"Kevin W" (2o6)
08/11/2020 at 14:16 • Filed to: Toyota Echo, Art of the flip, Toyota, the art of the flip
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"Kevin W" (2o6)
08/11/2020 at 14:16 • Filed to: Toyota Echo, Art of the flip, Toyota, the art of the flip | 4
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I have been flipping cars since about 2013 or so, but the car market has been trash and COVID has scared me off from buying anything risky. The last car I had, a 2010 Mazda 6 Manual, was a bitch and a half to sell.
yet, this car popped up on my FB marketplace. it’s cheap to buy, and these cars don’t have much value, but I was late at night watching Chrisfix. I’m also basically unemployed, and there’s not much to do with my life, but continue to search for work. Why not try and make a little bit of $$$ and do a quick flip?
It’s a 2000 Echo, the elderly couple bought it new in 1999. They parked it in their barn in central Ohio, and it’s been sitting for a year. The alternator is seized.
Only 131K miles, which is low for a Toyota. I only paid $650 for it.
The alternator is clearly broken, but also there are
some other odds and ends it needs. There’s no radio, I’m missing a hubcap, and the trunk latch is sticky. Still, it’s a solid car that could easily be put back on the road.
I always feel weirdly connected to the previous owners when I buy cars. This woman bought the car new, and it shuttled her around as the resident supervisor (doctor) in several university hospitals. She replaced it with a Prius, but it stayed in the family since it was paid off.
They drove it to DC last year, then parked it in their barn, where the alternator bearing seized up from sitting so long.
The husband now has a bad heart valve and is fighting leukemia, and his kids helped him realize that he can’t work on cars anymore. So he decided to let it go when he was cleaning the barn.
$15K in 1999 money is $23K today! This car doesn’t even have power windows, power locks, or ABS! AC was an option that was added, as well as an aftermarket cruise control stalk.
If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent
> Kevin W
08/11/2020 at 14:42 |
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If that’s a stick you can get close to 50mpg out of it. They can put a Prius to shame.
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Kevin W
> If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent
08/11/2020 at 14:43 |
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Automatic, sadly. Should be easier to sell, though.
cmill189 - sans Volvo
> Kevin W
08/11/2020 at 15:56 |
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I've had this debate with cars to flip. I want the manual but no one else does.
RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
> Kevin W
08/11/2020 at 16:07 |
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Sucks it’s not a stick, but I really like those little things....the Echo hatch we got here in Canada was even more coolerer!