Shawn L. Frey

Truck sells in 3 days!!!

22.5 years old, a quarter of a million miles...

I needed to sell my good ole' used truck. Here's exactly how I sold it in 3 days.

1) I cleaned it right. This took about 10 hours.

2) I parked it in a good traffic, no-competition location.

3) I made the buyer a good deal if he agreed to buy NOW!

Check out this video. You'll like it.

Truck sells in 3 days continued...

Let's look at why this truck sold quickly:

A. It looked great

(BEFORE DETAIL)

(AFTER DETAIL)

B. It was priced right

C. I made the buyer a good cash deal at $1,400 if he agreed to buy NOW.

My buyer was happy. I was happy.

Do you need to sell your car quickly? I might be able to help. Pick up the phone. I'll pay for the call.

Detail Tip #1 - The Foamer

Here is my first detail tip video post for you. Larry Hootman and I are preparing to wash his 1964 Ford pickup. Notice how we take the the chore out of washing the vehicle be using a foamer. Various bands of foamers are now available. I purchased mine from the Auto Magic rep 15 years ago when I running my "pro-detail" service in Altus OK.     

As a service to my readers I will be posting "pro-detailing" how-to video clips here regularly. Please feel free to leave a comment or email any questions. 

Thanks for reading.

Shawn 

  

How to find your next used car deal..

My wife really did not want to drive around in my old 1986.5 Nissan King Cab 4x4. I mean who could blame her. Just look at the old thing. Hardly the vehicle of choice for her and our 3 little ones. But we were stuck. I needed to drive her Honda Odyssey for a few weeks because I was starting a new job. And I needed to find a "new" used vehicle for the right $$$.

So I began with a craigslist search and sent 7 emails. Next I checked auto-trader.com, lot's of dealer stuff. I prefer to buy privately where I can negotiate directly with the seller. Picked up a few local papers too. No luck yet.

CASE HISTORY:

Day 3: craigslist is getting a lot of interest. So far I have 3 vehicles to see. I have outsourced local papers/classifieds to our oldest daughter and given her instruction to "clip" ads that show the year, make model and price. She gets $2 for every paper she "researches".

I borrowed last month's NADA from a local dear with a promise to return when I am finished. I also test drove an 07 Nissan Altima. Nice car. But I really don't want to spend $16,900. When I purchase I prefer to finance the entire purchase price plus tag, title and tax. That's why I try and buy "right".

Day 6: Called 3 more ads on craigslist. Found a 2005 Honda Accord Hybrid. The seller was 20 miles away so I arranged a test drive. This is a sweet ride, 15K miles, XM Radio, fully loaded. Problem: Seller wants over book retail. This happens all the time. The following morning I called the seller and arranged a meeting for the offer. I wrote down all figures and presented to the seller. I offered $6,500 less than their asking price. No deal. Seller asked me to go back and sharpen my pencil. I waited 3 days and came back to the seller with an additional $2,000.

Day 7: Contacted 4 more sellers via craigslist. Found a nice one owner Toyota Sienna with 66K. Owner was asking $15,900, not a bad price. No deal, my wife does not want a mini van.

Day 15: I am continuing to check various websites, shoppers and newspapers. There is a ton of over-priced stuff out there. I've decided that most people don't really know what their car is worth and sadly most really don't understand the selling process. 

Day 21: My wife is still driving that old truck and she's not happy about it. She's informed me to get her a car by this weekend or else... she was going to the DEALER.    

Day 22: I've stepped up my research efforts and located a one-owner 2004 Nissan Xterra. This SUV has 4WD, sunroof, XM Radio and only 32,000 miles. I discovered the owners would like a quick, hassle free sale. I immediately run a carfax on the vehicle and make arrangements to meet the owners. 

Day 23: I obtain a $14,000 cashiers check and meet the owner's at Red Lobster to complete the transaction. The owners are very happy.    

FINANCIAL HISTORY:

$14,500 wholesale / $16,100 consumer retail. My price $14,000. Savings $2,100.         

      

I pocket a cool $2,000. My wife's happy and I'm happy. 

I look forward to helping you make this same kind of deal.

Shawn

 

 

Do you really give 110%

Keep'er Clean

Most people like a clean car. Trouble is, it can take a few hours for a basic DITY wash and hiring a professional detailing service is expensive.

Here's how to do a basic wash-n-wax in under 60-minutes and for less than $3.

1) Start with your favorite wash brush or mitt.

