Hi there, I want to start flipping cars and I was wondering if having a 2 500$ CAD 2007 hyundai santa fe 128 000km with a needed to be changed cross member frame is a good deal or if this is too much maintenance for what I can get once the car looks super clean.
Thank you!
I have no idea of the value of that used car where you are, but I can say that if the car has a bent subframe, the odds are pretty high that it will need other parts as well. Be careful of what you are getting into.
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This sort of questions depends a lot of who is supplying the labor, and how much per hour they charge. It may make sense if you are doing the job in your driveway (and already equipped to do it); while it might make no sense at all if you are paying somebody $120/hour to do it. Mechanics use an abbreviation NEF for some repairs, meaning not eeconomically feasible.
Bolt on crossmember or welded on? Welded on…walk away. Bolt on, maybe.
Based on your post, I’d say you need to learn a lot more if you want to successfully do this. If you are paying someone else to repair the car and not doing it yourself, stop now. There is no money to be made. If you are doing the repairs yourself…
Some things to research… What is the car worth in your area fixed? Coming here and asking is not the answer to that question. Get on websites that can tell you this. Kbb.com, edmunds.com to name 2. What does the crossmember cost and can you easily get one? What else is wrong? Can you fix those things?
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I agree with the above…
Cross members just don’t bend, break, crack with out something major happening to them, and as stated above, normally opening up a can of worms, there is almost always unforeseen damaged…
Or the cross member is rusted out, most of the time the vehicle needs other rust repairs also…
As already said, flipping cars is only a money maker of you have a very high flow rate or doing it yourself…
Next do you have the experience and tools as well as a place to do all this work?? Neighbors may not enjoy seeing cars being worked on all the time…
But yeah, you need to know what the car is worth when done, and what the total cost of getting it there will be including tires brakes tune up and cooling issues and etc etc are all worked out, then see if you have a profit… If it takes you 2 weeks to get the car ready to sale and you only make $100 off of it then not worth it you’d make more money delivering pizzas… lol
Plus any fees changing the tittle over to whoever… if any…
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I toyed with the idea of doing a “fix and flip”, but ultimately decided that it would not be profitable for me. The reason is that when I work on my cars, I spend way more than the commercially-reasonable amount of time, and also perform additional “might as well” repairs, which further drive up the cost.
On a personal vehicle, where I am going to be driving it, this is not a problem. But if I spend dozens of hours working on a car to resell, and maybe only get $1000 above the acquisition cost and parts cost, that would not be a good investment. I’d be working for less than the minimum wage!
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I would guess that FelixMT’s subframe is rusted.
That vintage Santa Fe had lots of subframe issues. There were Hyundai service campaigns to apply undercoating to the underbody of those vehicles. And I recall the ones that were already rusted got replaced during the warranty period.
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The guys on Wheeler Dealer just about never make money on the cars they fix and flip, once you count the time they spend. And they’re pros.
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Okay
I mean, this is something that you should already know if you’re planning to flip cars. There is prerequisite knowledge that one should have before giving this a go or else you’re just going to come out of it losing money. You’re going to need substantial general car knowledge, you’re going to need to know how much things cost to fix, you’re going to want to know what typically goes wrong (and when) on different models of cars. You’re going to need to have some mechanical aptitude to keep repair costs costs down, etc. Not trying to offend, but if your first order of business is to go asking people on the internet if it’s a good idea, then you likely don’t have the level of expertise that you’re going to need.
Okay, a crossmember replacement isn’t maintenance it’s a repair, there’s a difference there. Maintenance is things like consumables (tires, oil, timing belts, etc.) things that get replaced on a stated schedule. Repairs are fixed made to parts that don’t ordinarily need replacing/fixing. I’d bet money that Hyundai doesn’t have a stated replacement interval for the crossmember. If you can’t repair this yourself, it’s probably best that you pass on this one, and it’s possible that if the owner didn’t bother getting this repaired, there’s other things wrong that he/she didn’t bother with either.
Nailed it.
Possible only subframe is rusted and frame rails are ok.
Good odds subframes bolts will spin captive nuts in frame.
Then you have to redo nuts. Not fun
Considering the minimum wage around here will be $19.97 starting January 1, you might still be doing ok! 
But yes, your point deserves repeating…successfully flipping cars takes time and resources, and often involves much lower quality repairs in order to turn a profit.
Best way to flip a car, fast forward to 2:59.
The only mechanic I liked on that show was Edd China . . . was he the original mechanic?
yes he was.
Wheeler Dealers is a British TV series originally produced by Attaboy TV for the Discovery Channel in the UK and for Motor Trend in the U.S. The programme is fronted by car enthusiast and former dealer Mike Brewer with mechanics Edd China (Series 1-13), Ant Anstead (Series 14–16), and Marc Priestley, (Series 17-present)
Hi! Thank you for all these information/advice, where do you start getting all this knowledge? I wanted to start with a cheap car that have some problems to experiment and learn before starting to flip (knowing the more experience you have, the better you’ll do). I really want to get this skill for myself and for others like family friends etc.
Thanks again for the help, really appreciate it!
Wait, what??? What mechanic experience do you have working on and repairing vehicles?? And what tools do you have??
Experiment?? If you don’t know anything about cars and your experiment fails, that could cost the life of someone or multiple someone’s…
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I’ve watched the show evolve . . . or maybe DEVOLVE, depending on your viewpoint . . . over the years
And my overall impression is that Mike wants a mechanic who is more or less subservient to him, because he is, or wants to be, the star
You would normally be a working mechanic or body shop person before deciding to get into this area.
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I have a garage loaded with tools from my grandfather (not here anymore) he was a mechanic, I just want to learn the ability of repairing cars by my own. I also have a big private field which I can test the car without risking people’s life, I have friends who can help me (guys that knows how it works) they just can’t be there to do it with me everytime. I won’t be experimenting alone I’m not that dumb. I would also not sell any cars before I’m confident with my work