My little car flipping adventure

[Forrest Gump 9]

First of all, this was all my fault. A classic case of a hobby got out of hands. I live in normal house with two cars garage and owning nine cars. My wife still not say anything about my hobby yet, but it's clearly getting out of hands even for my standard. I'm lucky that I have couple friends that already offered me space to park my cars if I need to, but that'll be last resort.

 

So like any car guy out there we all think that sure I can sell it. My toys are desirable people will want them. So far this year I sold one car for an acceptable loss, and two cars that still with me.

 

The first one was my 2012 E63 AMG wagon. The man flew in. I picked him from the airport. Everything checked out. Money transferred. Title signed. He drove off. Deal done!

 

The second one was my 1979 Mercedes 450SLC. I bought this car as a present to myself for my 40th birthday. I built it up the way I wanted it with the Euro and AMG parts. Then a client of mine asked me to sell it to her because she want something cool for her house in the Hampton. I was reluctantly offered my car and we agreed on the price. On the day we close the deal she asked me if the car is good in the snow? I was like, what? Mine you this car is only 60k mile with virtually no rust. She then told me that during the summer months she rent out the house and will be using the car sparingly in the winter when she there. So I kindly tell her to buy a Jeep Wrangler. But once the thought of selling popped in my head I have to sell it. I tried to list on BAT, but unfortunately it did not meet my reserve price. I still have the car and have not drive the car since.

 

The third one is my 1989 Porsche 911 C4. The car is as perfect as a 28 years old car can be. I searched far and wide for one because every self respect car guy must experience the "aircool experience". I really don't want to sell this car, but I can't really stomach myself to park it outside. I only list the car on rennlist and 6speed where the Porsche enthusiasts frequent. As soon as I listed I have five serious parties and two offers. Last Saturday I have an appointment with a 41 years old Dr from Minnesota to come in and check out the car. He sent me a deposit. I picked him up at the airport. He checked out the car, asked all th right questions about the car. On to the test drive, he stalled the car twice getting out of the parking space. He then admitted that HE DOESNT KNOW HOW TO DRIVE A MANUAL CAR!!! And his intention is to drive it 12 hours back to Minnesota. I dropped him back to the airport and drove home. I know I shouldn't refund his deposit but I did. So the car is still with me. It'll be on BAT soon.

 

I really have to give you guys working in the industry a lot of credits. I work in the service industry and I can't imagine myself doing this everyday. Please share your story.

[russian rocket]

while your intentions are good, wanting the cars to go to good homes. you get yourself too attached to the cars and are having a hard time letting them go. When I flip cars, i do not get attached to them at all, mainly because i flip your everyday run of the mill cars, but every once in awhile ill get a nice one, but i remind myself why im fixing it up in the first place

[Jewtoys]

I go through 5-10+ vehicles a year, and could tell stories all day.

 

 

Just this past month, I was selling one of my cars. Five people contacted me and asked all the right questions, and obviously knew what they were talking about. Every last one of them begged me to hold the car, till they could come out and pick it up. (Out of state buyers) Not one of them every came out.

 

At this point, I don't even want to sell it. Dealing with one more person is the last thing I want. Some guy calls, says he will drive out and is serious. I told the guy, unless he is coming with cash in hand, forget about it and the car will rot at my house till it returns back to the earth. Says he has cash in hand, and can come tomorrow. So he drives 3+ hours to check it out. He asked maybe 3 questions about the car, and proceeded to chat my ear off for well over an hour about unrelated things. I couldn't get this guy to shut the hell up, and would ask if he wanted to drive the car. He finally did, said he wanted it but didn't have the cash with him.

 

I'm furious, and told him to leave. The following day, he wouldn't stop texting me about wanting the car and asked for the vin, etc. I get a call later thatbday to confirm I own the car, price, etc. You have to be kidding me.

 

The bank ended up CC me with his denial letter, the following day.

 

 

Humans are the worst..

