You’re 100% correct! I know NOTHING about mechanical workings of cars! That’s why I submitted my questions to this forum so I can tap into the wealth of knowledge that’s out there.
Thanks for the info! I appreciate it. I’m very familiar with the country’s rules regarding imports that I’m hoping to send to. I’ve lived there and know people that have had a vehicle or two or many sent to them.
I was pulling a wopping 15.50 per flat rate hour in 2005.
“Fourth, a “foreign” car is just as foreign in say the UAE as it is in the USA. The parts will cost about the same, maybe even less. Aftermarket new parts (mostly made in Taiwan) are available all over the world. In a few cases they don’t fit quite as well, but for the most part they are fine.”
In most third world countries, the ONLY source of body parts are salvage yards, which are far and few between. Windshields are virtually impossible to find, are special ordered and shipped in from the States one at a time at very high cost…In most of these places, Toyota has the only established dealer and parts network. You want a fender for a 2006 U.S. model Camry? Forget it…
I’d purchase the parts here and send them there. There’s a shipping company based in the South East US that would handle that for me. My buddy down there who’s into construction uses the shipping company based in the US.
Most parts (if not all) I can get on a discount through a connection I have here.
About all I can say is good luck if you proceed with this venture. I’ve been in the mechanical world for 40 years (as of '09) and even I have no desire to get involved with something like this due to so many unknowns.
To illustrate how Mr. Murphy works, many years ago I wrecked my Corvette. (not my fault)
The car was wiped out but the engine (which used no noticeable amount of oil before the collision) was untouched in this wreck.
A friend of a friend wanted to buy it, asked how it ran, and I told him good with near zero oil useage.
He installed that engine into a '64 Impala SS and it went through 4 quarts of oil in 20 miles. Do the math on that. It smoked like a grassfire.
What happened is that every engine has a certain normal amount of crankshaft end play. The collision caused the crank to jolt forward very hard and this small amount was multiplied many times by G forces. This in turn caused several pistons and rings to crack; which of course means it’s engine overhaul time.
In another instance, we had a Subaru transmission in the shop (only 10k miles on it from a total wreck) and the transmission had major internal damage due to the wreck the car was involved in; although by outward appearances it looked like new with no discernible damage at all. See my point here?
As to salvage yard parts, a rough estimate of the stuff I’ve used is that about 20% of it had issues from moderately severe to scrap metal status.
What if a car was rear ended for example, or a car that was hit from the side? What do you suggest then?
What are your thoughts on a vehicle that has no damage to the front?
“In most third world countries, the ONLY source of body parts are salvage yards, which are far and few between. Windshields are virtually impossible to find, are special ordered and shipped in from the States one at a time at very high cost…In most of these places, Toyota has the only established dealer and parts network. You want a fender for a 2006 U.S. model Camry? Forget it…”
Many if not most of the windshields bought in the USA today are made in mainland China. A MAJOR glass manufacturer in my home city has closed down because of it. I know a Dept of Transportaion attorney who lived in China for two years overseeing the manufacturing specifications for those windshields. He made sure the glass was up to USA standards. I’ve probably bought twenty windshields in the last year. How many windshields have you bought in your lifetime? I DO what traveltsar is speaking about for a living. I just don’t export the cars I fix.
Salvage yards are NOT few and far between in third world countries. I’ve been to some where there was no city zoning. Salvage yards were on every street, right among the shanties people lived in.
Toyota is not the only established dealer in all the world. Anything that we consider foreign is probably more readily available in Russia, for instance, than it is here. Aslo see Kia, Subaru, Hyundia, and even Rover.
Mr. McAnick, since you’re already in the business, what are my chances of getting some advice directly from you? If I tell you what and whom I’m working with, can I get some questions answered?
If you’re just trying to “Flip” the cars, i.e. buy low here-ship out of the country, and make a small margin on each sale, then yes it is feasible.
Your partners on the other end can refurbish and make roadworthy.
Other countries do not have the safety and emission standards that we have to worry about, so it’s much easier to get a vehicle roadworthy and ready for sale.
Large American sedans and full sized pickups are very much in demand south of the boarder.
If your partners have an idea of what will sell there, then your job is to simply find good examples here and arrange shipping on this end. No big deal really.
A big deal killer is rust and deep engine problems. Minor issues can be resolved on their end.
There is a huge market for 70’s and 80’s Mercedes and BMW sporty cars in Europe. The rust issues are so bad over there that there’s very few left from that vintage.
