Car trading is a tough business to be in these days, and will certainly get tougher over the next few years - the new sale of goods act is just one example of more obstacles in our way. If i was starting out from scratch i would certainly look for something else to be honest as the margins are just are not there any more. Most small traders with less than 20 cars are probably making no more than 30k a year after expenses and i would say many are making not much more than half of that if they are being truthful. When you consider the time and money you have to invest to this business the returns look pretty poor. That being said if it is your passion and you enjoy dealing with cars then good luck to you, just go in with your eyes wide open.