Anyone Resell Cars after detailing?

G

Grimm

New member
Yesterday I was thinking about the possibility of looking for solid cars that maybe are commanding low dollars because they haven't been properly maintained by polishing, etc. Then giving them a good detail, and then selling for (hopefully) a profit.



So has anyone here ventured into this, and if so, what have been your experiences? Is/was it worthwhile?
 
you have to look into that they might be running as good as the paint job you are going to be having to fix. i know people that take their cars they fix to mexico and make good money. i was going to sell some cars in argentina (lots of family there.) cause the price of cars double but the economy isnt doing so hot right now.
 
I can't imagine a scenario where this would work if you're just talking about detailing. Unless you have the abilty to do body work and paint, then you're probably going to be wasting your time. Think about it..lets say you buy an old car with high miles and crappy paint for $1000. Is someone going to turn around and pay $2000 because you gave it a detail job that is worth maybe $300 max?



Lets take the other extreme where you buy a $20,000 car with low miles but has a poorly maintained finish. You're even less likely to make a profit because the cost of the detail is so small relative to the value of the car.



The point is... there are detail shops out there that will charge a couple of hundred bucks to restore a car's finish. Therefore I can't imagine a scenario where you could add more than that to the value of the car. If you're serious about detailing for profit, why don' tyou just do that, why buy the car? The potential returns are miniscule compared to the money you are risking by buying the car.
 
I also thought about doing this. The only issue I had was sales tax/registration/title.



Maybe there is a way around this?
 
MobileJay said:
you have to look into that they might be running as good as the paint job you are going to be having to fix. i know people that take their cars they fix to mexico and make good money. i was going to sell some cars in argentina (lots of family there.) cause the price of cars double but the economy isnt doing so hot right now.
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One of my best friend has a cousin who does the same thing too. They buy a car from auctions in the San Diego area, and take it back down to Mexico to fix and resell there.
 
I have gone with several of my friends to Auto Auctions when they were buying vehicles. One thing I will say is this. If a vehicle has not been cared for physically (exterior, interior) then 9 out of 10 time it is not mechanically sound either. Thus you need to dump more money into it. Sometimes it will pay well, but ask yourself if you have the time to invest into getting all aspects of the vehicle tip top plus trying to sell it for profit. I'm not saying it cannot be done, but I feel that most of your effort could be spent on improving the overall appearance of the vehicle, rather than all aspects of it. I have a few small corner dealers that I detail for, I cut them a break due to turnover volume, in the end they have a clean car and my partner and I make money. Same with my friends that hit the auctions, I provide a service to them and don't have to worry about all the other details. Just a thought. Either way good luck with the Biz!



Regards



Walter

Co-Owner
 
while I have done details before selling my cars in order to bring up the value. I don't think the other extra costs associated with buying and selling will be worth the gain. sales tax, registration, insurance all cost money, too.
 
I wasn't really thinking too seriously about it since I don't really want the hastle of buying and selling cars. I just wondered if other people are doing it though. I wasn't figuring on making huge profits, just something comparable to doing a detail. For example I think someone on here posted in the Click and Brag that they detailed a friends car that was for sale and they ended up getting offered like $500 more for it than they had it for sale at prior. Being able to do a detail on my time schedule and potentially make an extra $500 on a car seems pretty good compared to doing a $250 detail for someone in an 8 hour stretch. The big factor of course is the risk.
 
I think for most people buying used cars, they are looking at mechanics, miles, year, model, etc. Not as much the condition of the paint. If I was out looking for a cheap car, I'm looking for a cheap reliable car, not one that necessarily has to look good. $.02
 
Grimm said:
Yesterday I was thinking about the possibility of looking for solid cars that maybe are commanding low dollars because they haven't been properly maintained by polishing, etc. Then giving them a good detail, and then selling for (hopefully) a profit.



So has anyone here ventured into this, and if so, what have been your experiences? Is/was it worthwhile?
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It can be a good supplemental income but you better be mechamnically inclined and able to fix various components on a car. If you can pick up a car cheap enough, detail it and fix some of the mechanical issues it might have then it's a good way to make some extra income. My dad use to do this on the side when he was a line mechanic at a Ford dealership and I would do the cleanup and detailing. I would stay away from anything major (body and paint work or major mechanical issues) unless you have the means to get hose fixed at a reasonnable price and also paid accordingly for the car.
 
I do that regularly., I specialize in Broncos. You have to know what to look for and there is more to it than just a detail. For instance I take off all tinted windows, non-factory options etc... I bought a black bronco and it was solid but the paint was shot. I brought it back and I sold it to colin farrell.... you never know.
 
