What's The Biggest Profit You Have Made on a Car?

[XFS 70]

There is a biggest loss thread running. What about profit though?

I,ve never made a huge loss on a car, but I,ve never made a huge profit either. I,ve had a couple which left me with just short of 2k profit after costs and I,ve taken a deposit on one which providing the sale goes through will give me my first 2k plus profit, although it is a 20k car.

And right now I have one in my garage which is standing me 5k and it's looking like I can get 8k for it, which would be my best deal ever.

[sparky 274]

I once made £600 on a car, what a result that was, in and out the same day as well.

 

 

Should put the newbies off

[Tom 164]

I once made a full £100 couldn't believe it! 

[SC Derby 259]

Took a chance on a Kia Ceed 30k from Dealer Auction about 4 years ago...FSH but had 4 owners in 4 years.

Bought it /priced it as a 1.6 petrol, turned up and it had been listed wrong and was diesel. Made a lot on that car and took a good p/ex too if I remember correctly,

[trade vet 697]

Once sold 9,all the same,to 9 different punters in 5 mins and before they had been unloaded from the wagon.Must have been a bit of profit there.!

[Mojo121 229]

59 minutes ago, trade vet said:

Once sold 9,all the same,to 9 different punters in 5 mins and before they had been unloaded from the wagon.Must have been a bit of profit there.!

Ha! What were they? Must of been a while back?

[trade vet 697]

13 minutes ago, Mojo121 said:

Ha! What were they? Must of been a while back?

Not what you think,give me half an hour !

[DHill 16]

Most profit ever on a single car was £2400 but it was bittersweet as it came in December and the rest of the month was dead, so it only really paid the bills 

Edited July 15, 2017 by DHill

[trade vet 697]

We used to get the odd ex military black Ford Orion diesel (Escort with a boot) and they needed re registering.We would sell these  quite quickly to Asian guys from a town 70 miles away.Afterwards we began to get regular enquiries about them.We then bought a transporter load and told callers the price and that they would be arriving 9am Saturday.On the day we arrive to work to find all these Asian guys waiting outside (WTF).We go about our routine and when I am in the office,suddenly all these Asian guys run in throwing money bags onto my desk (WTF).The wagon had arrived outside,was yet to unload and we sold them all.I think we later repeated this but in a more orderly fashion.We later found out that these cars ticked all the boxes for taxi operators in their town.In particular,the type,colour and the fact that when they were re registered,it appeared to the authority like they had bought a new car.This meant they did not need a taxi test for 3 or 4 years and as I recall,they nornmally had 3 taxi tests per year.This loophole of course was quickly closed down !

[umesh 336]

22 minutes ago, trade vet said:

We used to get the odd ex military black Ford Orion diesel (Escort with a boot) and they needed re registering.We would sell these  quite quickly to Asian guys from a town 70 miles away.Afterwards we began to get regular enquiries about them.We then bought a transporter load and told callers the price and that they would be arriving 9am Saturday.On the day we arrive to work to find all these Asian guys waiting outside (WTF).We go about our routine and when I am in the office,suddenly all these Asian guys run in throwing money bags onto my desk (WTF).The wagon had arrived outside,was yet to unload and we sold them all.I think we later repeated this but in a more orderly fashion.We later found out that these cars ticked all the boxes for taxi operators in their town.In particular,the type,colour and the fact that when they were re registered,it appeared to the authority like they had bought a new car.This meant they did not need a taxi test for 3 or 4 years and as I recall,they nornmally had 3 taxi tests per year.This loophole of course was quickly closed down !

 " Ford Orion diesel (Escort with a boot) "  !! 

Glad you put that on ... I'm sure many wouldn't know what the hell you were talking about ......  !! [Good Old Day ! ] 

[MrC 142]

I bought a none runner Ducati 916 race bike ( I'm on to my Ducati's)  The thing was a mess, it had been in the back of a garage for 8 years untouched.. Long story short it turned out to be a ex 1996 BSB race bike few parts missing but 80% complete. Got offered £8k.. I snatched the guys hand off, I only paid £3k! Nice £5k profit

 

 

 

 

[MattGM 12]

Best one yet. 1994 300TDi Defender 110 county station wagon

Purchase price - £2280
Repairs, adverts, and other costs of sale - £1763.87
Sale price - £6175
VAT - £649.17 (Ouch!)
------------------
Profit - £1481.96

Got that one rediculously cheap from an ebay auction that ended at something silly like 5am. Was half expecting the 'Not seling it for that' message over ebay, but the seller was genuine, and let it go as promised.

Profit is slightly better when refund of VAT on certain repair and advertisement costs are considered, but I never take that into account when considering profit/loss on stock.

