Making money from cars

Next year I am getting married and there is a very good chance that my fiance may not be able to find a full time job (she is a teacher). So she may be working as a substitute teacher or teacher's aide. Which means my money for my toys may be tight. So I was thinking that maybe a good way to fund my toy budget would be to part cars. I am guessing some of y'all do this so I was wondering what tips you had and where you sold your parts. I have two cars that I could get for $free or close to start.

CL isn't working for me to get rid of some overstock transmissions I have, even though they are priced below what others are selling the exact same item for. I may part them out at this rate and sell just the parts for even more.

Ebay.

Open a store, list every single part (be sure to test and list any defects) and let them sit. Will take some space and time to keep track of inventory, but can make some good cash.

It is quite a bit of work, and a huge pain in the ass at times, and will seem like a waste of time some months, but can be quite profitable.....just pick the right cars to part out and be patient.

In reply to vdubinsd:

To expand on that, I prefer to hit boneyards and pull items of high value that you can buy on the cheap, fix them/clean them if needed, and sell them on.

Figure out what yards sell for cheap but you can sell for more and rock on! Good starters are ECUs, Drivers door window/multifunction switches, gauge clusters, HVAC controllers, and name brand aftermarket parts. Small/light/high value is the name of the game. Having to ship rear ends, engines, and transmissions across the country is a pain in the dick if you don't own a truck, dont have access to pallets and a fork lift, and dont like to suffer.

vdubinsd wrote: It is quite a bit of work, and a huge pain in the ass at times, and will seem like a waste of time some months, but can be quite profitable.....just pick the right cars to part out and be patient.

What are the right cars? I mean are boring things like Camries the right choice or something with more of an enthusiast following (like Spitfires or Miatas) a better choice for parting.

93EXCivic wrote: What are the right cars? I mean are boring things like Camries the right choice or something with more of an enthusiast following (like Spitfires or Miatas) a better choice for parting.

There are bazillion Camrys in the world, but 99% of the owners never work on cars themselves, which is why they bought a reliable appliance like a Camry in the first place. Whatever you choose should have a large DIY enthusiast base even if it is a mainstream vehicle, such as Subaru, Honda, etc.

i have a list of stuff i know sells fast and high on marque forums. i know what sells on all the forums i've been on forever. when i see it at the yard i buy it.

i mostly part cars because it's a great way for me to get parts for my stuff for free in the end. but if you pick the right one you can make $ on almost anything. stick to what you know. my last partout for profit was a 80 z28. bought it for 400, sold $1300 off it and kept the new distributor and shifter for myself. i even left the posi rear end in it because i wanted to leave it roll, that would have put me up over $1500. didn't buy it to part out but it wound up being rustier than i wanted to deal with.

I found that Lexus and BMW's tend to attract a DIY audience with some cash to spend on parts. I haven't done a ton of it but have sold some parts for surprising amounts.

when I decided to part out my 318ti.. I was AMAZED how expensive some items are on ebay. I thought the car was near worthless.. I was very very wrong

I found a Euro e30 in the local you pull it yard, bought the bumpers and sold them for 400 bucks.

You'd be much better off parting out boxes of twinkies ATM.