Heikes said:
I think for most people buying used cars, they are looking at mechanics, miles, year, model, etc. Not as much the condition of the paint. If I was out looking for a cheap car, I'm looking for a cheap reliable car, not one that necessarily has to look good. $.02
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To some extent that's true, but if a car is in mechanically good shape a quality detail can net an extra $300.00 on up. My daughter sold her Nissan Sentra for high dollar from the first buyer to look at it after I had detailed it for her. The paint came out great and it really looked like new. The common buyer is impressed by looks. and will assume everything else is in top order.
 
94BlkStang said:
To some extent that's true, but if a car is in mechanically good shape a quality detail can net an extra $300.00 on up.
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Exactly my point! Three hundred bucks! In my opinion, and I'm sure most reasonable people will agree, the potential profit is not worth the risk. Why would you risk several thousand dollars on a car just to make a few hundred bucks. Let's say you do it ten times, all you have to do is get stuck once, and your initial investment and your profits are completely blown.



If you have the means to fix mechanical problems, rust, tires, etc. Then you could probably make some money. People do it with houses all the time. But when people flip houses, they do a hell of a lot more than just some paint and landscaping.



Just find someone with a dirty car and charge them 300 bucks. There is no risk to you. And even better, you can do it AGAIN in 3 months. SO that's $1200 bucks per year, per car, every year. Rather than risking a huge sum of money to make $300 once.



This idea makes no business sense. Please, please, please DON'T do it.
 
Ghaleon0721 said:
But when people flip houses, they do a hell of a lot more than just some paint and landscaping.
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I don't think I would really want to deal with the risk so I probably won't attempt it, but yes you can make money by repainting and landscaping. Our first and present house it the exact scenario you mention. It is a solid house, just looked like a dump. The carpet was so nasty my mom wouldn't sit on the floor when we fixed it up. The walls had food on them, and the living room ceiling had dark stains in the corner above the recliner where the owner sat and puffed away. I was nervous about the smoke smell staying, but otherwise I knew it was a worthwile purchase. We bought it, put in about $4,000 in paint inside and out, carpet, and a garage door and it was instantly worth about $20,000 more than we paid for it.
 
I think with a house it's a bit different. People are willing to spend the money to get their house fixed. If they don't have the money, the banks are willing to give them the money. It's a worthwhile investment.



A car on the other hand people don't care as much about, especially when it's a daily driver. You see how most people on the road take care of their cars. From what some of the pro detailers on here are saying, it's hard enough getting a customer to commit to something more than a 1 step wash and wax. To most people, they don't understand the need for a $300 car detail.
 
I have done it before. last time was last year.

It was a 1988 Mazda 323. 4 banger, 5 speed. It was a trade in at a car lot, and they were going to wholesale it Mexico. I picked it up for $200.

When I got there, it did not start, unless you popped the clutch. I installed a new starter, and it was fine. Then it overheated, so I had to put in a switch.....fine after that.

It had no radio, but that does not make the car run, so I left it out. I changed the oil, clutch fluid, and brake fluid. Aslo fushed the radiator. The last mechanical thing was a new strut picked one up at a junk yark for next to nothing.

Car was white, and not that bad after a wash with APC and soap. A little wax made it shine. The interior was scrubbed down and the carpet dyed...Also did an engine detail.......and BAM.......I sold it

I made a pretty penny on it.... No complaints. Now if I had time to do it more, I would.......
 
Find and buy the highest mileage, dirtiest and faded piece of crap for next to nothing, clean it up and then sell it for profit. It works for me regularly. Doing detailing for several used car dealerships has allowed me to buy high mileage trade-ins for a couple hundred bucks over what the dealer paid and has given me some good profit over the years. I can't buy enough of them. Try it and you'll get hooked.
 
David Fermani said:
Find and buy the highest mileage, dirtiest and faded piece of crap for next to nothing, clean it up and then sell it for profit. It works for me regularly. Doing detailing for several used car dealerships has allowed me to buy high mileage trade-ins for a couple hundred bucks over what the dealer paid and has given me some good profit over the years. I can't buy enough of them. Try it and you'll get hooked.
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Exactly. Same thing I did...buy their nasty trade-ins
 
I knew a guy that made some good money selling cars.He would buy cars for $800.00 to $1200.00 , fix whatever they needed, clean them up and sell them for $1500.00 to $2300.00 .He would advertise them in local newspapers.
 
TexasTB, you're talking about a hell of a lot more than a detail to improve the value of the car. Also, your initial investment was only $200, therefore your risk was low. I think the Original Poster was asking if anyone made money by detailing alone.



A car that only costs a couple of hundred bucks is not going to be much improved by a coat of wax and some tire dressing.
 
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