How to Buy and Sell Used Cars for Fun and Profit

When I was 16 I started to save money to buy my first car. I saw a 69 Chevelle in a Hot Rod magazine and that’s what I wanted. It was very cool. So I started to save my money.

I had about $2000 saved up when heard that a guy I knew that was selling his 1964 Chevy Impala SS for $500. I couldn't believe it. It wasn’t a 69 Chevelle, but it was pretty cool too. I could afford my first car with money to spare. So I bought it for cash. No car payments for me.

I loved not having car payments and still do today. I would like to eliminate my house payment too, but thats another story. It turned out to be a good car that I drove for about 7 years.

Eventually it got wrecked (not my fault). So I pulled the engine out of it and sold the body for $100. A pretty good deal for not really knowing what I was doing.

You just can't beat the feeling of accomplishment you will get when you negotiate a great deal on a used car and bring it home, clean it up. Just knowing its worth considerable more than you paid for it. The better the deal the more fun it is. Buying used cars can be quite an adventure too. You will get to meet new people and every car has its own story places.

I am 49 years old and have never bought a new car. I almost did once but my friend Dale talked me out of it. It was a 1989 Toyota 4x4 pickup; it was black with all the options.

I showed the brochure to Dale expecting him to be as excited as I was. Instead he proceeded to tell me I was paying too much, and that car payments are a bummer. So I thought about it for a while and decided to keep my car. After all it ran fine. Who needs a car payment anyway?

And so began my love affair with automobiles.

I’m sure that some of you are amateur mechanics like myself. I do most of my own tune-ups and small repairs, and have even swapped engines and pulled transmissions at one time or another.

However, none of this work is needed when buying or selling used cars.

Buying a good used car is much easier now than it used to be. Cars last longer and there's much more information available. As long as you have a little time and are willing to do some research you should be able to find something that works for you.

Finding the right car isn't just a matter of where you look, but rather knowing what you're looking for.