RE Investing Car: How many use a specific car for REI?

[William Huston]

Hey All, 

Today i wanted to bring up an odd topic, was up at the brokers office today after showing a few houses to some clients on my day off from my W2 job and saw one of my fellow realtors drive in with a different car than what i saw him driving last year, since you rarely see fellow realtors up at the office these days with remote home offices.... 

It was a 2018 Mitsubishi Mirage, which he stated he just bought over the weekend. Prior to this car he had a 2016 Kia Soul he said he bought 2 years ago. I asked him why the change, because the kia was slightly larger and was only a 2 years old under warranty still... He told me he had the opportunity to trade into a new car and get a check back on the deal, which intrigued me so i asked him how so...

Basically he said that he trades into the newest cheapest cars he can get into every year or so before the bumper to bumper warranty expires around the end of the year when the new years cars are showing up on the lots, he said there is always a dealership somewhere that will liquidate cars just to clear lots for new inventory... which he takes advantage of... 

He told me 2 years ago he bought the Kia Soul while trading in a Nissan car he had, the kia was being liquidated at the end of the year for $7,995. This past weekend his notifications he has setup told him about a dealership offering 2 new 2018 Mitsubishi Mirages heavily discounted at $6,395. So he called them up and reserved to come see it and bought it, he received $7900 trade in on the kia with 51k miles, so he walked away from the deal with an actual check in his pocket for driving the car for 2 years roughly, also he put 51k miles on it with about 95% of those being business use miles, so he said the car gave him 26k in deductions on his taxes over 2 years driving it.  Granted he does have a 2nd car for pleasure use, but i just thought it was interesting how he is working the system to make money off a 2nd car for business use only... Also he mentioned the insurance on this new car was only $290/yr for full coverage added on his policy.