2) Get a bucket (5-gallon works best) and add your favorite wash-n-wax to the water according to the mixing instructions.

3) Hose down the entire vehicle paying attention to fenders and wheels. Next wash the roof, trunk and hood then rinse. Always wash in the shade if possible. This prevents sun spots/waters spots and you'll stay cooler too.

4) Wash the sides of the vehicle and rinse. Next wash the wheels and tires. I like to use a stiff scrub brush for the tires and a separate soft wheel brush for the wheels. Rinse well.

5) Open the doors and truck. Grab your wash brush and clean underneath the doors and the door jambs. Rinse well. Clean the remaining door jambs and trunk paying special attention to the moldings. Rinse well. Close all doors and trunk.

6) Dry the entire vehicle with a micro-fiber chamois. Micro fiber is super-absorbent and leaves almost no lint.

7) Open all doors and trunk. Grab your favorite vinyl dressing and another micro-fiber cloth. Spray dressing on cloth and apply to all moldings. Repeat as needed. Close doors and trunk.

8) Apply dressing to tires. Remove excess dressing from wheels with micro-fiber towel.

9) Grab your favorite glass cleaner and a clean micro-fiber towel. Do the inside glass first, then the outside.

10) Admire your work. Have a glass of sweet tea. Enjoy the rest of your day.

Photo courtesy of Godverd

Get'er Clean

I've been in a lot of shops and factories. Too many to count. Tonight I'm going to let you in on three dirty little secrets to a clean shop or factory floor.

Dirty little secret #1 Buy your employees good cleaning tools that will make the cleaning job easier, which means it will take your employee less time to do the job. Less time spent cleaning means more time to spend what they are supposed to be doing. This translates into more money in your pocket and happier employees. Nobody wants feel like a cheap maid using lousy cleaning products.

Dirty little secret #2 Make your employees responsible for the cleaning tools you buy them. 

Dirty little secret #3 Reward good performance with inexpensive atta-boys and atta-girls like lunch on the boss.

Thats it. Real simple. Real easy.

Go get'er clean

Used Car Screwin'

Let's go back in time, back to 1989 because I'm about to get a good used car screwin'. I spotted a black Mercury Capri parked at a local gas station. I stopped, looked the car over and wrote down the phone number. The next day I called the selling party. They told me they were selling the car because their daughter had just left for college. They also said the owner of the gas station had the keys and I could drive it anytime.

The next day my older bother, Alan and I drove the car. I took the bait and paid well over retail for the car. 2 days later I noticed the oil gauge was low. I pulled over and checked the dipstick, I was almost out of oil! That's when I discovered this car was an oil burner and a piece of crap. I had all kinds of trouble with this "jewel" and eventually sold it for a lousy $400.

Later I heard this shady gas station guy sold lots of worn out cars to the unsuspecting public. Last I heard he's 6-feet under and that old station is now a bank parking lot.

Onto deal number 3. This time I thought I had all the answers. Silly me, car profits are for insiders - not novices and wannabes. So in all my arrogance I bought a 1985 Plymouth Turismo for $2,750. After 18 months and 40,000 miles I sold it for $1,250.

Deal number 4 No, I haven't' smartened up yet. Car deal number 4 proved to be yet another loss. I purchased a Dodge Lancer that immediately needed $600 worth of repairs. 3 months later the steering rack went out. That's when the fun began. I needed a car to drive ASAP so I called a used car rental service. It felt like I was about to get taken for a ride again but it turned out to be the best phone call I could have made.

Steve Meadows, the owner of the used car rental service taught me everything he knew about the used car business, over 21 years of specialized knowledge. I personally detailed over 100 cars for him. It was some of the easiest money I ever made and best street smart education I've ever had.

I learned how to buy vehicles from new and used car dealers, auctions, and private individuals at good wholesale prices. On the other side of the business I learned how to detail cars for sale appeal. These techniques I learned about and will share with you will immediately add $300-$500 worth of retail value to almost any vehicle. In many cases you can pocket $1,500 very easily. I'll show you how.

Shawn

 

Photo courtesy of Ekusie

Car Wash Fun

Recently the Jingles for Jesus held a car wash fundraiser to raise money for a Nigerian Well project. The kids raised over $200 in 4 hours. Not bad considering the volunteers were all under 12.

The kids had a good time, the weather was perfect and for their very first car wash fundraiser I'd say they did a great job.

Carwash fundraisers can be a great , low-cost way for you group to raise money.

Shawn