wheher he seems wealthy or impressive depends on whether you're the type of person that would rather wear your designer labels on the inside or the outside.
 
Soldato
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define wealth........

There is definitely money in used cars. It just depends on which cars they are, market flucuations etc. Tom Hartley is a good example.
 

Zip

Zip

Soldato
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As much as i hate them, try selling some Holdern Comodores over there.
Down here they sell cheap and i mean really cheap but up there they are like gold.
The profit you should make will be huge :)
Also Portugal and Holand sell RHD cars cheap aswell(thanks The_Dark_Side and Morba) :)
Have a look at the rules and regulations of importing and exporting.
Its a gold mine if you get it right
 
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panthro said:
define wealth........

There is definitely money in used cars. It just depends on which cars they are, market flucuations etc.
i disagree.
there is money in used cars FULL STOP.
exactly how much depends on which section of the market you target but you can easily make more than the national average wage by selling a couple of sub-1500 quid cars per week.
 
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Zip said:
As much as i hate them, try selling some Holdern Comodores over there.
Down here they sell cheap and i mean really cheap but up there they are like gold.
The profit you should make will be huge :)
Also Portugal and Holand sell RHD cars cheap aswell(thanks The_Dark_Side and Morba) :)
Have a look at the rules and regulations of importing and exporting.
Its a gold mine if you get it right
as we said last time, Portugal is in almost all cases the cheapest place to buy a new car in the EU,but there are some language and legal barriers to overcome.
Holland however makes the process a total duck shoot and you can save a LOT of money.
 
Soldato
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Ive been involved with import/export before and its more hassle than its worth, lots of money to be made but its not for me :)

Tom Hartley isnt he that kid who passed his test in an f40? hardly a good example considering he was born into considerable wealth :)

So where do folk think there is the biggest market or money? im thinking cheap run abouts for new drivers and ladies? they seem to hold there value more at the lower end of the market more than cars like mondeos/vectra etc.

What about the prestige end of the market? BMW/merc etc rather than Ferrari etc :D
 
Soldato
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great advice said:
Ive been involved with import/export before and its more hassle than its worth, lots of money to be made but its not for me :)

Tom Hartley isnt he that kid who passed his test in an f40? hardly a good example considering he was born into considerable wealth :)

tom hartley is his father. Who set up his car business from scratch. His son co runs the business with him.....its not fair! :)

I wouldnt say there is money in it full stop......you need to have some sort of business acumen and know what you are looking for/doing. By saying there is money in it full stop is saying that any moron can go out, buy a car and make money on it, which isnt really the case.
I would say, if you know what you are doing, there is definitely money in it.
 

Zip

Zip

Soldato
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great advice said:
Ive been involved with import/export before and its more hassle than its worth, lots of money to be made but its not for me :)

Tom Hartley isnt he that kid who passed his test in an f40? hardly a good example considering he was born into considerable wealth :)

So where do folk think there is the biggest market or money? im thinking cheap run abouts for new drivers and ladies? they seem to hold there value more at the lower end of the market more than cars like mondeos/vectra etc.

What about the prestige end of the market? BMW/merc etc rather than Ferrari etc :D

I would say the Prestige would make the most money in the right area. What you could do is have one car a lot and split it into to parts, Prestige in one half and run abouts in the other :)
 
Soldato
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panthro said:
tom hartley is his father. Who set up his car business from scratch. His son co runs the business with him.....its not fair! :)

I wouldnt say there is money in it full stop......you need to have some sort of business acumen and know what you are looking for/doing. By saying there is money in it full stop is saying that any moron can go out, buy a car and make money on it, which isnt really the case.
I would say, if you know what you are doing, there is definitely money in it.

I currently run my own very successful business and have a top accountant, in my spare time i build cars and buy and sell the odd cheapy. I know a lot of people in the industry who could help me out too, so i think i have the skills needed to take something like this forward.

Just dunno what area to go for :confused:
 
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