What will I be doing?

Deserved or not, used-car dealers have a bad reputation. Even those who buy used cars from the owner should be wary. If you know about cars and how to diagnose problems without expensive equipment, you can offer a valuable service to used-car buyers. You can start a used-car inspection service operated from your home.

A used-car inspection service, as you can guess, gets paid for inspecting and assessing the condition of used cars. Some services also offer pricing information based on official pricing books. Many of these services work out of their garage or from their own car.

What will I need to start?

First, you must know how cars run, what makes them not run and how dishonest people can doctor a bad car to make it look and sound good. Fortunately, you don’t have to be a 30-year mechanic to get this knowledge. You can read books and take courses from 30-year mechanics.

You’ll need some basic mechanics tools and test equipment. While a computer chip tester is useful on newer cars, it’s surprising what you can learn about a car with a compression tester and a vacuum gauge.

Who will my customers be?

Your customers will be individuals wanting to buy a good used car at a fair price. They don’t want to pay more than a car is worth because a mechanical problem was intentionally or unintentionally hidden from them. Using automotive pricing guides available at larger bookstores, you can also tell the potential buyer what the typical price should be for the car.