How to Buy a Car to Flip for Profit (Weekend Flip)

0:00 Hey guys, Chris Fix here.

0:01 Today, I'm going to show you how to buy a car

0:03 at a great price with a steep discount because it's broken.

0:06 Then, I'm going to show you how to fix it over

0:08 the weekend with common hand tools so you could do this yourself.

0:11 And finally, I'm going to sell it for a healthy profit.

0:14 And this isn't the first weekend flip I've shown you.

0:17 My favorite weekend flip that I've done because it

0:19 only cost me $500 is this non-running 2005 Trailblazer.

0:23 I ended up diagnosing the problem to be a bad fuel pump.

0:26 So, I dropped the fuel tank and it was out

0:28 with the old melted fuel tank and in with the new.

0:31 Well, newish because I got a working tank from the junkyard.

0:33 And yes, I super cleaned the tank to make it look brand new.

0:36 Then, I took our new tank and installed it back into the car and check it out.

0:43 All right, man.

0:44 She started right up.

0:45 No problem at all.

0:47 Man, she's running great.

0:48 No lights on the dash at all.

0:49 This is exciting.

0:50 We got ourselves a really nice car here.

0:52 So, with the car running, the next step was to deep clean the inside

0:55 and also correct that paintwork on the outside.

0:57 And look at how amazing this came out.

0:59 So, I took a risk on this car for 500 bucks since it wasn't running

1:02 and I fixed it all up using common hand tools for under $500 in parts.

1:07 So, for $1,000 all in, the car is now worth a little over $4,000.

1:12 So, the total profit is $3,000.

1:14 Not bad for a couple days worth of work.

1:17 And for my most recent flip,

1:18 I bought this 2013 Prius for dirt cheap because it had a bad hybrid battery.

1:22 So, I showed you guys how to remove the bad hybrid battery from the car,

1:25 then how to remove the case, remove the old prismatic cells,

1:29 and package them up to ship them back for a core charge.

1:31 Then, I showed you how to install the new upgraded cylindrical cells,

1:34 then reinstall the case, torque each bolt to spec,

1:37 and then reinstall the rebuilt hybrid battery pack into the car.

1:40 Now, the car ran great, but there was a concerning rattling noise.

1:44 And luckily, it was just a broken exhaust hanger.

1:47 So, I showed you guys how to weld

1:48 this at home and then coat it with some high-temperature paint.

1:51 And now, the car was running and there was no more rattling.

1:54 Next, I showed you how to deep clean the interior

1:56 using a brush and an extractor vacuum starting with the carpets.

1:59 And this vacuum works amazing at dissolving

2:01 the dirt and then sucking it all out.

2:02 It also works amazing for getting dirt out of the seats.

2:05 And although the seats look pretty clean,

2:07 I could tell you they were actually very dirty.

2:09 Here's all the dirt that we removed just from that one seat.

2:12 What a difference from the water we used to clean it.

2:14 So, I showed you guys how to clean the rest of the car and it

2:16 went from this to this, this to this, before and after, dirty and clean.

2:21 And finally, I showed you guys how to clean and polish

2:23 the paintwork to bring back the shine using a DA buffer.

2:26 And after buffing off the polish, look at this difference.

2:29 So, we polished the rest of the car, which not only gave it a deep glossy shine,

2:32 but also removed a lot of the clear coat scratches like this.

2:35 Look at that before and after.

2:37 And finally, I showed you how attention

2:38 to detail makes a big difference and cleaning

2:40 simple spots that you don't think about will make the car look brand new.

2:44 So, the car cost us $2,700 and with the battery and other parts we put into it,

2:48 we spent $2,400 totaling $5,100.

2:51 Now, the car on the low end was worth $8,000,

2:53 so that gave us a $2,900 profit for a weekend's worth of work.

2:57 And now, I ended up liking this car so much, I didn't sell her.

3:00 I kept her and she's been a great reliable daily

3:03 driver for the last 3 years and over 30,000 miles.

3:06 So, for our next weekend flip, which I will sell this time,

3:09 I found this 2009 Toyota Highlander Hybrid

3:13 for a really good price and here's why.

3:15 If we take a look inside the car,

3:17 the previous owner said they were driving along and all of a sudden there was

3:19 a chime and then they found a bunch of lights popping up on the dash

3:24 warning them something and then this over

3:25 here popped up saying check the brake system

3:27 and check the hybrid system and to pull

3:29 over immediately because there's a major problem.

3:32 So, they drove to the dealership.

3:33 The dealership plugged in their scan tool and found the problem

3:36 that it is a bad hybrid battery and it needed to be replaced.

3:39 And this cost them $200 to diagnose.

