charliemike

I'd love to get in on some of that auction action

Shoofin

Nah, I didn't pay attention to it, I only noticed it when it was in line outside to go through the lane..

Shoofin

Also picked this up yesterday from my friend, bought it outside the auction:

2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited - 75k miles - MINT condition!



More pics!: /

WILLDOGS

I've been to the Manheim auction's in New Jersey several times with my buddy who is a Dealer. He would take me as one of his drivers just so I can drive back any cars he won.

Its a MAD HOUSE lol. First time I went I had no idea what was going on. Fun experience non the less

neuronbob

Hey Shoofin, thanks for sharing your auction experience with us. I for sure never understood what went into prepping a used car for sale, or what one of the auctions was like. Seeing it through your n00b eyes makes it really interesting.

AznX TL

yeah that gen maxima is hard to find in automatic, i had to help my friend find one for about 2 weeks everyday that was automatic and some what low miles.....

Aman

I was looking for that generation Maxima about a year ago before I bought my car, it was about a 65/35 split, with the majority being manuals. They were dirt cheap here though. Probably would've gotten a manual had it not been for my mom

keg1997

I like these auction stories...keep 'em coming!

Shoofin

^

I'll be going again this week (Wednesdays) to sell a sweet '07 Ridgeline RTL I bought off lease, possibly 1 or two other cars I have in my office ('02 Escape XLT with 56k and/or an '01 Camry LE with 91k), and I am looking to pick up two '05-'06 Camry/Accord/Altima for stock and some customers looking for them....I'll surely post up this weeks fun stuff!

Shoofin

Well, it's the same as selling a used car as a consumer...Only difference is, the auction has so many different kinds of cars, some you'll have all cleaned up and showroom condition, and some you'll have that's rough as $hit...But as it was said on page 1, "there's an ass for every seat", so there's always someone looking for a car, whether it's mint or it's rough, all price dependent to what they want to do. My problem is, i'm very picky and am a perfectionist in most of the things I do in my business. Things that could slide I end up fixing it because I just don't like the way it looks/feels/rides/sounds. In the end it costs me more to own, and sometimes I benefit, and sometimes, I lose.

That mistake of a car I didn't sell on page 1, It ran in the auctions for 2 weeks, the first week very few people were interested in it, but I did sell it this past week. I bought the car without looking at it, spur of the moment because my friend (wholesaler) bought it and said it was good. Little did I realize he bought it online at an auction and never saw the car either, so he was basing it on what he saw in front of his computer and not in person, so when I saw the car that it was a trainwreck, realized I was going to lose on this and had to put a few bucks into it just to make it look nice enough to sell. Before it looked like crap, after I had the scratches professionally touched up (guy goes around the entire car and buffs/cleans/touches up all the scratches, costs me about $200, but varies on how much work he has to do on each car), then sent it out to detail, and the car looked pretty damn good. It still sucked because of some mechanical issues, a body that was far from straight and an exhaust that needed to be replaced and therefore was very LOUD, but was 100% better than before I bought it. the car looked like it was lightly rear ended and as a result, part where the trunk meets the bumper got pushed in a little and caused the trunk to buckle and raise a little. I had the auction's body shop straighten it out and re-detail the car again, and that's what got the car sold (still at a loss, but you do what ya gotta do). Weep for a few minutes and move on, that's what the wholesale car business is all about..

03bl AC k CL

i had an SE maxima in automatic :-/ wasnt hard for me to find... haha i loved it but got ripped off based on its condition... (i was 16 didnt know better). anyway shoofin im still in love with the 5th maxima so im still waiting on that maxima you have to hear the asking price haha.

Shoofin

Changed rotors and pads today all around...The fact that the car didn't stop right even after me driving the car over 150 miles was making me nuts. The layer of rust did not want to go away. It finally stops the way it should. This car really drives nice, almost makes me wanna keep it!

I'm almost ready to sell the Maxima, just one or 2 minor things to be finished, a detail, and she'll be ready to show off!

Shoofin

Sooooo Today, I had a 2007 Ridgeline RTL with 27k miles that I purchased off lease, I got it for my customer 3 years ago, and when he gave it back to me after the lease was finished saw it was in good shape so I bought it from AHFC. Strictly for the sake of flipping it because the car was clean and low mileage, I bought it to sell in the auction, because I definitely don't have get a customer very often looking for a Ridgeline and for what the bank was asking for it, I knew I would be able to buy it from them and sell it in the auction for profit (the bank is going to do that and benefit too, so I figured why let them benefit when I can do it just as easily?). I did have to spray the rear bumper, pop out a few dings and detail the car, other then that, it was in great shape. The weather sucks here lately, yesterday was wet and rainy and today wasn't any better. Buying and selling in the rain isn't fun(or easy), put it that way.

The Ridgeline:



Walking around, a few cars I noticed:


Saw this too...it was really nice...Anyone on here? '07 TL-S 6 Sp/Nav





I attempted to bid on it because I figured one of you knuckleheads might like a car like this, I was the high bidder but the seller wanted like $4,000 more than what the highest bid was for. Oh well. It didn't sell. It'll probably be there again next week.