 

 

 

 

On a positive note, I sold off a Ducati this past weekend, and a guy drove 12+ hours to pick it up. Old guy in his 60s, easy transaction. That's always rare.

[STEVE-O]

You don't buy a car to flip with attachment, if you care what home they go to you will never make money. I have had over 80, some I like more than others but at the end of the day it does not matter who buys your product as long as it sells and you have the cash in your hand.

 

CL and every other place will have tire kickers I have got to the point I don't let anyone drive the car or me drive with them unless I physically see the cash until then all else is a waste of time. Only exception to this is if I feel it is a large enough amount that someone would be getting a loan out and in that case I still am highly picky about letting them

[Forrest Gump 9]

while your intentions are good, wanting the cars to go to good homes. you get yourself too attached to the cars and are having a hard time letting them go. When I flip cars, i do not get attached to them at all, mainly because i flip your everyday run of the mill cars, but every once in awhile ill get a nice one, but i remind myself why im fixing it up in the first place

 

I think that's it. I initially bought all of these cars for myself and now it's just gotten out of hand. Every car I sold I still missed it. I need to learn to let them go.

[russian rocket]

I think that's it. I initially bought all of these cars for myself and now it's just gotten out of hand. Every car I sold I still missed it. I need to learn to let them go.

 

Yea i can imagine its hard with some of those cars, especially if its one that you have always wanted or admired, but at the end of the day, the name of the game is profit, if your not making a profit, then its just a hobby and not anything more.

[El Karacho1647545492]

Every sold car is an opportunity for something faster, weirder, fancier, whatever.

 

Sold cars professionally for 6 years and it was a fantastic part of my life. People in car sales get to experience other people at their worst, at their most elated, and everything in between.

[Rustlestiltskin]

This thread smells like cigs and cheap cologne

[Otis Nice]

This thread smells like cigs and cheap cologne

 

Kind of like a Pontiac.

[Rustlestiltskin]

Kind of like a Pontiac.

 

There's my #1 sack jockey.

[Geeesammy]

That isn't flipping cars.

 

Thats buying something you want at what you think is an okay price (when it really isn't, just your desire to own the car is so strong you justify it) then you justify buying it since "man i got a deal and i know i can sell it again for that" only to find not many people are as into it as you are. 6 months of dealing with tire kickers and responding to countless inquiries later you'll have someone in your driveway ready to buy it for 23% lower than your initial listing and you'll take it, saying never again.

 

Then a month later some other rare car comes up and the cycle repeats.

 

Cars LOL

 

Take your losses and learn than flipping a car looks something like the one i just got.

 

2008 CTS. Sat for 2 years 80,000 miles and needs an engine, bought in for $900, $700 on an engine and needs a good detail, rotors cut and some fresh fluids. Figure I'll be in $2400ish total on the high end plus my time. If i really got desperate and wanted out of it its a $10,000 car all day. Otherwise I'll sit on it for $12,000 and some shmuck will want AWD and ass heaters when winter is upon us.

[Mojoe]

I was on the flip side, being the one to buy someone's "pride and joy". I was basically interviewed to buy my current STi. I'm not mad about that. It actually made the sale, with me having more confidence in the care of the car. In December of 2014, finding a 2011 Sti sedan Limited, with the boltons with COBB that I would have put on, the color and interior I wanted, and only 8,000 miles, let's just say it's tough to trust these cares have been cared for. The guy was in his 40's and the boltons and COBB had less than 500 miles on them. Our sticking point in the sale was when he asked me what I planned to do with the car. I told him it would be my daily, and it broke his heart. He said the car had never been in the rain, let alone in the snow. We talked more about why I have had several Subaru's for my DD's and he came around a little, but he didn't like it still. I had a Legacy specB at the time that I was selling. He kind of inspected that car, to see how I would treat his car he was selling. I can appreciate that. He really didn't want to sell the car, but he was down sizing houses and had a few cars, so the STi was on his "to go" list. He asked me several times if I was going to race the car, rally the car, or be a parking lot hoodlum. I told him I would be a spirited driver on a daily bases. He sold me the car. I bring it by his work a couple times a year for him to look over. He always wants me to Floor the gas when I leave the parking lot. He still misses the car.

