Breaking/Selling Cars Part Time?

[GTO Scott]

I could do with some advice about breaking/selling cars.

I'm looking to rent a garage in order to have somewhere to work on my cars, but i'd like to do a little bit of breaking/selling to cover costs, and ideally make a modest profit to go towards buying new tools/parts etc. I'd like to do things properly, but how far can I go as a part time business before red tape becomes an issue? At what point do I become an official trader in the eyes of the DVLA? Is there any advantages/disadvantages to being a trader?

Ideally, i'd be buying a car or two every month on average (depending on what comes up at the right price), and either repairing them (if economically viable) or more likely stripping the valuable spares and either sending the shell & logbook to the local scrapyard, or listing them on ebay for further use.

It's partially the ebayers that have made me think about this, though I have heard that the lovely folk over in Inland Revenue are starting to look closely at the way ebay is used and the amount being sold by some ebayers, and of course whether they are declaring it as income. I don't want to go as far as becoming a registered scrap dealer as it means various licences and facilities that are required to deal with scrap vehicles, which aren't cheap. However i'm happy to register as a normal trader and pay a reasonable amount of tax that I could claim certain costs back from

So, anyone got any advice?

[bigdavy]

Not as easy as you think old boy, if you plan to break cars you have to become a licensed vehicle dismantler in relation to 'The End-of-Life Vehicles Regulations 2003' as found here: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2003/20032635.htm

It stopped me doing a similar thing a few years ago.

[Skyedriver]

If someone breaks the occassional car for parts and gets the shell removed by the scrapman surely that bypasses the regs or have thay got that corner covered too.

[morgrp]

My mate does and has invested around 10k in his business - He has to pay £30 per car to "De-pollute" - and as already mentioned in this thread, you need a license. Also be aware that a lot of rented units are not keen on the tenants breaking cars. If you get the right cars it can be quite good - even weighing alloys, cats, body shells etc is quite lucrative. I would say it would be naieve to think it can be done in your spare time - He spends around 12 to 14 hours a day at work and it is very heavy going to make decent money, and thats with him using a fully equiped work shop with the right tools

[morgrp]

My mate does and has invested around 10k in his business - He has to pay £30 per car to "De-pollute" - and as already mentioned in this thread, you need a license. Also be aware that a lot of rented units are not keen on the tenants breaking cars. If you get the right cars it can be quite good - even weighing alloys, cats, body shells etc is quite lucrative. I would say it would be naieve to think it can be done in your spare time - He spends around 12 to 14 hours a day at work and it is very heavy going to make decent money, and thats with him using a fully equiped work shop with the right tools

[GTO Scott]

bigdavy said:

Not as easy as you think old boy, if you plan to break cars you have to become a licensed vehicle dismantler in relation to 'The End-of-Life Vehicles Regulations 2003' as found here: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2003/20032635.htm

It stopped me doing a similar thing a few years ago.

Thanks for that, good information there.

morgrp said:

My mate does and has invested around 10k in his business - He has to pay £30 per car to "De-pollute" - and as already mentioned in this thread, you need a license. Also be aware that a lot of rented units are not keen on the tenants breaking cars. If you get the right cars it can be quite good - even weighing alloys, cats, body shells etc is quite lucrative. I would say it would be naieve to think it can be done in your spare time - He spends around 12 to 14 hours a day at work and it is very heavy going to make decent money, and thats with him using a fully equiped work shop with the right tools

For breaking i'm looking into a fairly specific market - rather than finding any old motor and breaking it like the scrapyards used to to, specialising in a certain marque/model is probably a better way to go about it these days. The actual unit isn't a problem - it's owned by a friend of mine who knows exactly why I want to rent it.

Perhaps I should look into selling cars instead of breaking them - around my area there are some fantastic deals to be had in the lower end of the secondhand market but I have found myself turning them down thanks purely to a lack of space to either store them or do any minor work that they might need. Around six months ago I had to turn down a decent 205 GTI 1.6 that came with 8 months test, a bit of tax and a rotten exhaust for two hundred quid. It was totally standard and it ended up being weighed in because the owner simply couldn't be arsed with it

How do I go about becoming a trader? Do I have to tell the DVLA? Or do I just get a business account, and pay my tax when the tax office ask me to? I'll probably still break two or three vehicles a year - I presume if selling is my main trade activity then breaking a couple of motors at most and then having a metal merchant come and collect the remains will not be a problem.

To make it worth while, I have to make £120 a month (the rent for the workspace) - anything over that is pocket money. It's also a handy place to escape the woman