The 107 chassis Mercedes two seater convertible, the 450SL, 380SL and 560SL from the 70’s and 80’s are big sellers over there. You can sell one overseas for thousands more than they bring here. Therefore there’s a lot of people finding low mile rust free examples and “Flipping” them to an overseas contact and making a nice profit each month.
The more you do the easier it gets. Develop a relationship with your shipper and scour Ebay and Craigslist for vehicles.
It can be done.
I suggest that you consider large auctions as a source of trucks. You could find high mileage trucks that still run. You are allowed to listen to them run, but not drive them (there’s no room). There are also typically 2 lanes: the dealer lane and consumer lane. You can’t buy from the dealer lane unless you are licensed to do so (in MD). If you go this route, then you should have a mechanic adviser that you take to the auction. Maybe this could be a partner. Another possibility is to get C4C bodies and replace the engine with one from the junk yard.
Traveltsar, if you will go to your profile page and post your blog or email address on the blog line, I will contact you directly. Then you can take it down after we “meet”. I have about half an hour left this afternoon which I can devote to websurfing.
How about buying your cars from people in dire finiancial straits and just need food and rent money. You could really “low ball” these people and increase you profit.
Isn’t this how capitalism works? you don’t get anywhere just by working hard,you have to take anvantage of someone or bend some rules somewhere.
What brought that on? Buying wrecks hurts no one, unless the buyer intentionally ran into the wrecked car with the owner inside, I suppose.
What brought it on was a “gloves off” approach to buying low, and the best way to buy low is to take advantage of someone’s elses dire circumstance. Taking advantage of someone elses circumstances is not view upon with any negativeness, its just capitalism at its best.
Previous suggestions to "buy low’ was to attend auctions, I propose you can get even better deals by taking advantage of people, that is if you have no scruples and only view your actions as “just business” which is how we are taught to view the capitalistic system, all is fair,just don’t get caught.
Is not the plan the OP is proposing only made possible because of our capitalistic system?
To think this plan will suceede without someone being taken advantage of or some rules being “bent” (income reporting, import,export laws and regulations involving safety and emissions requirements , as in “should I be a party in the continued operation of vehicles that are harmful to the environment even though the country they are going to has no rules”? what about my personal rules? and not the least exploitation of overseas workers) is not realistic. Lots of palms must be greased for this plan to work and lots of income not reported.
Good grief, you’re serious. I guess it would work if one had no scruples.
Buying cars left over from distressed sellers is simply called buying “repos”. I will admit to having bought a few of those. They show up at various auctions weekly. I expect to see hundreds more of them, bought by starry eyed idiots with low incomes during the “clunker program”, begin to show up shortly.
Digression: If a car is repossessed and the lending institution does not recover what it is owed when the car is sold (usually to the highest bidder at an auction), they can and will go after the deadbeat to recover what they don’t get. Considering that the typical car buyer is upside down in their car (owing more than it’s worth) for at least the first eighteen months of ownership, that can be a sizable chunk of change.
I don’t have a problem with buying a car that has been hit from any direction nor do I have a problem with buying a car with a known mechanical fault, or two.
The issue is that you have to have a decent idea of what to look for and at some point throw the towel in if something appears to be amiss.
And as I mentioned, many times the seller of a wrecked or non-running car will swear that one thing “is all it needs” while lying through their teeth.
There’s a chance you can buy a car and make out like a bandit or discover after the fact that one thing has now become a dozen; especially if it’s a car that has been sitting for a year or three.
As to buying low and selling high I’m all for it if it can be done legally.
Yeah, when people need rent and food money and the only thing they own free and clear is their auto offer 30% of what it worth, perhaps they will bite in order to keep a roof over their head. Deals like this really add to the bottom line.
Mexican entrepreneurs, using NAFTA, have established a vast and efficient interconnected network that does exactly what you propose doing…They will be tough competitors as they cover all the bases… I would study their operation and ask a lot of questions.
Step one would be to obtain a Dealers License and establish a source of rebuildable vehicles which generally are sold at auction…Right now, bank repo’s which don’t need rebuilding, might be a good source. The red-hot sellers south of the border are 4-cyl and 6-cyl stick-shift P/U trucks…But you know that, right?
traveltsar;
All excellent advice given on here, so I have none to add, except READ IT ALL and really think about your business venture carefully. If you decide to go ahead, then I think Robt. Gift has an Expedition that he would be willing to sell you. He will probably be purchaseing a Corvette soon, since his Expedition and his driveing style were so mercilessly and relentlessly raked over the coals by everyone present on this site. Please be advised the Expeditions do have a speed governor that comes into play right around 105m.p.h. 