gregomega

gregomega

Active Member
Been Gettin Bored Stupid With My Job Lately Then At The Weekend I Got Offered A Small Industrial Unit That Can Fit About 3 Motors In. I Did My Mechanic's Training On Renaults But Don't Really Want To Go Back To Repairing Cars Again... Then A Mate Suggested I Go Into Breaking Landys.. After A Little Searching On Ebay And Such I Don't Think It Sounds Like A Bad Idea.. However You Guys Opinions Would Be A Great Help, Would You Guys Buy Used Parts? If You Did What Kind Of Delivery Times Would You Hope To See Particularly On Larger Items? Or Would People Be Willing To Travel For Parts. Any Feedback Greatly Recieved.. I Was Thinking Of Aiming Mainly At Discovery 1's To Start With As I Pretty Much Know My Way Around Them But Would Be Looking To Expand To All Types As Things Progress! Maybe Even Offer Basic Servicing Etc.. So Come On Let Me Know What You Think.
 
great idea, but, you need to buy scrap disco's, if you look on ebay the bits go fer peanuts, so, if you set a price of, say, 700 quid, for a scrapper, then you sell the engine for say 500 the gearbox for 200 then you have all the other bits to sell off , but you need to get rid quick or you will soon have a yard full of ****. its a risk as ebay prices are pretty low, you can only sell so much to mates and people that know you, its a lot of hard work for little reward ;)
 
Sorry about caps lock had'nt noticed. Not too worried about little reward back to start with so long as i can cover cost of unit overheads at least i'll have somewhere to work on my own disco. I'm planning on keeping my day job but reducing the hours i work to allow me some flexibility while still keeping all the household bills paid to keep the missus of my back. I think the hardest part will be gettin used to what will sell and what does'nt so i know when i strip them what to keep plenty of and what to only keep a couple of and scrap the rest i'm planning on weighing all the scrap in once a month so hopefully won't end up with too much junk.
 
type discovery into ebay motors, car parts, you will get an ideaof what sells and for what price. you will need a trailer to fetch the wrecks but you need to make sure you go for good runners with rotten chassis, the engine is where the money is
 
aye, you need to buy em for less than say 250.
but the servicing would be essential to make some dosh every week.
theres always room for a landy specialist. just look at the main dealer hourly rates ffs.
lets assume you charge 40 quid per hour and you get 40 hrs per week work. then 1600 per week should cover fixed costs and a salary.
 
he'll struggle to pick up a scrap disco fer 250, the problem is that ppl see em fer sale on ebay and want the same money for em. you are better off payiong 700 fer a good runner and making your money on the engine, if you can get em fer 250 then i suggest you get a bigger unit and fill the fooker ;)
 
but thats just it. you can only be sure of getting say 700 for the best bits. the rest is the cream. (and it may be feckin sour).
so you need to buying at say 350 max.

servicing is the bread and butter. let the breaking be the extra topping/cream.

dont forget, you can buy discos cheaper than series now!
 
My advice is have a go. I had a large wake up call 7 years ago (major health problem) and couldn't go back to working full time, so i turned my hobby into my own job. Restoration/spare parts/breaking of Hillman Imps. If you get offered something for sale you have to buy it or you lose it, no "I will get back to you". A trailer is essential or a reasonable transport service. when stripping a vehicle for parts as yella has said the normal items go straight away but it is the rest that you have to store somewhere. I looked into breaking Discos/90 etc but have decided against it for the moment (cash flow). Do not rely solely on ebay for selling, I had a word with my local LR indy and he was more than happy to put s/h parts up on his notice board and would allow him access to some cheaper s/h parts also.
 
How about buying wrecks and making decent discos out of the bits. You could probably profit from that but like the other guys suggest, you need something to keep you ticking over, like servicing & repairs. Once you get your name known for good service at a reasonable price, you should do ok. Don't quote me on that though, it could all go tits up! Good luck.
 
If you are going to offer a postal service be careful who you use, some have a cheap parcel cost and you think that is great, but at the end of the month you then have not met the minimum invoice charge and all your parcels for that month have cost you double (I know to my cost). Some couriers will only deliver to business address's, some will only atempt to deliver once then they send it back to you and charge you double. All couriers have a max weight of 25kg per parcel, but some will collect heavier using tail lift vehicle. Make sure that you declare everything to your accountant including everything that you do on ebay (big brother is watching ebay closely).
 
thanks for all the advice guys trying to get funds together at the moment but may have met a stumbling block with the unit, Its smack bang in the middle of a residential area and the council are rather strict on what type of business they will let trade there, i don't know the ins and out's but the owner's looking into it for me. As for the servicing the main problem is the initial start up cost to kit myself out with all the tools and consumables i would need however i can assure you that should i get this going my hourly rates will be substantially lower than main dealers and hopefully even lower than most other service centre's.. initial figures show suprisingly low overheads. As for the delivery of large items i know a guy who has just set up his own courier service and is prepared to deliver items upto whatever weight his van can hold at discounted rates, subject to me coming up with a loading/unloading solution. So subject to me gettin the unit and funds (and the missus's approval) could be in business soon. regarding the scrap vehicles i'd agree with the £700 i don't think i've ever known of one below £500 no matter what condition its in.. thanks guys i'll keep ya posted..
 
well if yer do it i might be in the market fer a few doors, bearing in mind they go fer about 15 quid on flea bay
 
hey i think its a great idea and yes i would buy from you allways getting stuff of ebay myself (seems to be the way to sell you items) but have you concidered whether you have enough room i broke a metro this month and used up just about every inch of my double garage, bearing in mind the shell is still in there
where will you be based if you do it
good luck hope yopu make a go of it
 
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