Buy-fix-sell

[hotponyshoes]

I pay for recovery but I don't usually have to send them that far to collect it.
I register it to myself and sorn it.
This does add an extra keeper to the v5 but I am pretty open with buyers, I put in the advert its previously damaged and I think the sort of people that buy repaired cars would rather see an extra keeper than see a v5 for the wrong address.
If you are doing lots of small ones then you would want a trailer and insurance or just buy ones that still drive but you dont see many that can be driven legally (ie light smashed etc) and if you do there is not going to be much profit on that one.

If you do higher end stuff the recovery is a lower % of outlay. Take as long as you want/need to repair it then book an mot at a station that's far enough away to give it a good test drive, then it goes up for sale. No point putting tax on it as that has to be surrendered on sale anyway.

One thing you might want to think about is insurance for the car while you are working on it especially if you have a large portion of your annual income tied up in it. Fire is the main risk, not just welding but recharging a battery can set fire to a damaged loom and it might take a few hours to get started. I added it as a business activity to my existing cover and it was not expensive (although I have a fairly comprehensive policy for the day job anyway)

 

[visor_down]

Why about prospective buyer test drives?

 

[hotponyshoes]

Why about prospective buyer test drives?

Same as selling any other car.
Odds are if you sell your regular car the buyer won't be insured to test drive it.

 

[stuvy]

You can get temp cover for £15 a day personally Iv never bothered and ask the seller to take me somewhere quiet away from built up areas

 

[D.wilson94]

The things i have to my advantage is im friends with a painter(best mate since school) ,my uncle is a mechanic who i can ask for advice when needed ,my friend who i do welding work for owns a salvage yard so im seriously thinking about giving it a try

 

[kptim]

Sorry for bumping this up hoping to bid on a cat s van with no v5. Will I be able to get the v5.im from Ireland but have family in London that can help out with paper work if needed

 

[Ruffian]

Sorry for bumping this up hoping to bid on a cat s van with no v5. Will I be able to get the v5.im from Ireland but have family in London that can help out with paper work if needed

Cats is just get a v62 form fill it out and apply to dvla for v5.
Will take about 3-4weeks to come through

 

[kptim]

Cats is just get a v62 form fill it out and apply to dvla for v5.
Will take about 3-4weeks to come through

Thanks its through copart it’s proof of ownership I’d be worried about when applying to the dvla

 

[Ruffian]

Thanks its through copart it’s proof of ownership I’d be worried about when applying to the dvla

Dont have to as a option on the v62 is application due to vehicle being salvaged.

 

[hotponyshoes]

You dont need proof of ownership to apply for the v5.
You apply, they send the previous keeper a letter telling them somebody else has applied. They have a few days or to object after which they send the v5 out to you. If an insurance company have written it off this will be done instantly electronically.

If the car turns out to be stolen then copart will help you out.
Worse case (and fairly common) is the v5 will turn up and it will be a category worse than you thougth you were bidding on or have previous accident damage, ie, this is the 2nd or 3rd time it's been written off and there is a whole list on the front of the v5.
They won't help you out if that's the case as the descriptions they give are only a guide.

 

[kptim]

Will i need a engineers report if I’m exporting it out of the uk.will be transported back

 

[Wedg1e]

The only time I ever considered fannying about with an insurance repair job was when I got knocked off my bike (2003 Honda ST1300) in 2010. The insurers offered me £5200 cash or £2750 and I'd get to keep the salvage. I worked out that I could probably fix the thing for under £750 so essentially I could put the bike back on the road and pocket two grand but for various reasons I took the payout and away went the bike; it ended up at Copart north-east. I registered for an account (£40 I think at the time) and on the day of the auction I was sat at my PC having agreed with a mate that if we could buy the bike between us for under a certain price, it'd be worth taking the risk on fixing and selling it for a modest profit as we knew the damage and the circumstances behind it (rammed from behind by a car whilst stationary). In the event it sold for £2250 plus fees and was already £500 more expensive than we'd been prepared to risk - and from the photos it was evident that the salvage monkeys had done a load of further damage to the bike's bodywork than had occurred in the crash . It was eventually put back on the road (last time I checked it's still out there) but at that time it was an early model, non-ABS, high-mileage for its age, insurance write-off so someone must have really wanted one to go through the hassle - you could have bought a similar bike, undamaged, for £4K at the time.
A mate of mine has a Vauxhall van, a BMW 1-Series and an ex-Police Discovery, all of which came from auctions with problems I'd have run a mile from but all of which he's fixed and had good use out of - the BMW is now his daughter's first car. The Disco had the most potential for turning a profit but his partner seems to have decided she likes it for the school run so it hasn't gone yet (someone put petrol in and wrote off the injector pump and most of the injectors, it was easier to lift the bodyshell than to try and change the pump in-situ)...

 

[armalites]

If you buy from an auction the fees you pay cover you in the even of it being a stolen vehicle.

These days you have to be really carefull with damage repairables, it's getting common for people to buy really hammered desirable stuff taking it away and straightening a few things and lining things up and putting them back in the auction. Someone completely unaware it was listed two months ago buys it beause it doesn't look too bad only to find chassis rails are like bananas

 

[winchman]

As with all things, lots doing it some making money some not.
Look at any over heads, once you do a few its an insurance and tax issue, but lots of people make a living doing it, but two of the best car traders I know and now doinging other things, they found it was a great time magnet.

 

[minimutly]

I’ve done insurance repairs, bought direct from them back in the day, bought from salvage yards, all worked out ok. Best work I ever did was buying mg rover cars with “head gasket” faults. Sometimes they were easy, sometimes less so, but once I knew what to look for it was easy money.

 

[tom2207]

Ive done a couple of accident damaged bikes in the past ,,, but often by the time they are sorted it would have been as cheap to buy a nice one to start with ... paying a painter these days is the killer.

 

[Fiji]

You could also think of it as a 'free' vehicle for yourself. I used to do probably 3 or 4 bikes a year. My strategy was looking around for something I fancied but couldn't afford to buy a decent one but, buying something that needed work helped me spread the cost and let me enjoy building something as well. I'd ride it for maybe 3 or 4 months then sell for a small profit. The profit then went into the racing fund with a set amount put aside for the next bike.
That way somebody else was paying for me to enjoy myself .
It should be said that I was running my own bike business at the time (doing the project bikes when I was quiet or after hours) so had access to all the gear I needed. Also girl I was racing with was an auto electrician, and my best mate was a painter so they did work in exchange for free workshop space. So again if there are jobs you can't do yourself look at doing 'trades' with somebody.
This strategy got me onto GPZ 900, various GSXR's, RC30 (crash damaged race bike), Triumph 595 Speed Triple (ex Triumph Cup bike), BSA Rocket 3, Velocette Thruxton and Honda VF1000.

 

[maroon]

Any profits made either gets another jalopy or gets put towards tool acquisition. So it's all a waste of time really. Because they'll probably go with you to the grave. Get left to whoever and sits rusting away when we've snuffed it. Going to China as scrap

I've given it some thought. In my "meaning of life" type thaughts

Should of got a beach hut in Bermuda years ago. Little boat to go fishing for tea.