[l36tols1]

Every Town Car owner I have tried to buy off of CL gets turned off when I say I'm just going to use this car for monthly road trips to Northern AZ, and Uber/Lyft in my spare time. Otherwise it will sit in my driveway with a cover over it.

 

I thought they were crazy for declining after seeing the cash in my hand. Now I understand after reading this. I need to lie to them next time lol

[Otis Nice]

There's my #1 sack jockey.

 

Well, I've learned that (much like my 3 year old) if someone doesn't give you attention you get all pissy and throw a fit until you get it, so there. There's your attention. Now we don't have to see you again in this thread 3 days from now replying nothing more than, "Still LOLing".

[Tractor]

I hate buying cars from people like you;-) I have to remember to keep my mouth shut about what my plans for it are. They get all emotional when they find out your going to cut it to pieces and use the good stuff for some project, LOL.

[87GT]

CR needs to open up a local car dealership. A few of you posting in here could run the place.

[BStowers023]

Selling cars is honestly one of the worst experiences one can have. I literally HATE everything about it until I give the keys to the new owner and am driving home with that stress gone out of my life. When I was selling my Jeep, I had to skip the gym most days after work just to meet some tire kicking clown at my house who essentially just wanted a free test drive in a "cool" Wrangler. I did this about 15 times before it finally sold. At a point, your time starts becoming more important than your money. I would never get into the buy and sell car business unless I planned on dedicating my entire day everyday to do so (owning a car lot) and even then, fuck that.

[Geeto67]

 

Then a client of mine asked me to sell it to her because she want something cool for her house in the Hampton. I was reluctantly offered my car and we agreed on the price. On the day we close the deal she asked me if the car is good in the snow? I was like, what? Mine you this car is only 60k mile with virtually no rust. She then told me that during the summer months she rent out the house and will be using the car sparingly in the winter when she there. So I kindly tell her to buy a Jeep Wrangler.

 

To be fair the end of Long Island (North and South Fork) sands their roads, they don't road salt them like we do here in ohio. the bigger concern for a car like that is the extremely salty ocean air that corrodes literally everything left outside. This is how my 1967 Buick GS340 ended up looking like this with only 56K on the clock:

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f102/Geeto67/BuickFront.jpg

 

It sat outside in Dad's Montauk driveway for roughly 3 years. It was a fairly solid car when I parked it, it was rusty when I sold it. Then a tree fell on it.

 

 

Back in the 1990's I used to work for a shop that specialized in old corvettes. The boss used to flip old cars constantly as well and as the low guy on the totem pole I was the guy who went with him to make deals and pick up cars. most of them were word of mouth finds since nobody really used the internet like they do now. That old legend of guys not returning from Vietnam and their parents still having their cars - must have seen and heard it about a dozen times. The saddest one was an old widow in center island whom we picked up a 1970 Challenger T/A from, she broke down in a sobbing hysterical pile in the driveway when we winched the car out. Reminded me of the old women at Italian funerals who used to throw themselves on the coffin as it was being lowered.

 

Other car gems from that time were A '63 split window fuelie that was covered in about 100 cans of housepaint in a one car garage - not the paint itself, every time they repainted the house they would stack the empty and leftover cans on the car (not under a cover) and they must have repainted that house 10 times. Also a SS L79 '67 Nova parked on a lawn in College point for 20 years that broke in half when we were winching it up on the truck.

 

During that time I tried to do what he was doing - I would buy lesser muscle cars, clean them a little, and sell them. I had a 1977 Trans Am SE (what people call a "bandit edition") that I picked up for $600 and sold for $1200. The guy who owned it had a gas station and had done all the metalwork on the car so it was primer from the cowl to the rear bumper - only the nose had any paint on it (black with gold pinstripes and screaming chicken), but it was really sold and the 400 ran but had a lifter that pumped down. I was stoked that I sold it for twice after all I did was wash the bodywork dust off of it and change the fluids. I also had a very rusty 1971 elcamino I picked up for $350 and sold for $800 - but it ran.

