A couple things to keep in mind. Taxes can be killer as transaction costs. Dealers get an exception on registration and associated taxes you probably wont so you have to be smart about managing that. You might be able to finance the car from your buddy since he is a dealer but typically that kind of arrangement requires cash in hand so that he can go out and buy the car. Kelly Blue Book does a pretty shitty job pricing cars. Its like a rating agency for cars, its trusted by large institutions but its off by enough to eat your entire margin. And obviously if you are buying used, you need to have some buffer cash set aside in-case shit happens.So, the unfair advantage I'd enjoy is access to a dealership owner who spends his weekends going to dealer car auctions. These places are shutout to the public, and for a flat $600, he'd buy whatever car at whatever parameters I set. This is the unfair advantage my friend enjoyed all throughout college. He bought something like 8 or 10 cars, selling each one at a $1k-$4k profit, and then buying another.
Yea, I don't fully understand tax liabilities when it comes to selling cars. If you sell it for less than the original purchase price, it's a loss, so you don't have to report it. But if I sell it for more, which is the point of the exercise, then... I'll pay income taxes? Or sales taxes? And is it only on the amount above and beyond the purchase price? As for registration costs, isn't that generally the purchaser's responsibility? Since I'll be buying from a dealer, he'll have it registered to me each time, so I'm not dealing with that expense (except for the $600 flat rate I pay him each car). Also, I'm looking to get preapproved for a car loan from USAA. And I'll be buying used cars, but if they're from dealerships, does that mean that they've gone through some sort of minimal servicing? Are dealers, at these dealer-only auctions, buying these cars blind?
And I'll be buying used cars, but if they're from dealerships, does that mean that they've gone through some sort of minimal servicing? Are dealers, at these dealer-only auctions, buying these cars blind?
I believe they do some sort of inspection at auctions and allow you to return them if you take them back to your shop there is some sort of major unlisted defect but that only works well for an actual dealer. If you are buying from an actual dealer and not an auction always get your car inspected. Dealers are no more trustworthy than a random dude on Craigslist and that 100 bucks can easily be negotiated off based on what your independent mechanic finds.
Every car auction I have been to is a "bought as-is" deal. Period. No returns for any reason, whatsoever. You bought it, get it off our lot in the next 4 hours or it gets towed and you pay the fees. Dealers aren't much better. They just get cars, shine up the outside, and put them on the lot. Used cars at dealers don't necessarily get any sort of inspection. (And what kind of inspection could your average Ford dealer give a Nissan Juke - for example - anyway?) The only way to buy a used car is to know something about it. I suggest finding a common car - an Acura Integra, or Ford Taurus, or whatever - and learn basically what goes wrong on them, and what to look for. Then go look at 10 of them. Check out the things you know how to check, and then - if they pass that cursory look - take them to a dealer and pay the $250 for them to do a pre-purchase inspection. Then you will know EVERYTHING wrong with the car, and be in a better position to haggle. (Of course, a lot of sellers don't let you do that any more. You pay cash now, or you go away.)
blackbootz Two more things to tag on with this, a lot of those auctions are open to the public one day out of the month. Call around and ask. I'd recommend bringing your friend as he is auction savy and can probably help you find a good car and a good deal. You'll want to be careful, because a lot of those cars might not have titles or might be salvage titles or insurance write offs (flood survivors for example) and basically have no resell value beyond scrap and can be a huge maintenance risk. If I could recommend, trying getting a truck or car that was owned by a government agency. The miles will be higher, yes, but they've also seen regular maintenance making them a bit of a safer bet. If you have your friend buy you a car as a proxy, make sure you do everything legitimately. I don't know if there are any legal consequences or not, but you'd be amazed how convoluted the registration process can get sometimes.
What kind of things should I look out for? Man, these unknown unknowns are popping out all over the place. I don't know if there are any legal consequences or not, but you'd be amazed how convoluted the registration process can get sometimes.
KEEP COPIES OF ALL DOCUMENTATION. My girl got fucked selling her car for cash. The guy said "Well hey, I'm going to the DMV tomorrow, want to just give me all the paperwork to switch the registration and I'll file it?" He never filed the paperwork and began using the car (which was still getting billed to her on EZ Pass, because apparently they use the registration to figure out who to bill to) to commit activity which looks suspiciously like drug running between MD and DE - hitting the tolls between the states 3-4 times a day within an hour or so of each other each time - and she had a bear of a time fixing it, especially without any of the documentation, as she needed stuff like his name and address in order to tell the DMV who the registration should rightfully be under instead of her, etc.
Good lord. I'm speechless. Not that I was ever in the market for $20,000 restoration vehicles on eBay, but consider me a little bit more educated.Also, this vid talks about how much people can try and screw you over.
Why would the previous owner try to register the car again after I bought it? Unknowingly bought a salvaged car. How much have I screwed myself? Question from a first time buyer. No title, buying from auctioneer. Help on abandoned vehicle title There's tons more, some stuff rather interesting. Just go to r/cars and search for keywords such as "register," "title," and "inspection" and see what you hit.
Read These 2 Threads on fatwallet, you can get a pretty good idea of how the process works and fees associated.