Rebuildables?

[IAMRICO]

Hello everybody! I'm new to this forum and I would like to say that you all are really a wealth of knowledge. I was wondering if anyone here buys rebuildable cars from salvage auctions, fixes them, then sells them. Do you find it worth your time? Is it hard to sell a car that has a "Rebuilt" label on it? Thanks in advance for the response!

[Len]

Hello everybody! I'm new to this forum and I would like to say that you all are really a wealth of knowledge. I was wondering if anyone here buys rebuildable cars from salvage auctions, fixes them, then sells them. Do you find it worth your time? Is it hard to sell a car that has a "Rebuilt" label on it? Thanks in advance for the response!

As long as you know what a rebuilt car is selling for before you buy it and also realize the amount of time and money it's going to take to repair it then it can be quite profitable.

[Serge]

The insurance companies dont give them away anymore...they use wholsalers that know what the value of the cars will be once fixed and also have a good idea of what it will take to get them fixed...and they price them consequently ...

So half the battle is finding the good profitable wreck...and thes go real fast, there are many experienced people buying them...

The other thing I find, ant that might be a local issue, is that the larger vehicles have gone down in resale value alot and many of them were quite lucrative to rebuild...there is not much profit to be made on a honda civic...but on an escalade there was some margins when their resale values were still decent...but you should see what a denali sells for at auction now days....prices have just died...So with those vehicles depreciated...there are the slightly exotics (lexus, acura and company) that can have a good resale value...but these are high dollar builds and require a good bank account to get into, you end up having alot of money invested in the car before its sold sometimes...

Its not as easy and simple as it was years back...one has to be careful not to get bitten by the system....There is a long lineup of people wanting to make money on a wreck from the time of the accident to the time its back on the road...and you are only one of them...

The other thing is regulatory...Here in Quebec, if you forget a documenting step...oh boy...are you and your investment in trouble!...Make sure you document yourself well and if you can talk to inspection people about the process...better safe than sory..

[Phil V]

I agree with Len and Serge, it depends on the vehicle and even then don't expect to sell a salvage/rebuilt title vehicle for anywhere near retail book price. Count on not selling it for more than low wholesale price. I've been involved in three salvage/rebuilt title vehicles and I barely broke even on all three. There are a lot of "totals" out there with clean titles, those are the ones to look for. The best profit I have made on buying and selling cars is bank repos and credit union repos. Bought and sold several with excellent profit margins. One time I bought a late model repo truck and drove it for a year, then sold it and still doubled my money. But then again you really have to know what you're buying and what that vehicle is realistically selling for. Case in point would be say a 2004 Ford F350 Super Duty truck automatic with a 6.0 diesel. The NADA or Kelley blue book retail on that truck is around $18,000 but you would have a tough time getting more than ten grand for it right now. So you can't go by book prices, you have to go by what comparable vehicles are actually selling for, street price.

One last thing. A basic formula I came up with is if you can't sell the car for tripple what you pay for it then don't get involved buying a repairable (clean title) vehicle. Figure 1/3 the selling price for buying the vehicle. Another 1/3 investment in parts and materials and the last 1/3 for profit. So if you can't at least tripple your money then don't mess with the vehicle. (that formula is based on a person with the shop, the tools and the expertise to do a professional repair and sell the car himself, not farm out the work and/or broke the sale also).

I see novices all the time pay say $7,000 for a clean title repairable that has an actual street selling price of around ten grand. By the time they're done with the car they'll have 12 grand or more in a car thats worth ten grand.

Carfax is also something relatively new to contend with on clean title repairables.

[lohimike]

I agree with Len & Serge. Out in California ,dismantlers fight over for late model wrecks. Most of them will be more valuable parted out than putting the time and material into them to make profit.
some specialize in Highline repairables can still make a decent buck.
Auctions ,like previous poster is a better choice. I went to an auction last week, 2001 BMW 330i, 122K sport/premium package ( retail book 10-12K)
clean car only needed front bumper resprayed. It went for $5100. Almost bought it myself.
Another good place to make a quick buck are towing auctions. Cars go up for auctions sometimes every week on lien sales to pay for storage charges.
A lot of junkers & beaters but a quick paint or just wet sand & buff you can double your $$
2003 Mustang..$750
2001-2003 Toyota's/Honda going from$500-$900 each.
Change fluids ,plugs an you and turn them quickly because everyone is looking for cheap transportation.