Buying cars in the North and bringing them South
Discussion
I did a search as I cant believe its not been covered .
I am retired and have time a bit of money and a good knowledge of cars and repairing them .
I keep looking at E Bay and Autotrader and there really is a marked difference in used car prices North of Manchester and in Sussex where I live . If I use as an example say a BMW Z4 on a 2006 plate 2.0 petrol there is a c. £1500 difference . Its a low cost car and they sell very well around here from now for the next few months.
I don't need to make it a financial certainty so I am thinking of having a go . Just 4 cars or so , I don't want to become a trader .
My actual specific question is . If I drive to Manchester for example and spend two or three days hunting cars and staying in pubs etc .
When I have the four , how do I logistically get them back to Sussex . Lets say 4 cars , 100 miles apart and all to be collected on different days . How do those with the knowledge do this please .
Thanks
I am retired and have time a bit of money and a good knowledge of cars and repairing them .
I keep looking at E Bay and Autotrader and there really is a marked difference in used car prices North of Manchester and in Sussex where I live . If I use as an example say a BMW Z4 on a 2006 plate 2.0 petrol there is a c. £1500 difference . Its a low cost car and they sell very well around here from now for the next few months.
I don't need to make it a financial certainty so I am thinking of having a go . Just 4 cars or so , I don't want to become a trader .
My actual specific question is . If I drive to Manchester for example and spend two or three days hunting cars and staying in pubs etc .
When I have the four , how do I logistically get them back to Sussex . Lets say 4 cars , 100 miles apart and all to be collected on different days . How do those with the knowledge do this please .
Thanks
cliffords said:
Just 4 cars or so , I don't want to become a trader .
What you mean is, you don't want to have to stand by your responsibilities of being a trader, a.k.a you want to be a scummy backstreet trader.You are buying to sell for a profit, 1 car a year makes you a trader
Plus, have you actually seen the cheaper cars up close? I know round here (Bradford area) 9 out of 10 cars on Facebook are lemons and most are cat S write offs (whether declared or not). There is probably a good reason they are cheaper.
Reminder to people thinking of contributing to this topic not to make public what you do and how you do it as the authorities don't have any problem coming on here to work out ways of creating new laws and taxes to try and make your life difficult if you have an unconventional way of making money.
ingenieur said:
Reminder to people thinking of contributing to this topic not to make public what you do and how you do it as the authorities don't have any problem coming on here to work out ways of creating new laws and taxes to try and make your life difficult if you have an unconventional way of making money.
I went from London all the way to the Highlands of Scotland to buy an American car unseen.
Bought it, had a 3 day holiday and slowly made my way back home. Used it for 9 months then sold it on for £1500 more than I'd paid for it. The 'profit' paid for my insurance, petrol etc thus it was free motoring despite 12mpg on the cross London commute.
The chap in Scotland had a hard time finding interested punters up there but down in London I had a far bigger pool of likely buyers.
The money went on to help fund a Mustang GT.
So it was only that purchase and one other that I made a 'profit' on after a years use but in both cases the 'profit' funded my running costs.
Generally we lose big on selling cars, present situation excluded, so it seems a bit mean of HMG coming after you if you are a bit lucky.
Maybe the tax man can help me out when I bought a Disco 3 new for £32k but only managed to get £11k for it 3 and a bit years later
Bought it, had a 3 day holiday and slowly made my way back home. Used it for 9 months then sold it on for £1500 more than I'd paid for it. The 'profit' paid for my insurance, petrol etc thus it was free motoring despite 12mpg on the cross London commute.
The chap in Scotland had a hard time finding interested punters up there but down in London I had a far bigger pool of likely buyers.
The money went on to help fund a Mustang GT.
So it was only that purchase and one other that I made a 'profit' on after a years use but in both cases the 'profit' funded my running costs.
Generally we lose big on selling cars, present situation excluded, so it seems a bit mean of HMG coming after you if you are a bit lucky.
Maybe the tax man can help me out when I bought a Disco 3 new for £32k but only managed to get £11k for it 3 and a bit years later
Edited by croyde on Sunday 5th March 12:23
All about specific situation, since we moved to west wales we realised that all the cars do huge mileage compared to in the home counties, the only ones for sale privately have generally done 80-120k miles.
So I privately bought a home counties, lower mileage, UP and a Corsa for my lads to drive, we had them 18 months and they sold easily across this way for circa £500 more than each cost.
So I privately bought a home counties, lower mileage, UP and a Corsa for my lads to drive, we had them 18 months and they sold easily across this way for circa £500 more than each cost.
I believe the days of Shipley finding someone to transport cars north to south for a couple of hundred quid are long gone. Chap who bought my TVR end of last year was being quoted c.600 E Sussex to Shropshire. Add accommodation and personal travel costs and I doubt you'll make much money.
I've been looking for a car for my wife and I'm finding there aren't that many cars for sale privately and many are not as advertised and/or too close to dealer retail.
I've been looking for a car for my wife and I'm finding there aren't that many cars for sale privately and many are not as advertised and/or too close to dealer retail.
cliffords said:
Thats What She Said said:
Thank you for being the only person to provide an answer to my question. Much appreciated.Might be one in flatbed and one on trailer, or larger car transporter. I’d you find a transport company with a yard then you could get all the cars delivered there by the sellers with their agreement
cliffords said:
Thats What She Said said:
Thank you for being the only person to provide an answer to my question. Much appreciated.Google also gives a link https://www.deliveryquotecompare.com/ - that would seem to be an ideal tool for you.
I am now the second person to answer your question.
I am genuinely interested in how you see this working.
Taxing and insuring the vehicles is going to eat into any profit. Selling privately without any kind of test drive isn't going to be easy - or do you plan to "chance it"? What will you tell the possible buyers?
Also if a buyer does have issues and is switched on, they may come after you and you would struggle to defend your position that you weren't a dealer.
Clearly I can also Google . What I asked was. 'How do those with the knowledge do this please' .
In terms of your other questions I would tell any potential buyer the absolute truth , I would not wish to hide anything. Your question are all valid considerations and part of my thoughts as I investigate this .
I can't be the only person considering doing this that's for sure .
Maybe just to close this post off. I actually got the idea from looking at a car recently for my daughter at a car supermarket type place. , in talking to the salesman, who my daughter knew, it turns out most of their stock is bought from the north west of England and brought down to here .
In terms of your other questions I would tell any potential buyer the absolute truth , I would not wish to hide anything. Your question are all valid considerations and part of my thoughts as I investigate this .
I can't be the only person considering doing this that's for sure .
Maybe just to close this post off. I actually got the idea from looking at a car recently for my daughter at a car supermarket type place. , in talking to the salesman, who my daughter knew, it turns out most of their stock is bought from the north west of England and brought down to here .
When I had my single car transporter truck I signed up with Shiply but I couldn't compete with lads desperate to start and build a reputation by bidding low. If that situation still exists it may be a way of getting cheap transport.
Low pricing to start is, or certainly was, Shiply's advice .
Low pricing to start is, or certainly was, Shiply's advice .
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