3:42 So, they got a quote to fix the car and as you could see,

3:45 it is $9,000 for a new hybrid battery,

3:48 which is basically how much this car is worth.

3:50 So, instead, I went online and ordered an upgraded battery for half the price.

3:54 And I've ordered from Electron in the past.

3:56 They have a shop in Orange County,

3:57 California that you could get your car fixed at or you could pick your year,

4:00 make, and model and have the battery shipped to you.

4:02 If you need something more budget-friendly,

4:03 you could get a rebuild kit with OEM cells for a little over $2,600,

4:07 which is what I did in the gray Prius over 7 years ago.

4:10 And I recently checked in with that owner and that car is still running great.

4:13 But for this car, I'm going to go with a brand new upgraded drop-in battery,

4:17 which has a 3-year, 45,000-mile warranty.

4:19 That way, I know the next owner is protected

4:21 and I'm trying to make this as simple as possible.

4:23 So, for a little over $3,900,

4:25 we have a brand new upgraded ready to go hybrid battery that we could put

4:28 in the car and that sure beats the $9,000

4:31 quote they gave the previous owners from Toyota.

4:34 So, by doing this ourselves, we're going to save a lot of money.

4:36 So, let's get started.

4:38 Okay, first things first, let me show you how to find a good

4:40 deal and that starts right here on the computer.

4:43 And this is my secret weapon to finding cars quickly.

4:45 It's a site called AutoTempest.

4:47 So, this website searches a bunch of different car

4:48 for sale websites all in one click like eBay Motors,

4:51 cars.com, TrueCar, as well as a bunch of other sites.

4:54 So, it's a one-stop shop.

4:56 It even helps you search Craigslist in a large area, not just your local town.

4:59 That way, you don't miss a good deal that might be a little bit further away.

5:02 And the same thing for Facebook Marketplace.

5:04 You could search regions.

5:05 That way, you're not missing deals that might be just out of your range.

5:08 Now, the trick to finding a cheap project

5:09 car is to filter your search with keywords.

5:11 And here's a list of the keywords I use.

5:13 If you want, you could screenshot this real quick.

5:15 That way, you have them saved.

5:16 But keywords like project or won't start or dead battery or needs work are

5:20 all good search terms that find their way

5:22 into listings for cars that are projects.

5:25 So, by searching needs work,

5:26 you could see we have a bunch of listings here with cars that might need work.

5:29 But not every one of these is going to be a good deal.

5:31 You need to keep an eye out for the ones that stand out.

5:33 For example, if we scroll back up real quick,

5:35 there's this Mercedes SUV for $5,500 that caught my eye.

5:39 And if we take a look at the description for this listing,

5:41 they said that the dealer diagnosed that it needs a new fuel pump.

5:44 So, I looked it up and found an OEM fuel pump for 150 bucks.

5:47 They also said that the driver window isn't working

5:50 and I found a window motor for 50 bucks.

5:52 So, assuming the rest of the car is good, even if we paid full asking price,

5:55 you're going to have an amazing deal because

5:57 the car is worth at least $8,000 all fixed up.

6:00 So, deals like this exist, but it takes patience to find.

6:03 Another good listing I found is the car I ended up buying,

6:05 the Toyota Highlander Hybrid.

6:07 So, for this listing,

6:08 you could see he was asking $4,000 or best offer and there's no accidents.

6:12 It's a one-owner car.

6:14 And if we take a look at the description,

6:15 the owner says he's selling it because of the bad hybrid

6:17 battery and Toyota wants a lot of money to fix it.

6:20 He has a list of pros and cons, which is helpful.

6:23 And if we take a look at the pictures,

6:24 the car looks dirty, but is otherwise in decent shape.

6:27 There's no major damage visible and it has nice new tires.

6:30 Now, if we take a look at the price trends tab,

6:32 which is a really useful tool, and just search our car's year,

6:35 make, and model, now we have the list price

6:37 of tons of cars for the last 5 years.

6:39 And I want to filter this down to the last

6:41 6 months because it's going to be more accurate for us.

6:43 I also want to filter out the outliers because those could skew the price a bit.

6:47 Okay, and that looks pretty good.

6:48 And you could see right here is a similar Highlander Hybrid.

6:51 It's currently listed for $13,000.

6:53 And then we have one down here at the bottom listed for $6,000.

6:57 And our average list price is about $9,100.

6:59 Remember, this is list price, not sold price.

7:02 I also compared the blue book value,

7:04 which is 9,200, so we're right in the ballpark.

7:06 So, if I could get this car for $3,000 or less, we could make a healthy profit.

7:10 So, I offered the guy 2,500.

7:12 He countered at 3,500 and after a little back and forth,

7:15 we both ended up meeting in the middle at 2,800.

