How much can you make flipping salvage cars?

Realistic numbers on salvage flipping profit: per car, per month, and what separates people who make money from those who lose it.

STRATEGY · 4 min read

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The honest per-car number

On a typical light-damage Cat N supermini, a realistic net profit after fees, parts and time is often £500 to £1,500. On a well-bought desirable model it can be more. It is not the thousands-per-car fantasy some videos sell, but it is real, repeatable money if you buy right and do your own labour.

Volume is the real business

One car making £800 is a nice weekend. Ten cars a month making £800 each is a proper income. The people who make serious money flip volume, keep repair costs down with used parts and their own labour, and sell fast. The margin per car is smaller than beginners expect, so throughput matters.

Where the profit actually comes from

Buying below the rebuilt resale value, not from magic. The margin is set at the moment you win the lot, not when you sell. Overpay at auction and no amount of good selling saves you. This is why disciplined bidding, to a pre-set max, is the whole game.

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Where beginners lose money

Underestimating repairs, forgetting Copart fees and VAT, ignoring transport and storage, and getting emotional in the live auction. Any one of these turns a £900 profit into a £500 loss. The fix is to model every deal honestly before you bid and to never cross your max.

Making it repeatable

Track every deal so you learn your true costs and which models pay. Buy light, obvious damage on popular cars. Do your own labour where you can. Sell honestly and fast. The Analyzer grades each deal and its ledger builds your own record of what really sells, which is how you turn guesswork into a system.

See the median closing bid recorded for each model, free

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