Ok Veeky Forums. Let's see if anyone has some Veeky Forums experience

Ok Veeky Forums. Let's see if anyone has some Veeky Forums experience.

I have three options/potential investment careers. Two friends of mine said they wish to start a mechanic shop. We would focus on general repairs and services. I've looked at a few business plans, ran some numbers and although I have enough money to start it, I'm not sure I have enough money to stay afloat for more than 6 months in the event we are unsuccessful. I could always take out a business loan to ease the burden on my own finances. But I would still be in debt at that point and am always concerned about that route. There is more to option one, here, but I'm going to tell you about option 2 first.

The second idea was actually mine. I've been wanting to import cars from other countries and sell them here for two years now. There are some laws but I’ve read up on it and know what I can and can't import. We would focus on European and Japanese imports. A later goal would also to focus on importing Domestic muscle out of the US as I've found a market for this, too. Importing to the US, I would bring them in, stick a price tag on them, and flip them in as-is condition. I have found a few reputable dealers across the waters to start with, but eventually the goal would be for me to station myself or a couple guys in each country and save myself some additional fees by doing the initial finding work myself. I've crunched the numbers and incorporated a huge loss margin in case I missed something (which I may have since I've not done this before, only extensively read up on it). I would still be making a huge profit on each sell, even if I missed some major fees or got my cars held up in customs.

The third option. It is basically a combination of the two. We would open up an import dealership, starting small at first. Website, social media, videos to draw in a crowd, and SEO the shit out of everything (I’d do this for each option above, too). We would sell additional warranties in-house and help people work on their cars as they break them, showing more interest in repairing and turning track/show oriented cars. This could help drive repeat service and not have us rely so heavily on either side of the business to make money. The problem with this is, I'd only have the money for maybe 2-4 months pending on the cars we buy. The good news on this, though, because we are relying on selling cars rather than selling maintenance, it is likely we would sell the vehicles for profit faster than we would have to wait until we built up a crowd of customers. My buddies like this idea and want to build fast track cars and go all-out on some of them and possibly sell them for much more race-ready profits.

I would focus on the west coast, but would still ship to anywhere in the US.

So my question to Veeky Forums is, have you ever done this before, what's your experience, advice, should I go for it? I think each idea has potential if we start small, but personally, I like the importing vehicles method much more than relying on a repeat customer base from a mechanic shop. I know starting a business is more complicated than this and I’m only discussing the tip of the iceberg so feel free to ask questions and I’ll respond.

Ok, so...

tl:dr: Should I start a mechanic shop, start importing cars, or a combination of both for a career change/better investment? Give advice and experience please.

Why do we have to have these threads everyday

You should only make a business out of it if you've been doing it for fun already and love it. You're gonna have a bad time if you just start doing this out of the blue and expect it to work long term

First I've seen of these threads. Maybe there should be a stick?

So, that is what I'm trying to figure out. I enjoy cars, and I've sold cars before. What I haven't done was import anything but I see a lot of potential. Also, I think it would be awesome to own and run a specialty shop that does race-related builds. Just trying to get some advice to help me with some unforeseen consequences related to those who may have experienced this.

I hope your not in California you cannot even import a 25 year old car now legally as the new carb EPA rules say the car needs to be pre 1966. Of course there are a million ways around this but that would be illegal and your trying to be a reputable dealer right. The registered importer I use charges 15k to import skylines and range rover's and Mercedes. You have to change out all the glass and lights to DOT approved. One of the grey market dealers here just registers his Japanese vehicles 25 years old or older in Nevada then sells them in California. Other guys use Florida.

let see
by seeing the current US economy and politic situation i assume you just starting the mechanic shop, focusing it on europe cars since probably trump will add high tax to europe cars

if you are importing european cars now, the sellback price must lower than when you import it. It's because the demand from public will much lower because the policies

What leads you to believe this?

Evidence of compliance with United States (U.S.) safety standards (vehicles 24 years old and newer).
Evidence of compliance with U.S. emission standards (vehicles 20 years old and newer).
Evidence of compliance with California emission standards (1966 year-model and newer gasoline-powered vehicles and 1980 year-model and newer diesel-powered vehicles).

please do not import any cars from japan for american pigs to destroy
enough of them is destroy by now
thank you

>importing domestic muscle out of the US
That's called exporting

And food for thought, a lot of JDM importers in the US list cars for sale that are merely just available for sale or auction in Japan. When you get a buyer interested in one, collect a deposit and then buy it/get it shipped here. Keeps overhead low and reduces risk

Also a note on auctions, Japanese have a pretty great grading system they use so the buyers can be well informed without actually seeing the car, which helps in your case. Haven't seen any similar systems from other countries

I'm in Nevada, and from what I know now, it would be ok. And I would be doing the same thing as your buddy.

