# Fixing/Selling Used Cars



## MoonRiver (Sep 2, 2007)

I have no aptitude for repairing cars, but this might be an idea for someone that is. The Cash for Clunkers program crushed a good number of used cars last year. Now there is a shortage of used cars and prices are up about 10%. For some models (Cadillac Escalade), they are up over 30%.

I don't know how many cars you can sell before you have to be licensed, but I would think someone that knows cars might be able to pick up some great deals, clean them up, and resell them. People do this all the time, but with the used car market experiencing a shortage of good used cars, this might be a time someone could turn a fairly good profit.


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## blufford (Nov 23, 2004)

Hello. I have never sold cars but I have also thought about making some extra money from doing so. My first thoughts would be not to try to invent the wheel but to do it in much the same manner that other sellers have done. I wouldn't want to be someone to drag a rust bucket out of a field and then detail it and sell it to an unsuspecting buyer. Thatâs not to say that I don't have a certain amount of admiration for someone who can work miracles on a piece of junk. So hers a couple of thoughts that I would like to share. There are certain cars that have a great deal of customer loyalty and those customers may jump at the chance to purchase another car of the same year and type. I'm sure you met these people the Camaro people, the Cutlass Supreme people, the ones that loved the 289 and 302 ford motors, the Ford Ranger people , vettes etc. I hear a lot of people who love their 3.8 GM motors and stay with them. I believe that there is some publication that puts how stats of cars that people are most loyal too. 
Now lets reinvent the wheel

Lets take a 1996 Buick Regal, 3.8 (also referred as the 3800). Now lets go to a major auction house like Manheim and using their search find Buicks of this year and model. Lets find one with low miles and good ratings by the auction house and make a bid and hopefully win. Now lets lease a mailing list from the local DMV that has the names and addresses of people in your area and using special search software generate people's names that own that year and type vehicle. You may be able to have the mailing list company do this for you at a certain cost per name. Then using the U.S. mail send a picture and description of your car to the potential buyers remembering that they already have this model and they may be be looking for a lower mileage replacement. Just thinking out loud here.


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