Need help on starting a classic car restore biz?
PLEASE give me honest advice about this idea. I need some guidance.
Im 32 and have a fair knowldege of old cars. I rent a small apartment in brooklyn with my parents. Me and popps want to buy and sell muslce cars from the 70′s. We dont have space or garage. The car will be on the street until it is sold. We are thinking of getting ones that are almost fully restored90% that need minor work.
1. My question is that would this be ok if we just buy one and sell it and make a profit and then take the money from the first sale and buy more.
2. Is there a market for 70-72 Chevelles or cars like this. Woudl it be worth it in todays economy?
3. Eventhough i have no garage or driveway would it be ok to park it on the street. I will get full insurance coverage. Im just scared. Is it practical.
4. Click this link and tell me if this car is too cheap and why do i see some like this that are worth 30k dollars and this is way cheaper…what is the difference here. Am i missing something?
http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/mld/cto/943519199.html
thanks very much and please address all ?’s
thanks again people
BASICALLY WHAT IM TRYING TO SAY IS THAT , WOULD THIS BE A WASTE OF TIME? BUYING AND SELLING CLASSIC?
well doing this is tricky but it can be done…
the thing with cars is the nicer the car the more picky people become.
i would say that you lack some very needed things to get it going.. even if all you want to do is "a little work" to a car you need a place to do it. tools are another larger expensence and are need even for little stuff. you could buy a small craftsman set for 300 bucks but i think you will find you need more. it all depends on what you buy. most people that have these kinds of cars are already "car guys" and know what there car is worth so opportunity for you to mark them up in price to turn a profit is very low. i am not saying that good deals are not out there but to find em you will need to do a lot of looking first. i would suggest auctions. like real auctions not ebay. i think that all the good deals are gone off ebay, its just too well known now. same craglists. another thing to think about would be today economy is not the best. classic cars will always sell BUT in slow times like today i don’t think you will be able to buy a car today and sell it with in a month. what i am getting at is the turn around could be slow. can you afford to keep a car for 6 months? a very BIG part of getting this to work is buying them as cheep as possible.. the super smoking good deals are what you need. the the guy that is getting divorced and his x is selling his 35,000 dollar hot rod for 5 grand. those deals are very rare and dont think that everyone will not be out looking for them. you also need to know what you are buying. i am not picking on you but if you can’t spot what makes a 20,000 dollar car a 20,000 dollar ride the you maybe need u to do some more home work before you blow your load on a pile. another thing to look at is where will you get parts? you can not pay retail prices on this stuff it will kill your profits. classic cars can be very expensive to get parts for. get to know a parts house on a persoal level that will sell you stuff at a discount for your "bussness".
and know alot about the car you intend to buy. you need to know what every one wants to know. like is it a numbers matching car? is it a real super sport? along with trim and exterior colors. there is books for this kind of thing. DO NOT trust the guy that is selling you a real 70 SS chevelle. becouse maybe its not maybe the poor sap dosnt know that is not a reall SS. you need to be able to tell for yourself. there is laws about selling cars too. you would need some kind of dealers licence to be a for real thing. you could do it with out it but you can only sell so many per year before they will start asking questions. there is alot more to think about then just this stuff…but that should get you started! i wish you the best of luck dude!
so recap
1. need a safe secure place to work.
2. know what your buying
3. know how much it will take to get it where you want to sell it BEFORE you buy.
4. find cheep parts sources.
5. what kind of licencing do you need?
OH on that chevelle.. its a 7500 dollar car becouse it not anthing too rare. its not a reall SS. looks nice but i think its a little over priced and there is no pics of what engine is in it. what dose the interior look like? is it number matching? dose the guy have any before paint pics of the car? what metal repair was done and how? need alot more info!!
I suspect it would indeed be a waste of time, since you have no way to actually add any value. But, really, it’s okay to try it and just see. Right now (before Christmas) is a good time to buy something. You may want to plan to hold onto it for a year, until the economy recovers, but don’t do it just because I said so.
Old cars do not stand weather very well. They rust. So just remember while you’re doing nothing to improve the car, the weather will be working around the clock to screw it up.