Feel free to buy them all yourself and protect them in a vacuum sealed chamber deep under ground.

Thanks. I wouldn't start that right away, but it would definitely be a goal. This helps.

Yep your good to go unless you want to import cars newer then 25 years old. then you need the certificate of origin and compliance with federal safety standards which you will never get. I think cars older then 20 years can get classic car plates too in Nevada. All the Mexicans driving old civics in Vegas get them so they don't have to smog check there clapped out ricers with cold air intake.

A few years ago when the Mercedes sprinter market was really hot we were shipping all the 5cyl ones we could get that were coming off company leases and shipping them to Russia.

Definitely import. R33s and MkIV Supras will soon be legal. Buy them abroad right now, store and ship when you can sell.

This but Japan is kinda dry on decent old cars they have all been rusted out or exported. We buy Japanese cars from Canada and new Zealand. We export any 1970's classic Datsun and Mazda back to Japan from the USA huge profits but you need to have a agent in Japan to find rich buyers and do the paperwork.

>When you get a buyer interested in one, collect a deposit and then buy it/get it shipped here.

This. Very very much this.

You see it a lot, people who loudly bitch that they want a thing, then someone makes the thing, sells 3 of them to people actually willing to spend the money, then goes out of business.

Quite a lot of people will claim that they'll buy a car off of you if you can only get it there, but when you actually have it, an amazing number of people will suddenly discover that they don't in fact have $20k to spend on something they really don't need after all.

My advice, start really, really small. Buy two cars, import them, sell them in the way your business normally would. Make note of how long they sit, actual profit on them, and how many people are actually interested. Get something flashy, that'll attract attention, list up other cars available that you could also buy/import, put up a sign, start your social media up, and see where it goes.

If you judged your market right and it takes off, you start importing 20 cars a week that already have deposits on them and buyers waiting with certified funds, quit your day job and run with it. If the two cars you get initially sit for 6 months and you make $500 each on them, you may want to reconsider your strategy.

The auto shop idea could go either way. People generally need their cars repaired, and not many shops actually advertise, so you could probably make that one work. I'd honestly recommend doing very basic stuff mostly, since that's what most people actually need. Cheap tire rotations/changes, oil changes, basic maintenance, that sort of thing. Depending on where you are, a dedicated performance shop may not work out so well. You need a HUGE population to make money on that, as for every 1,000 people that own cars, maybe 3 of them are actually interested in making them faster or cooler, and of those three, possibly one or two might actually pay someone else to do it for them.

There are two performance shops near me. One does well, one does not.

The one that does well can actually do real tuning on modern cars, has a dyno, can tune a carb (boomer money is good money, and the average 60-something can't tune a carb worth shit), and is located about 1/4 mile off a main road in a city of 60,000 people.

The other shop, that does not do so well, is located right on a state highway, about 25 miles away from the first shop. The total population within a 5 mile radius of the second shop is probably about 5,000 people. They have no dyno, don't tune cars, and have developed a reputation for being parts changers, and bad ones at that. At this point, they survive mainly by powdercoating anything some kid brings in for $40, and doing basic maintenance type stuff.

That's mainly why I recommend NOT opening a performance-only shop from the outset. Unless you have an established customer base, and a good reputation from the outset, you probably won't get much actual "performance" work. It would be especially bad if you're out in the boonies, though that may be where you have to start, since commercial property rent in a good industrial district is typically insane. BUT, just about any idiot with a set of wrenches and a lift can survive running an auto shop - if they do basic maintenance crap. Everyone needs an oil change at some point, everyone eventually needs new tires. Sell it cheap, get them in the door, get the name out there, and you could potentially have a success on your hands, which could eventually lead to narrowing down the customer base to performance-oriented work only. If you don't, you'll still scrape by just doing the simple stuff.

Nice, thanks.

Understood and very insightful. Thanks for that.

What value are you going to provide that isnt already being serviced in the market? What would make your shop, imports, or both, different from the already existing services on the west coast?

Consider this before you make any moves forward. If you can't think of any good reason why you'll be better than the competition, you will fail. No reason to enter a market just to be 2nd or 3rd best.

the mechanic shop is the safest option.

Start as a garage that low-key specializes in specific imports and can get them. Get yourself some exclusive import to serve as your advertising by parking it in front of the garage and driving it around with a wrap on it. Build a business using successful business practices then try to expand it doing what you want. If it doesn't fly, you'll still have a successful conventional business.