Starting Out

[rocket01]

I'm not really sure if this is the correct place for this topic if not I apologise.

A mechanic mate and myself got talking in the pub on Friday and he asked me to start a small business part time with him. His idea was to buy vehicles that were for repair and to sell them on once repaired. I have the skills to do much of smaller mechanical work and also any welding while he does any major mechanical work. (he is a vehicle fitter I am a welder that also does mechanical work) In principle it seems like a decent proposal especially as it would be a hobby more than an actual business. (we are both employed full time)

Could anyone who has done something similar recommend tools and equipment to start out a small garage. I am looking for decent tools/equipment that will do that job but don't have to be top of the range as they wont be hammered to death, and therefore hopefully won't cost a fortune. Any advice would be very welcome.

 

[cumbriasteve]

I think a lot of people have tried the same sort of part time earner at some stage in their youth, I did and yes you can earn some money, you can also get loads of problems.

You will be a Motor trader, you will be expected to register with HMRC and you will have a shed load of legal stuff placed on you.

Regarding the tools, apart form the basics, which can be quite a lot, you may also need electronic diagnosis equipment with a range of software, you may also need many specialist tools unless you intend to stick to the same type of car all the time.

A good socket set and a big hammer was enough when I did it, afraid it's not as simple now

 

[chunkolini]

Sounds like a massive can of worms to me.
And probably a way of working your nuts off for B'all.

 

[Windy Miller]

Sounds like a massive can of worms to me.
And probably a way of working your nuts off for B'all.

Yep dead right Chunko! I did it for 17 years and I really miss it.
Like a toothache!

 

[PTvor]

15 years ago I worked with a bloke who did this as a sideline and made some reasonable pocket money. He said there was a limit of buying and selling 6 cars a year in your name, after which it became trading and not buying and selling cars in the normal course of motoring. So, that was six cars in his name and six cars in the wife's name and six cars in his daughter's name if need be.

However, that was 15 years ago and things might have changed and he was the sort of bloke who'd sail a bit close to the wind.

If you are going to do this, I think you ought to check very carefully into it. There are all sorts of aspects apart from tax.

 

[brightspark]

Sounds like a massive can of worms to me.
And probably a way of working your nuts off for B'all.

have u ever seen a poor car dealer theres an outfit near us called bias motors think about it bias. bodge it and scarper

 

[Rubber Duck]

How are you going to get the motors to your workshop/place of doing up?


I should imagine that you would need some form of insurance policy, Traders?

If you transport them on a trailer you may need to look at getting a tachograph in the tow vehicle as it would be used for business.


Just a thought.

 

[rocket01]

The insurance/business aspects of it are of no concern to me right now, my father in law is a financial advisor and my cousin an accountant, they are looking into that side of things. Furthermore my partner is a vehicle fitter so he will know what kind of equipment he would require. I was asking for myself as I have never had to equip a workshop before, in work our workshops are kitted out for us I just use it.

I highly doubt we would need diagnostics, the idea would be to buy cars that need large jobs doing to them and well them for a profit rather than doing jobs for customers.

 

[Robotstar5]

have u ever seen a poor car dealer

A lot of the smaller ones have closed round here, even noticed one of the larger ones has halved his pitch last week and sold it to yet another hand car wash

 

[tigler]

Do a business plan and you may be shocked at how much money you will need to turnover to make enough profit to pay even a moderate wage for the both of you. It's a pocket money side line that many, including me, have dabbled in, but have then realised how much work is involved to make proper money.

 

[tomsutton529]

as a hobby and some holiday spends it can work, you need to your way around the vast majority of cars, know how much parts cost, which cars get wrote off for simple things as this can be costly or cheap but hard to source parts. body parts need to be sprayed, what you going to do if the whole car needs spraying? its something ive looked at over the years and I cant see it making money, its a cheap way to get a car for yourself and thats about all.

 

[pedrobedro]

I used to buy cars from salvage yards for my own use, repair and run them for a few years then sell them and get another. It was never a money making exercise just a way of getting a newish car cheap. The only way to get cheap cars nowadays is to get well in with a garage selling newish cars and buy their part exchange cars from them. It saves them putting them through auctions but you have to take whatever they offer. I know someone who does this and he scrapes by.

