Selling cars, anyone have any Ideas??

**Jmac29** · 04-03-2008 11:23 AM

I have some ideas for starting a used car dealership focusing on high end sports car that have been heavily modded through the aftermarket. This market is booming right now and selling these vehicles has potential for huge profit. First step is getting my dealers license, anyone else have similar business ideas??

**rogercbryan** · 04-03-2008 11:32 AM

I work with 4 auctions... 3 dealerships.. and a brokerage company... what types of questions do you have? Do you have the capital needed to buy your inventory? The types of cars you are talking about are $100K cars (at least)... if you dont have 5-10 you don't have enough inventory.... do you have $500K - $1M to get started?

Let me know what you are thinking... I'll be glad to offer any advice I can...

**PDLopez** · 04-03-2008 11:45 AM

What exactly do you mean by "high end sports cars"? The capital needed could vary greatly depending on how high end you mean. My best friend here in college with me has gone through quite a few modified sports cars. He likes to snag them, clean them up, and flip them. He does his privately though: he has bought and sold BMW M3's, Audi S4's, etc. Those, to me, are higher end sports cars... but if we are talking about BMW M5's, AMG Mercedes, Ferraris, Porsches, etc. this would require much more.

**Jmac29** · 04-03-2008 12:06 PM

I dont have any of the money yet but these are just plans in the workings, im trying to get ideas for a business, I'm still in college, anyway, as of the cars im talking about could be anything from 03 cobra w/ KB supercharger, corvette z06 built ls6 cam/head etc., bmw m3 pushin 500rwhp, all the way to a F430 or a gallardo.. The thing is i dont wanna sell stock cars, theres a huge market for cars that have been heavily modded through the aftermarket, you ever heard of toyota supras selling for over 100k..

**Jmac29** · 04-03-2008 12:07 PM

Oh and Roger if you could share with me some examples of sales you made and the steps you took to buy the cars that would be great!

**PDLopez** · 04-03-2008 12:10 PM

Originally Posted by Jmac29

I dont have any of the money yet but these are just plans in the workings, im trying to get ideas for a business, I'm still in college, anyway, as of the cars im talking about could be anything from 03 cobra w/ KB supercharger, corvette z06 built ls6 cam/head etc., bmw m3 pushin 500rwhp, all the way to a F430 or a gallardo.. The thing is i dont wanna sell stock cars, theres a huge market for cars that have been heavily modded through the aftermarket, you ever heard of toyota supras selling for over 100k..

absolutley.... my buddy I was just refering to picked up a 95 supra with a t67 single on it, rebuilt 2jz bottom end, etc. I plan on doing the same thing, just on a MUCH smaller scale, to start out with. I have a 2003 VW GTI, upgraded turbo kit, etc... planning on building up the head and block, then selling. I will do this with numerous cars I own in the future. But, since you are still in college, just like we are, getting started with higher end cars like f430's or lambos isnt that feasible. M3's and such though can definitely work out... do you plan on starting up a dealership immediately, or trying to private market to begin with?

**bostonbrian** · 04-03-2008 01:00 PM

Hello,

Our company is planning on expanding out design/prototyping/and manufacturing of aftermarket parts to other platforms and if coupled with some high-end cars, I think we could swing some good profits with that synergy.

We enjoy developing aftermarket parts that are not yet made by other companies and could expand this to any vehicle. It would be nice to also get some dyno/tuning involved for high-end cars. We can meet up and chat more if you like. Send me a PM or email.

**rogercbryan** · 04-03-2008 02:07 PM

Originally Posted by Jmac29

Oh and Roger if you could share with me some examples of sales you made and the steps you took to buy the cars that would be great!

My auctions (consulting clients) sold over 100,000 cars last year... My dealerships (consulting clients) sold another 20,000 cars... and my brokerage company (I own) sold 6000.... so I'll need more specific questions...
*We are all low end dealers... we are not high end by nature.

I have in the past 6 months sold:
1977 Rolls Royce Camargue which once belong to the late King Husssein of Jordan
1970 Jaguar E-Type Roadster

So I have sold a fwe cars here and there for over a decent amount of money.