I did pick up 2 2006 Nissan Altima 2.5S models, both with about 33k miles on it, one in silver/grey, one in silver/black. I needed some $10,000 cars, and both can be sold for about $10,000, so I should do OK with it, I think. I didn't STEAL them, but I bought it for what it's worth (approx). No pics to show as of yet, one is sitting in my driveway and the other one is still at the auction. It's just a basic Altima, no frills, nothing to see. What does suck about the rain is that as much as you think you see, there's always plenty that you can't see, and that was the case with both of these, as I didn't see half of the scratches that I ended up noticing after I bought them and took a step back to examine both cars better. I'm happy that they are original paint (which I checked with my paint meter), one of them is in good shape with only a few scratches that I would have to touch up, the other one needs a little more TLC (paint bumpers and driver's rear 1/4 panel). I wasn't as happy with the second one, so much so that I requested a post sale inspection on that one to ensure no surprises. when I jumped into the car, the molding around the door opening was pulled down and the floor was a little wet. Not sure if it was damp carpet from a detail or a leak, which is what the PSI will tell me, and it also enables me to get 14 days to arbitrate if I do find something wrong with the car. Normally, without a PSI, you have until the end of the auction day to arbitrate, after that you're screwed...fun, huh?

AznX TL

i would love to start a used car dealership........

gdubb

First off this thread rocks!

Now I know you said something about this Type S but what about the Bentley sitting beside it?

Eggplant-EX

My guess is a Jag..

Bilybobjef

Awesome stories man, keep them coming. Also can you provide any insight into becoming a certified dealer and doing what you do? Are you running a full on dealership or just kind of flipping cars as you see worth your time? I'd love to do something like this in very low capacity on the side if possible and maybe grow it if things were going well. Any info you could add to this thread would be much appreciate by myself (and I'm sure others). Thanks!

JnC

iTrader: (12)

Its the Bentley Flying Spur

BTW that TL is a complete abomination

chill_dog

Don't recognize that 3G.

dallison

i wouldn't buy it. too many mods.

Aman

I don't mind it. Aside from the paint job, I like it. Wheels look nice.

Just wish the seller actually knew how to spell one of the modification items.

Mugno Flow, Injet, Tien...

vas25tl

I miss going to the auction

The one in Chicago has a little test track, I've taken some nice cars out there..RS6, 02 NSX, S4's, all AMG's, etc....we purposely would get there a couple hours early before the sale to look at what we wanted to buy and then to check out anything fun

One time we bought an 04 A4, thing lost all power when we got about 5 miles from the auction...thankful for arbitration and auction guarantee.

PPLAPW

TL looks familiar, hmmm

PPLAPW

Thought it was this one, but no:

phee

iTrader: (5)

same tl

CLtotheTL32

iTrader: (3)

^Nope.

Aman

Headlights, mirrors, wheels, brakes, Aspec kit different. Different car.

Shoofin

Well, i'm not sure how the laws are in MA, but in NY it's not that hard, but there is an approval process, and it took me about 4 months from start to finish, between applying for the license to when they process, inspect and approve the application and location. For one thing, you need to have a place where the cars would be stored/sold that the town approves for you to sell out of, it must have a certain level of security, be separate from any other business (can't have more than one dealer license per facility unless there's a physical gated separation between the two). You need to carry insurance, obtain a bond, have a secure place to store the keys for the cars, a secure place to store the issuing license plates and other dmv forms/documents. Once you get the license, you need to keep track of every piece of DMV Documentation that goes with registering a vehicle, because you will get audited randomly and they expect every detail to be there, and every plate or temp to be accounted for, what day it was used, what car, what customer, etc. It costs me about $500 to carry the dealer license for two years, then you have to pay for the motor vehicle forms (some are as much as $25 each form or temp tag!), carry insurance (it varies by location and the amount of coverage), which costs me about $10,000/yr and covers my building, my inventory, dealer plates and everything else that goes with having the ability to sell cars.

As far as what I do, I buy used trades from customers, auctions, or wherever I can get them from. I sell to customers, and to the auctions to buy and sell (wholesale). It all depends on the car. If I buy a car and think it's a mistake, I get rid of it in the auction and make it someone elses problem. That Ridgeline was a perfect car, I just knew that I wouldn't have a customer looking for a truck like that, so I flipped it to make a few bucks and sell it to someone more eager to want it. I bought it off lease, knowing that I can buy it from the bank cheap enough to be able to sell it wholesale and turn a profit. If a new car lease comes back to me and it's in good shape, the next thing I do is call the bank and get a payoff amount, then see what it's worth wholesale. In this case, the residual buyback was lower than what it was worth wholesale, and when I saw the truck's condition and mileage (low-27k), knew that I would be able to buy it and wholesale it for a profit. Buying/Selling wholesale is a tricky business. You can win, and you can lose, it's very hard to tell. I took 2 more cars to the auction to sell next week, one which I think I paid too much for and after a month of holding on to it have not gotten any bites on it and i'll either break even or lose a little, and the other Is real nice but I noticed a few mechanical problems with it and for what I paid for it, feel that if i invest any more into it I might own it for what it's worth retail, so I'll unload it to another dealer looking for a car like that.

