Who makes a living from cars?

Hi, It depends how much you know about how the motor trade works. You need contacts to be able to pick cars up economically and know who is likely to want to buy the parts or the cars again afterwards. My suggestion would be to get a job that brings you into contact with the motor trade, something like a delivery driver for a motor factors. They are nearly always looking for drivers, it could be done part time at first which may help in your present circumstances.

Colin

If you like cars the fastest way to cure yourself is working in the motor trade unless your proper petrol in the blood type . Scraps on its so plenty of cheap mot failure and projects about but turning a profit is easier said than done especially selling cheapies as people's expectations of a £500 runner is hilarious and why I don't do it anymore . As said parts drivers jobs are easy to get as the staff turnover is huge

I spent years in the motor trade in all sorts of different positions,it's not what it once was imho.

I had my own little garage for a while,sold a few cheapies and did general repairs and servicing.Didn't work out for me long term but i'm glad i had a go.As said above what people expect from a £500 car is beyond reasonable and there is not much money in it if you are a responsible seller.

I worked for various large dealerships too.I was a bit of a jack of all trades.I would do PDI's,parts counter,deal with the auctions and prepping PX's to go to the block all sorts of stuff.I enjoyed that job,got a lot of decent free stereos and loose change etc!
I used to be able to buy any PX's at standing value to the dealership as well,i.e what they really had in them rather than what the customer thought they had been given !
I bought a few bargains that way and there was potential to make money out of that.
I think most of what i did is covered by a job called "vehicle progressor" nowadays.

I was the only person on site with a forklift licence so i was quite in demand for that reason too.It's suprising how much that was needed,everything from unloading drums of oil off wagons to lifting new shells into the bodyshop and shifting engines and boxes around.

I had a short stint as a parts driver/rep to cover someones illness.They have a big staff turnover because it's a poor job really.Most will be offering minimum wage,but it's not really unpleasant work and you can make some good trade contacts.
If you were going that route i would suggest being a driver for a dealership rather than a big factors like Andrew Page.I remember Page's drivers telling me they were run ragged where the deslership lads had a much easier life.

You would probably make more money as a qualified spark than fiddling about in the motor trade,but thats not everything i know.I made the same decisions myself to spend time with people i care about rather than chase money.
Best of luck with your Dad mate

I would seriously think about sticking with your trade by finding a job that builds on it that you find rewarding, then doing car stuff on the side for fun.

I will never forget a bloke I met who gave up his career to start a business restoring Triumphs. He told me he worked all hours for peanuts and basically had come to resent what was once his hobby!

Failing that, if you insist then as mylittletony says, auto sparkles do alright. I would aim to set yourself up as self employed asap doing that.

I have always thought of trying something new , seeing people start up on there own and make a fortune . However as i have got older and clocked up the working years [ 18 ] , i have come to realise that most of these people have spent years doing it and its been after they have made many contacts , either customers poached from previous employment or customers they know already who will require there services .

If your going to do something on your own make sure you have work already built up or conctacts as i think it would be nigh on impossible to build up steady work from nothing unless your lucky .

You sound like you are working far to much for little reward , try to look at things diiferently and prioritise what you want out of life . I used to earn 46k a year but it almost finished me , I'm now on much less but happier and can see what life is about properly , seeing the trees through the wood so to speak .

Keep your chin up and best of luck with your dad .

A after thought to the o.p , one of my friends trained as a electrician doing factory installations and stuff , when his apprenctiship came to a end they decided they didnt want to keep it on a he was pretty lazy and didnt enjoy it . Whilst there he also had outside contracters in from a local reputable firm and they took him on as a estimater , basically pricing up jobs and dealing with customers , no hands on stuff .

He has been doing that for 13 years now and happy as larry , company bmw etc , office hours .


Perhaps something to bare in mind , diversifying from your current role .

Join the railway!

Inflated wages
Low working hours (I'm contracted to 35 hours per week)
Shift work
Great benefits
Great pension
Relatively secure job

It gives you plenty of time off to spend with your loved ones and allows you to work on your cars in the free time.

If you want to get mucky, train to be a fitter.

From my experience, if you work full time in the motor trade, you will soon get bored with cars and start to resent working on your own.

I left my full time job at the end of November and started to buy and sell cars.

We even bought a detached house on the edge of a quiet village with a large garage away from the house and 2 driveways (and a decent amount of space between us and the neighbours) so i don't need to worry about premises to begin with. We were due to move in beginning of December but hasn't happened yet......

The job i left was pretty intense as i had to be on top of all the goings on in the workshop and everything coming in and going out from all over the world and would spend time sat at home thinking about all the things i needed to get done once back in the office in the morning.

One day (i was actually in Egypt on business for 4 days and was missing my family a lot) it just hit me that this isn't the kind of life i planned for myself, i remember my dad working a lot when i was little and me not seeing him as much as i would of liked. So i sat up that night and drew out a basic business plan to present to the wife on my return home.......

I am very lucky with the fact we live with the very understanding in laws so if i don't make enough one month they are here to cover the essentials.

I get to take my kids to school and pick them up and sit and have lunch with the Mrs and the little 'Un and we get to drive around in whatever cars we have on the drive at that time.

I've not made a huge amount but the kids and Mrs have everything they ask for (and theres a volvo axle sat under the rear of the Datsun :-) ) and I'm here with them, I find it easier to switch off or over to looking at the retros on here and proud of the work i do.