**Jmac29** · 04-04-2008 10:35 AM

Well i plan on starting privately i definitely wont be able to start a dealership right out of college but i wanna start buying and selling some decent cars just to get some money in my pocket, then eventually get my dealers license and go to auctions.. Im just trying to get some ideas from people that have made this work good luck with that GTI build PD....

**rogercbryan** · 04-04-2008 11:51 AM

I would get a job at a dealership to start with.. learn the ropes. Most states require you have at least $10,000 in the bank (or more) before they will give you a retail license. Try to learn the wholesale industry first (dealer to dealer) that will get your foot in the door.

**hugh009** · 04-04-2008 11:14 PM

So Roger, if I wanted a nice late 50s to early 60s Rolls what I be looking to pay now?

Yes, Jmac, I had a friend in Atlanta who at 23 years old started to lease exotic cars and he did VERY well. Rusty took my beauty pageant contestants and hired them to be on his showroom floor. He started first in the limo biz. He was a sponsor of my pageant. Big thrill of my life was riding in his Donzi cig boat at 125 mph across Lake Lanier.

Hugh

Hugh

**shmoeusn** · 04-05-2008 12:36 AM

Just a thought, but if your selling these highly modified cars, who's going to finance them? Most banks look at the wholesale value and only go a certain percent above that. Will you have a knowledgable appraiser put a value on it, or will you require them to source their own financing?

**rogercbryan** · 04-05-2008 11:34 AM

Originally Posted by hugh009

So Roger, if I wanted a nice late 50s to early 60s Rolls what I be looking to pay now?

Yes, Jmac, I had a friend in Atlanta who at 23 years old started to lease exotic cars and he did VERY well. Rusty took my beauty pageant contestants and hired them to be on his showroom floor. He started first in the limo biz. He was a sponsor of my pageant. Big thrill of my life was riding in his Donzi cig boat at 125 mph across Lake Lanier.

Hugh

Hugh

To be honest that is not my type of inventory. My average sales price is $2500 and the years range from 1990's to about 2002. Only about 10% of my inventory sells for over $10K.

**rogercbryan** · 04-05-2008 11:57 AM

I don't know why but I was thinking about this post walking home from the bar last night. Maybe it was all the Grey Goose & Sprites....

I know you have a goal of high end cars. While that is an excellent goal, you may need to start smaller.

Here are some numbers from a dealer in Cleveland, OH (I'm not sure where you are from).

$10,000 cash in bank to get a dealers license (2005)
$5000 up front for a lot (1st month & Deposit)
$2500 a month lease (holds 15-25 cars)
$1200 a month for Basic Utilities (electric, water, phone, internet)

If you were to concentrate when you start on low end cars you can buy them at auction for $1000-$2500 and lets say you buy 20 cars to start. That would be a max of $50,000 for inventory.

Now you need to have a mechanic on your staff and the tools that they need to work. This includes a lift and indoor bay.
$5000 for tools & used lift
$2500 a month for the mechanic

Then you need to advertise. This can be free or it can cost a fortune. Depends on your creativity. Craigslist can help you to sell just about any car. I'm not going to throw a number out here.

Then you need insurance and bonds and licenses and tax money in advance.... bank fees...

Lets add up some numbers....

So you would need about $127,200 to get started and a pay your bills for six months. This does not include advertising or your licensing fees.

I feel like I was an arse saying you would need $1M to even think about doing a dealership. To do the dealership you talked about you would need a substantial amount of money. That doesn’t mean you can’t spend 5-10 years building your business to that point.

I know plenty of mom-n-pops dealers who started this way and now own chains of dealerships and million dollar houses. As always… hard work… penny pinch and you may have chance…. Good luck… e-mail me if you ever have questions about what you are doing…

**InsomnicBrain** · 04-05-2008 05:47 PM

You could do it out of your home until business gets rolling and you can find a lot. My uncle has been doing that. He's been attending car auctions and buying the cars and fixing them up and selling them by word of month. Recently he bought a commercial lot and was gonna open up his dealership but has got screwed by the city. Their are many zoning and other requirements from the city. It could take up to a year or more to get approved by the city. I think he's going back to square one and just gonna do it from home since he lost so much money just holding the property and never got approved.