 

What used to kill me was the stuff I had to pass on because I was a broke 20 year old kid. I answered an ad for rusty $900 1969 camaro RS 327 car and went out to this storage warehouse in Commack. The guy there was a tow truck driver and would pick up cheap cars when he came across them. Most of his stuff was rusty and beat, but in the center of the floor was this very dusty 1969 GTO 400 Convertible ram air IV car. Silver on black. The paint and body was amazing, the interior was gutted and in boxes, the top frame was down with no canvas. Under the hood was a freshly rebuilt 455 Long Block, no carb, exhaust manifolds or accessories at all. The thing had paperwork for the drive train from Jack Merkel from when he was still running Merkel Racing Engines (Jack did the 302 in Dad's Z/28 so I sort of knew him but not well). The Price? $4K. It might as well have been a kings ransom to me in 1997. I found out later that he had $1500 in the car - he had picked it up from a widow who had sold her house - the car had been sitting 5 years already when he got it.

 

Three weeks later I went to Corona, Queens to look at a 1970 Malibu Convertible. White with Red interior and white top. Supposedly it ran but when I got there the car was in a fenced in field. We were able to get into the lot, but the guy couldn't get the car started. It was a clean, highly optioned car with 60K on the clock and almost no rust, but you could light a match of the white paint. The entire time people would come up to the guy talk for a second and walk away. It took my buddy and I about 5 minutes to figure out he was the local neighborhood dirt merchant and every time he walked away to talk to someone it was another drug deal. HE wanted $2K for the car and I passed. A year and a half later I ran into a guy at muscle car headquarters in Farmingdale telling a similar story. Turns out he saw the car 2 days after me, bought it, got it running (it wouldn't start because water in the gas) and eventually sold it for $5500. He even got the paint to take a shine.

 

I had a lot of fun doing it, but mostly because I was young and it was and adventure and you could still find neat old 60's cars on used car lots from time to time. Flipping bikes....now that is a whole different story.

[Otis Nice]

To be fair the end of Long Island (North and South Fork) sands their roads, they don't road salt them like we do here in ohio. the bigger concern for a car like that is the extremely salty ocean air that corrodes literally everything left outside. This is how my 1967 Buick GS340 ended up looking like this with only 56K on the clock:

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f102/Geeto67/BuickFront.jpg

 

It sat outside in Dad's Montauk driveway for roughly 3 years. It was a fairly solid car when I parked it, it was rusty when I sold it. Then a tree fell on it.

 

 

Back in the 1990's I used to work for a shop that specialized in old corvettes. The boss used to flip old cars constantly as well and as the low guy on the totem pole I was the guy who went with him to make deals and pick up cars. most of them were word of mouth finds since nobody really used the internet like they do now. That old legend of guys not returning from Vietnam and their parents still having their cars - must have seen and heard it about a dozen times. The saddest one was an old widow in center island whom we picked up a 1970 Challenger T/A from, she broke down in a sobbing hysterical pile in the driveway when we winched the car out. Reminded me of the old women at Italian funerals who used to throw themselves on the coffin as it was being lowered.

 

Other car gems from that time were A '63 split window fuelie that was covered in about 100 cans of housepaint in a one car garage - not the paint itself, every time they repainted the house they would stack the empty and leftover cans on the car (not under a cover) and they must have repainted that house 10 times. Also a SS L79 '67 Nova parked on a lawn in College point for 20 years that broke in half when we were winching it up on the truck.