Edited July 15, 2017 by MattGM

[Arfur Dealy 823]

The most remembered and the quickest for me was a 530D Sport out of Bridgy, 3k in less that 6 hours (early days of ebay). I thought I was being cheeky but Mr C was after exactly what I had. No messing. 

[GreenGiant 287]

Hold my beer....

About 15 years ago I took a punt on a couple of unregistered new cars at BCA. They'd been entered as the selling dealer in the Channel Islands had closed and these 2 cars were fully paid new stock that the (French) manufacturer didn't want back. Nobody at the auction wanted them (waaaay before online bidding). Paid £8k for a midsized hatchback and £10k for a bigger one. Had no clue what I was going to do next.

Anyway, had a discussion with the DP of the nearest dealership representing that manufacturer and he agreed to ask them to add them into his new car stock, so that they could be registered, for £250 per unit admin fee.

Sold the smaller one for £10k (£8k off list) and the bigger one for £12k (£9500 off list), both as New cars. So, £3k-ish up. The Main Dealer registered them, then informed me that the cars were eligible for New Car registration bonuses and, as they also counted towards his targets, he got back-end rewards too. We agreed that we would get the front end reg bonuses and they would get whatever they earned back-end.

Turns out the 2 cars were run-out old models and they were massively supported to get rid.

*Drum Roll.........*

The smaller earned £7500 reg bonus.

The bigger one £9000. Both plus vat.

 

So, total outlay £18000. Total net profit nearly £20000.

I sh*t you not.

[trade vet 697]

1 hour ago, GreenGiant said:

Hold my beer....

About 15 years ago I took a punt on a couple of unregistered new cars at BCA. They'd been entered as the selling dealer in the Channel Islands had closed and these 2 cars were fully paid new stock that the (French) manufacturer didn't want back. Nobody at the auction wanted them (waaaay before online bidding). Paid £8k for a midsized hatchback and £10k for a bigger one. Had no clue what I was going to do next.

Anyway, had a discussion with the DP of the nearest dealership representing that manufacturer and he agreed to ask them to add them into his new car stock, so that they could be registered, for £250 per unit admin fee.

Sold the smaller one for £10k (£8k off list) and the bigger one for £12k (£9500 off list), both as New cars. So, £3k-ish up. The Main Dealer registered them, then informed me that the cars were eligible for New Car registration bonuses and, as they also counted towards his targets, he got back-end rewards too. We agreed that we would get the front end reg bonuses and they would get whatever they earned back-end.

Turns out the 2 cars were run-out old models and they were massively supported to get rid.

*Drum Roll.........*

The smaller earned £7500 reg bonus.

The bigger one £9000. Both plus vat.

 

So, total outlay £18000. Total net profit nearly £20000.

I sh*t you not.

I would be surprised if anyone can top that......wonderful account !

[betginge 73]

10 hours ago, trade vet said:

I would be surprised if anyone can top that......wonderful account !

 

Most for me is £2200 the other week on a insignia on finance, bought with a foked box fixed for £65 and my own labour sold on finance maxed out.

However a friend of mine who lets say is very wealthy but strangely at 65 is still trading £200 bangers could take the record.

He bought a ford pop in the 70's for £15 from a local auction, it had a number plate on it which i cant mention on this site sorry due to its pending sale but lets say its 3 letters and 111 ending which makes its !!! anyhow he was offered £250.000 for it 12 years ago, he said no to this particular footballers agent.

He now thinks it could do over £300.000 

 

[MrC 142]

£4700 today out of a VW T5 camper. Bought as a panel van, threw a load of time and money at it. Could have sold it twice I had to let a second buyer down.

 

 

[Scooby who 40]

Friend in Japan who used to supply me with Jap imports back in the day, stumbled accross a DC5 Integra Type-R in auction. Was stolen recovered with absolutely no damage whatsoever, just the VIN plate was removed and the stamped VIN was painted over.

He seen it coming through auction but no bids. He bought it, then called me one day and told me he was shipping it over and I didn't need to pay him till I had it sold.

When it arrived I located the stamped VIN under the paint/filler. Ordered a new VIN tag online and prepped it for sale. I remember advertising it late one Saturday evening around 9 pm. The following day at 3pm I had a deposit taken on it with roughly £2600 profit.

Definitely the sweetest deal ever, and I didnt even have to invest my own money!

 

 

 

 

 

[david gott 58]

My best profit came this year and it was possibly the worst example of a transit van ever I've sold, bought out of Manheim, non runner ex BT, every panel battered, 135k miles, 1 key. Bought it blind and paid £600 plus fees, I thought it's worth that at breaking price so worth a go. Got it back to my mechanic, engine just needed flushing out at a cost of £40 plus a full tank of diesel, sold it 2 weeks later for £2895, wish they were all like that.