 

[rambo]

Tried this with my dad years back, we made a few quid, but it was brain damage, people want a rolls royce for lada money!!!

 

[rtbcomp]

Premises will be a problem, if you get proper garage premises you will be paying full-time overheads for part-time income.

If I was going to do this sort of thing I'd buy a cheapy from an auction, run it for a year and sell it on, that way it would be my own personal car. Trouble is secondhand cars are so cheap anyway you'd probably not make a profit.

 

[inchpincher]

I've spent the last year working a full-time 40hr night shift job and also trying to turn my hobby of scooter welding/panel beating/everything else into a more business like enterprise with a friend who already has a scooter business. I've pretty much knocked it on the head to concentrate back on my own projects, the reality is it sucked my passion out of my hobby and ate all my free time in the process. The money never turns out as good as you'd hope, customers are invariably chumps and I became a social recluse.

If you see it as a gateway into your own business then make sure you and your partner are very much on the same wave length, the relationship with my friend is a little strained but not beyond repair after the last few years sagas.

Sorry to be negative, give it a go if ya got nothing to lose, I'm just speaking from my recent personal experience and the releif to get to my workshop and not 'have' to weld something if I don't want to! I can still cherry pick interesting projects, just with the caveat that my free time isn't cheap and it'll get done when im good and ready

 

[FranV8]

Apart from agreeing that you'd need care with what you bought and what method you used to sell it on (so you actually generate a margin), I'll try for some start up stuff, that means I do 90% of the work on my cars myself, + a few I'll throw in that probably would be needed:

- Diagnostics - get an OBDII dongle,it'll enable you to look into some basic level faults. Note that manufacturers normally hide the more specialised codes beyond straightforward engine management deeper and require their own kit to review.

- General tools - full set of spanners, and sockets in 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2" drive variants. Deep sockets too. TORX bits. You might want a set of 'security TORX' too - can be bought as a set like Allen keys.

- Pliers, side cutters, wire strippers, soldering iron and multicore solder. Solfering iron stand. Digital volt meter. Small stock of varying gauge wires and heatshrink tubing.

- Decent jacks (get 2), and axle stands (4 off) as a minimum, although it si a bit amateur working under a car only raised at best, a foot and a half off the floor.

- Inspection lamps
- Painted floor! More comfortable, easier to clean and easier to find dropped stuff on
- Compressor and simple spray set up for painting over welded areas/using an undercoat gun (I'm assuming you're not going for respray type stuff, that'll start adding cost to your outfit and more skills/time needed)
- Hydraulic press, for pushing bushes in.
- Two/three legged puller
- Ignition strobe - inductive type
- Torque wrench and angular torgue gauge. Buy decent!
- Breaker bar
- Angle grinder
- If you've got plenty of air - air cut off tool too
- Kit for alignment (you'll need to make this list)
- Gloves, mask, goggles as necessary for the tasks being done.
- Files, hacksaw
- Swarfega!
- Degreaser - perhaps stretch to a parts washer bath
- Car battery charger
- Brake bleeding kit
- Electric hand drill
- Drill bits set
- Tap and die set

I'm sure there's plenty more, but that's my brain dump so far.

I think the key to making this work is to buy good vehicles that have an obvious major fault, and from a seller who wants to shift it quick = realistic price, that could be dealer part-ex stuff or someone who faces a big bill for the repair they can't afford. So I guess things like gearbox failures, clutch failures, etc. If you go into making repairs on vehicles that have multiple faults/issues you're going to quickly see your time and money disappear.

Lastly, I'd really look into what the market is doing, second hand cars just don't seem (in my opinion) to be moving at the moment. I advertised a friend's Astra on Autotrader a couple of weeks ago, only interest was from the scammers sadly so far. Price wasn't bad and the car is only 4 years old.

Inchpincher's post looks to be realistic.

 

[stuvy]

iv got a zetec s for sale at the moment, it should be worth £1000+ iv got it up for £600 and still nothing!!! I used to do this for pocket money but found stripping them and selling them as parts via ebay etc to be worth more. As mentioned earlier get in with dealers or other car dealers pay the basic going scrap rate strip it and stick it on ebay, not a living unless your doing it on a large scale

 

[Welderpaul]

Do a business plan and you may be shocked at how much money you will need to turnover to make enough profit to pay even a moderate wage for the both of you.

Very wise words.