 

During that time I tried to do what he was doing - I would buy lesser muscle cars, clean them a little, and sell them. I had a 1977 Trans Am SE (what people call a "bandit edition") that I picked up for $600 and sold for $1200. The guy who owned it had a gas station and had done all the metalwork on the car so it was primer from the cowl to the rear bumper - only the nose had any paint on it (black with gold pinstripes and screaming chicken), but it was really sold and the 400 ran but had a lifter that pumped down. I was stoked that I sold it for twice after all I did was wash the bodywork dust off of it and change the fluids. I also had a very rusty 1971 elcamino I picked up for $350 and sold for $800 - but it ran.

 

What used to kill me was the stuff I had to pass on because I was a broke 20 year old kid. I answered an ad for rusty $900 1969 camaro RS 327 car and went out to this storage warehouse in Commack. The guy there was a tow truck driver and would pick up cheap cars when he came across them. Most of his stuff was rusty and beat, but in the center of the floor was this very dusty 1969 GTO 400 Convertible ram air IV car. Silver on black. The paint and body was amazing, the interior was gutted and in boxes, the top frame was down with no canvas. Under the hood was a freshly rebuilt 455 Long Block, no carb, exhaust manifolds or accessories at all. The thing had paperwork for the drive train from Jack Merkel from when he was still running Merkel Racing Engines (Jack did the 302 in Dad's Z/28 so I sort of knew him but not well). The Price? $4K. It might as well have been a kings ransom to me in 1997. I found out later that he had $1500 in the car - he had picked it up from a widow who had sold her house - the car had been sitting 5 years already when he got it.

 

Three weeks later I went to Corona, Queens to look at a 1970 Malibu Convertible. White with Red interior and white top. Supposedly it ran but when I got there the car was in a fenced in field. We were able to get into the lot, but the guy couldn't get the car started. It was a clean, highly optioned car with 60K on the clock and almost no rust, but you could light a match of the white paint. The entire time people would come up to the guy talk for a second and walk away. It took my buddy and I about 5 minutes to figure out he was the local neighborhood dirt merchant and every time he walked away to talk to someone it was another drug deal. HE wanted $2K for the car and I passed. A year and a half later I ran into a guy at muscle car headquarters in Farmingdale telling a similar story. Turns out he saw the car 2 days after me, bought it, got it running (it wouldn't start because water in the gas) and eventually sold it for $5500. He even got the paint to take a shine.

 

I had a lot of fun doing it, but mostly because I was young and it was and adventure and you could still find neat old 60's cars on used car lots from time to time. Flipping bikes....now that is a whole different story.

 

http://www.gameinformer.com/cfs-filesystemfile.ashx/__key/CommunityServer-Components-ImageFileViewer/CommunityServer-Discussions-Components-Files-258/0246.wall-of-text.png_2D00_610x0.png

[2 Sweet]

To be fair the end of Long Island (North and South Fork) sands their roads, they don't road salt them like we do here in ohio. the bigger concern for a car like that is the extremely salty ocean air that corrodes literally everything left outside. This is how my 1967 Buick GS340 ended up looking like this with only 56K on the clock:

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f102/Geeto67/BuickFront.jpg

 

It sat outside in Dad's Montauk driveway for roughly 3 years. It was a fairly solid car when I parked it, it was rusty when I sold it. Then a tree fell on it.

 

 

Back in the 1990's I used to work for a shop that specialized in old corvettes. The boss used to flip old cars constantly as well and as the low guy on the totem pole I was the guy who went with him to make deals and pick up cars. most of them were word of mouth finds since nobody really used the internet like they do now. That old legend of guys not returning from Vietnam and their parents still having their cars - must have seen and heard it about a dozen times. The saddest one was an old widow in center island whom we picked up a 1970 Challenger T/A from, she broke down in a sobbing hysterical pile in the driveway when we winched the car out. Reminded me of the old women at Italian funerals who used to throw themselves on the coffin as it was being lowered.

 

Other car gems from that time were A '63 split window fuelie that was covered in about 100 cans of housepaint in a one car garage - not the paint itself, every time they repainted the house they would stack the empty and leftover cans on the car (not under a cover) and they must have repainted that house 10 times. Also a SS L79 '67 Nova parked on a lawn in College point for 20 years that broke in half when we were winching it up on the truck.

