Where To Find Cheap Cars For Sale : The Secrets Of Finding Cheap Vehicles Exposed

1. How And Where To Find Cars To Flip: 

Finding a cheap car is basically knowing the right places to look. A good fisherman would always fish in the right spot for a good catch. There are two ways to find cheap cars. 

1. Active search, which involves actively going to look for cars in places like Car Auctions,  Supermarket community boards, Facebook Marketplace, EBay Car Auction, Google, Newspaper classified ads, Craiglist ( only for those who can access it), Private Car sales with a “For Sale” sign on it in your neighbourhood, Online car websites, Retirement Homes and Businesses. 

B. Passive search, where you rightly  position yourself to attract people to sell cars to you. We advise people to pay closer attention to this kind of car buying process because it pays well. It involves building a “cash for cars” website, carefully putting out targeted “cash for cars” ads, telling people you are looking for a car to buy for cash any condition. Put this paid ad on Facebook, Instagram, Google and any other platform that would showcase your ads to the right people. You will be amazed at how many people are looking for an easy way to get rid of their unwanted vehicles. We have bought and flipped many cars through passive search. 

Example of a “cash for cars” website (https://www.watotoridescarbuyer.com.au).

Also develop special relationships with your local mechanics, drop your cards with them, keep nurturing the relationships and you will start to receive cars from them. Most car 

flippers would not do this because it takes time to build the network. However, once built it pays huge. Remember is not everyone that wants to sell car privately, some people just want to get rid of the car. Take advantage of this and make yourself some bucks. 

At The Car Auctions: What To Know 

Car auctions are usually the best place to find good deals for cars as they basically get cheap cars from big dealers, trade-in, repossessed cars, used company cars  and government cars. Auctions could be very fast and overwhelming in the beginning for first time flippers. It takes time to master what is happening at the auctions. Better to first be the fly on the wall, watch and learn what is happening before bidding to avoid over bidding or winning the wrong car. 

Focus more on dirty cars that most buyers would avoid, it could be an abandoned car owned by the elderly or deceased estate cars. This can be a hidden gold very cheap as well so you can make good money from it.

 I once bought a 2009 Toyota Corolla with faded paint, tyres flat, very dirty but starts and runs.  The seats were not washed probably since it was bought. It was towed to our garage, all the tyres changed, fix the paint, no mechanical problems. We made about $3500 from this car. Focus on low mileage under 150,000 KM. Be cautious not to engage in a bidding war with over excited flippers. Do your research before and in the auction. 

Warning: Focus on cheap cars as a beginner so you keep your risk low. Possibly avoid European cars until you get better. European cars are very expensive to fix due to the stress of finding the right parts and the mechanics willing to work on them. 

We purchased a 2013 Renault Clio at the Auction. It was in a very good condition until we sold it to a young bloke. He rang after a day the car started overheating on his way to another state. He had to tow the car back to our shop. We investigated, the car had a blown head gasket. This was a massive loss. Lesson learnt was to offer half or less half the value of any car at the auction. Sometimes these cars are not even checked or driven before going under the hammer at the auction houses. 

If you are not a licensed dealer, public auctions would probably be the best for you. Some auctions would require you to possess a dealership license. A way around this to ask a licensed dealer to bid on your behalf. You might have to pay $200-$1000 per car to the licensed dealer. 

Car Buying From The Facebook Marketplace

Facebook Marketplace has been great for finding great deals for car flipping. Often deals pop up on Facebook depending on your KM radius. 

Few things  to consider while searching for car deals on Facebook Marketplace. 

Do you have time to find a great used car? New car flippers are highly motivated to search for cars, Facebook is very popular with used cars hence too much competition. Great deals attract heaps of interest and scammers. Ensure you sign a bill of sale after carefully doing a car background check. Usually done by entering the VIN of the car and performing an online search if possible. Ensure the vehicle is being sold by the true owner or someone legally responsible to sell the car. Beware of dodgy sellers, feel free to walk away if anything seems shady. It is your money and must be protected responsibly. 

Facebook Marketplace allows you to narrow your search to newly listed to old listed. Most times you can find good deals from the private sellers listed for a longer time on Facebook. They are willing to move around on the price.  

You must be willing to put in time and effort to chase up great deals on Facebook. Weekends and Sundays are great because most professional flippers are off resting. Use this time to find yourself great cars to flip for more money. It is better to keep cash handy as great deals might come up when less expected. Cash is king, they say. 

Buying From The Newspaper Classified Ads, EBay Auctions, Craigslist 

One car source cars from these angles by simply contacting the seller and begin your negotiation. It requires a little bit of persistence and time just like the Facebook marketplace. These sources require more tough negotiations and sometimes confrontations so beware of this. Auctions are less intense as you can just put in your offer and wait to win or lose.

 You have an advantage if you can work out the main reason for selling the car. Do they urgently need money? Are they moving interstate? Are they elderly looking to retire or upgrade? Check if there is something wrong with the car. These tips would form your bargaining power. 

We are always ready to walk away from the seller if they are insisting on an outrageous price. The chief aim of buying this car is to make money so do not compromise or get emotional. Good deals will never finish, if one goes today, wait for another one tomorrow. Sometimes we leave our phone number with the seller, they might have a think about it and ring us back. 

Note: Do not broadcast you are a car flipper as most people would not sell to you or might just make it difficult for negotiation. We have met people who would not sell cars to the car dealers, to teenagers, to the wreckers. It is better to stick to the car and not talk about your last flips and so on. 

One line that works for us is, “ I am getting this car for my best friend who just moved here for work. He is on a very low budget but a good man. I am trying to support him to get something to move around.”

Retirement Villages And Businesses 

Old people’s homes have a bunch of cars for sale from the residents. Print your business cards and drop in to the reception. Politely explain what you do as a local car flipper. You might get a call one day to pick up some cars. Businesses too can sell their fairly used cars. 

We bought a well maintained 2015 Toyota Camry with around 112,000 KM, automatic transmission for $5600 and sold it for $10,500 after a week. It was a good one from a local business. The key is to keep your network growing, let key business people around your area know what you do. It pays massive dividends.