Lude Generation

So with me being out of work at the moment, I'm thinking of buying in small cars, putting in the effort to spruce them up and sell them on. I know I won't make a lot of money, but money is money right now!

I'm currently watching:

1998 Renault Clio 1.2
1999 VW Polo 1.4
1999 Rover 216
1993 BMW 316
1999 Toyota Starlet 1.3

All are in relatively good condition, but as with most the owners haven't washed them properly, so they just look a bit scabby on the outside. A good polish and interior valet would do them wonders!

What of the above is likely to be easiest to sell on quickly?

I'm thinking the Clio and Polo as these are your typical "first time buyer" car that should be easy to shift on, and a 17 year old will just say yes to a car that looks all clean and shiny!

Yup, Clio and polo

Forget the rest, insurance would be too much for your market

Also looking out for something like Fiesta and Saxo, but there's no shoddy one's locally! Can't be bothered travelling too far for them!

Ford Ka, easy to spruce up and sell easily as a first car.

Polo would be the best mate. Not only is it good for first time buyers, but also has the wonderful scene tax that all dubs have so stick it on eBay at a normal price, and VW World at a higher price

if your handy with a spanner then go ahead but i have seen profesionals fall flat on thier face with this one as any second hand car can devolope major faults at any time so be wary

friend of mine dodgy as they come he has sold some cars that are scary

bmw z4 rear diff siezed towed it near a garage and drove it round the corner and traded it in needed ££££ spending on it

rover 25 crashed and bodged together many times best one was hitting a hump inthe road in excess of 90 mph hit the floor so hard air bags went off he re-wired or removed all the warning lights so it looked normal and superglued the air bags back down and sold it to poor un suspecting shmuck i hate buying cars because of him

if you get the 1.4 polo let me know as there is a little job that will need doing to it, its a free one aswell good little cars, the missus smashed hers up at 60 and walked away with a just stiff neck

a chap at the end of my road made a living like this, just valleted them and sold on. beaware ka rust is a major problem, also not all parts are interchangable, however there are millions of ka,s that fail there mot on lower wishbone failier and is an hours work at most, another great seller is the polo. personaly i would steer clear of buying a car off ebay, check out your local supermarket adds board and local rags, or just drive around, there are loads of bargains out there. a cheap car is cheap for a reason, the chap down the road would buy for say £500, just polish and clean them then sell on for £700, if your aiming higher say £2000 then you could increase the profit margin, but you also stand to loose more if something goes wrong. also be aware - the chap mentioned doesnt sell them anymore as someone complained that he was trading off his drive and the taxman got involved the council imposed a restraint preventing him from trading as an unregistered trader


oh yeh almost forgot, you can make a killing on mopeds, (rs50,s) just respray then to a colour that a 16 year old would want, i did and they were fighting over it, the lad who brought it traveled over 200 miles to pick it up. oo ooo oooo oooo almost forgot, gumtree is good for both buying and selling and its free

brought for £150

By littlefeller2010 at 2012-04-11

sold for £700

By littlefeller2010 at 2012-04-11

although i did feel robbed as i quite liked it. (total cost inc paint around £280) it was quite sad watching it go into the van and dissapearing into the sunset

This is my field

HPI check EVERY car you buy, give the new owner a copy of the hpi. Stick to corsas, ka's, polo's etc.....forget anything above a 1.4 ay the moment - otherwise you'll be stuck with them for a while. Make sure they have a few months tax and MOT on them.

There is money to be made, try out you local auction house too.

Thanks for the input guys.

@littlefella: I won't be aiming too high as I don't have much money to start with and can't afford to lose anything! Will be sticking to little "first time buyer" cars for now. Hopefully no problem from the taxman, as I won't be doing a high turnover, plus the guy over the road fixes up write offs and sells them on, has been doing for the 2 years we've been here!

@rob: Knew it wouldn't be long before you popped up! Do you know any auction houses around Bristol, not something I've looked into!!