 

During that time I tried to do what he was doing - I would buy lesser muscle cars, clean them a little, and sell them. I had a 1977 Trans Am SE (what people call a "bandit edition") that I picked up for $600 and sold for $1200. The guy who owned it had a gas station and had done all the metalwork on the car so it was primer from the cowl to the rear bumper - only the nose had any paint on it (black with gold pinstripes and screaming chicken), but it was really sold and the 400 ran but had a lifter that pumped down. I was stoked that I sold it for twice after all I did was wash the bodywork dust off of it and change the fluids. I also had a very rusty 1971 elcamino I picked up for $350 and sold for $800 - but it ran.

 

What used to kill me was the stuff I had to pass on because I was a broke 20 year old kid. I answered an ad for rusty $900 1969 camaro RS 327 car and went out to this storage warehouse in Commack. The guy there was a tow truck driver and would pick up cheap cars when he came across them. Most of his stuff was rusty and beat, but in the center of the floor was this very dusty 1969 GTO 400 Convertible ram air IV car. Silver on black. The paint and body was amazing, the interior was gutted and in boxes, the top frame was down with no canvas. Under the hood was a freshly rebuilt 455 Long Block, no carb, exhaust manifolds or accessories at all. The thing had paperwork for the drive train from Jack Merkel from when he was still running Merkel Racing Engines (Jack did the 302 in Dad's Z/28 so I sort of knew him but not well). The Price? $4K. It might as well have been a kings ransom to me in 1997. I found out later that he had $1500 in the car - he had picked it up from a widow who had sold her house - the car had been sitting 5 years already when he got it.

 

Three weeks later I went to Corona, Queens to look at a 1970 Malibu Convertible. White with Red interior and white top. Supposedly it ran but when I got there the car was in a fenced in field. We were able to get into the lot, but the guy couldn't get the car started. It was a clean, highly optioned car with 60K on the clock and almost no rust, but you could light a match of the white paint. The entire time people would come up to the guy talk for a second and walk away. It took my buddy and I about 5 minutes to figure out he was the local neighborhood dirt merchant and every time he walked away to talk to someone it was another drug deal. HE wanted $2K for the car and I passed. A year and a half later I ran into a guy at muscle car headquarters in Farmingdale telling a similar story. Turns out he saw the car 2 days after me, bought it, got it running (it wouldn't start because water in the gas) and eventually sold it for $5500. He even got the paint to take a shine.

 

I had a lot of fun doing it, but mostly because I was young and it was and adventure and you could still find neat old 60's cars on used car lots from time to time. Flipping bikes....now that is a whole different story.

 

WHo cares if it's a giant wall of text, I love hearing car stories like this :thumbup:

[2 Sweet]

Selling cars is honestly one of the worst experiences one can have. I literally HATE everything about it until I give the keys to the new owner and am driving home with that stress gone out of my life. When I was selling my Jeep, I had to skip the gym most days after work just to meet some tire kicking clown at my house who essentially just wanted a free test drive in a "cool" Wrangler. I did this about 15 times before it finally sold. At a point, your time starts becoming more important than your money. I would never get into the buy and sell car business unless I planned on dedicating my entire day everyday to do so (owning a car lot) and even then, fuck that.

 

Yep after my last few experiences trying to sell old/cheap cars on craigslist, I'm done for a while. I've had a lot of good luck selling cars thru craigslist, but not lately. Too many half wit mouth breathers nowadays, too lazy/stupid to even read the ad. Trying to sell my Caprice was the worst, the amount of BS and ridiculous trade offers I got from Whitehall trash was unreal. Nobody cared that it was a 9C1 with an LT1 and all the SS goodies, they just wanted a "bubble caprice" so they could put 26's on it with a "system" and paint it "cocaine white"......OK whatever, a fool's money spends the same as anyone else so I'll take whatever buyer I can get, but just constantly dealing with tire kicking dipshit after dipshit, no thanks.