Aside from the used cars, I also broker new cars. I do leasing/financing/sales on any make or model new car as well. With new cars, unless it's super hot car that I can't get that I would buy and stock to sell, I usually feed off of the dealers I network with (so I don't have to tie up money), which is in the hundreds. If someone calls me for a car, I'll find it for them, no matter what (as long as it exists, of course) and will give them a very aggressive price most likely beating a dealers price (if not meeting it).

How's that?

Aman

You get a discounted price from your networked new car dealers? By how much, if you don't mind me asking?

phee

iTrader: (5)

and what makes you think that car wasnt modified to shit after the picture was taken?

i guess that paint job is common

Shoofin

It varies. But 99.999% of the time I can and would beat a dealer's price. No hassling, no haggling, no games, just exactly what you want and at the best price.

ineedmyfixofacura

iTrader: (2)

Nice work you got going no, seems like fun I'll move to NY and come work for u haha. I would like to do this sometimes in my future, not as a main thing but a side thing. Mostly with salvage cars and clean title with dings here and there, it be a lot of fun testing different types of car.

F23A4

These are good stories Shoofin. Please keep them coming. Question: Have you seen any MB ML350s (current gen) in your auction travels? (The wife is smitten with them and it may windup being our next family hauler.....but the cost of new models are too prohibitive for our budget.)

As for those two TLs,

ineedmyfixofacura

iTrader: (2)

my mom has a current gen ML320, with the diesel V6 it's a fun car, WOT listening to the turbo spool is very enjoyable. Plus filling up only once every 2 weeks even with driving it everyday is also great. ML350 is also nice my brother's wide has it but it's 2005 and kind of getting old and worn out.

Shoofin

The site gets updated all the time, and as of now I'm only showing 2 of them online. I'm sure a bunch more will pop up between Monday-Wednesday, not to mention a lot of cars just show up at the auction that never make it to the online listings either. One of them is going to an auction in PA this Friday, these are some pics (not sure if you need to be logged into the site to see it, let me know if you can see them or not):





It's a 2007 ML350 4Matic in Capri Blue with Macadamia interior (I think that's what they called the interior back in '07). It has 19k miles on it. Pre inspection gave it a 4.5 score out of a possible 5. The report:

DESCRIPTION-CONDITION------SEVERITY-SUGGESTED REPAIR-TTL LABOR HRS
Hood--------Chipped-------------5---------Paint Chip Repair------.00
LR Door------Dent/No Paint Dmg--PDR/1-----PDR------------------.00
L Qtr Panel---Scratch Light-------1" to 2"---Wet Sand-------------.00
RF Door------Dent/No Paint Dmg--PDR/1-----PDR------------------.00
RR Door------Dent/No Paint Dmg--PDR/2-----PDR------------------.00
R Qtr Panel---Scratch Light-------> 1/8"-----Wet Sand------------.00
Spare Key----Missing-------------None-------Replace-------------.00

Might not seem perfect to you, but this is a pretty good car and I would bid on it w/o hesitation. PDR means "Paintless Dent Repair" suggesting it's a ding that can be popped out, which is no big deal.

This car will be sold at an auction in Fredricksburg, VA on 11/5/09. I obviously wouldn't go if I were to pick up a car like this, I can bid online watching the simulcast. When it does sell, my guesstimation would be it'll sell for somewhere in the high $20k to low $30k range, depending on the action there. If I did bid and win this car and I find something wrong with it that wasn't described in the pre-inspection (that costs more than $500 to fix), I can arbitrate it.

The other car doesn't say much or show much, but it's going to the auction in Manheim, PA. It's a 2006 with 37k miles, and the color is "Alpine Rain" which is a light blue color with Ash (Gray) interior. No pics to show though, and no pre-sale inspection report either. I would not touch this car unless I was there to see it before bidding.

Anything else?

tmnhs81

only if you were a little closer to cali.... I have few people looking for used car/suv right now.

Pz_

That has got to be about the coolest job ever. How great would it be to just buy and sell cars all the time? I've pretty jealous of you Shoofin

Shoofin

Regarding that ML350, I just did another search, there are 164 across all the auctions in the country, 7 of them running at the auction i'll be at in NJ this Wednesday, and 6 in the other auction in PA that I go to on occasion (but don't like to because it's too frikkin far )

F23A4

You're probably correct on your guesstimation, particularly given that low mileage. I came across an 06 ML350 w/35k that is a little more towards the price I'm looking for (@ $26k).

Shoofin

Flavor of the day:

2000 Sentra GXE with 109k miles


Picked it up for $600 - I'm giving it to a friend that's trying to get back on his feet and needs transportation to take him to work...