7:19 And now, I'm officially the owner of another broken project car.

7:22 So, thank you, AutoTempest,

7:23 for supporting the video and giving us a way to find great deals like this.

7:27 Now, let's go replace the hybrid battery.

7:29 And here all the tools and products you're going to need.

7:31 Let's get our safety glasses on.

7:33 And the first thing I want to say, if you have power tools,

7:36 it will make this job so much quicker and easier.

7:38 But as you know, I'm not going to use them.

7:40 I'm going to use common hand tools so you guys know

7:43 you could get this job done at home yourself, no problem.

7:46 We also have a multimeter.

7:48 We have an OBD-II scan tool.

7:50 That way, we could check the codes on the computer.

7:52 And then I have a 12-V battery tester.

7:55 This is actually very important right now because when I

7:56 went to pick up this vehicle, it did not start.

7:59 It needed to get jump-started, which means that our battery could be bad.

8:03 So, we need to test it out.

8:04 So, let's remove the cover on the positive terminal and connect

8:06 the alligator clips to the battery to power it up.

8:08 So, now we want to test the battery.

8:10 It's a regular flooded battery.

8:11 We use cold cranking amps.

8:12 This battery has 550 cold cranking amps.

8:15 Beautiful.

8:15 And you could see it says we have 100% battery life, which is great.

8:19 Well, that's a relief because a new 12-V battery is pricey.

8:22 That would have definitely cut into our profits.

8:23 But we're good to go here.

8:24 Okay, now the next thing to do is grab an OBD-II scan tool like this.

8:28 This plugs into the computer and it will check

8:31 to make sure that the hybrid battery is actually bad.

8:34 And also, we want to make sure there's no other problems with this car.

8:38 And the OBD-II port to plug this into is located under the driver side dash.

8:42 So, if we take a look, it is right there.

8:45 So, just plug it into the port,

8:46 then turn the car to the run position, but don't start it.

8:49 Now, go to your phone and open up the app and we're ready to scan the computer.

8:53 So, we're going to do a full system scan, which not only checks the ECU,

8:56 but it also checks other computers in the car

8:58 from ABS to airbag to body control modules.

9:01 This is going to give us a good idea of the health of the car.

9:03 And now that it's complete, if we look, the ABS computer has a code,

9:06 but that's due to the high voltage system malfunction.

9:09 And then let's look at the cruise control computer,

9:10 which also shows a bad hybrid battery.

9:13 And finally, the hybrid control computer is showing a P0A80 code,

9:17 which means that the hybrid battery is bad.

9:19 And real quick, with the scan tool,

9:20 we could tap into the computer and look a little bit deeper.

9:23 So, click on the freeze frame data and this is

9:24 the data that's recorded when the code was triggered.

9:27 And there's a lot of data here, but we want to find the battery block voltages.

9:30 So, right here, you could see 18 V or so,

9:34 but there's one outlier at 16 V, which is block three.

9:37 So, that's the bad battery block, which caused this battery to fail.

9:40 Now we know that the battery is actually bad, let's replace it.

9:43 So, let's unplug the scan tool.

9:45 Then, we want to move both front seats forward all

9:47 the way to give us more room in the back seat area.

9:49 Now, let's disconnect the wire on the negative terminal of the battery.

9:52 That way, we don't drain the battery since the doors

9:53 are going to be open for a good amount of time.

9:55 Now, I'm trying to make this as easy as possible

9:57 for anybody who has to do this, so I made a checklist.

10:00 I'll put a link in the description where you can download it for free,

10:03 and it covers the entire process step-by-step on removing

10:06 the old battery and installing the new one.

10:08 Plus, you have this video to follow to make it as easy as possible.

10:11 So, the hybrid battery is located underneath the seats.

10:13 We're going to remove the seats, fold the carpet up, unbolt the battery,

10:16 disconnect a couple of wiring harnesses,

10:18 remove the old battery, install the new one.

10:20 It is that simple, so let's get started.

10:23 And the first thing we need to do is remove

10:25 the four bolts that's holding the front of the seats in.

10:27 So, get both plastic seat rail covers off, and then remove both seat bolts.

10:30 These are 14 mm, and that's one, and that's the other.

10:34 Good.

10:35 And now, to keep things organized,

10:36 I'm putting the bolts with the plastic covers.

10:38 Now, let's do the same thing to the other seat,

10:40 remove the plastic covers, and then the two 14 mm bolts.

10:43 Good.

10:43 Then, move the seat forward on the passenger side, as well as the driver side,

10:47 and you're also going to want to fold it down.

10:49 And that exposes the four plastic seat rail covers.

10:52 There's one here, there, there, and there, and they need to be removed.

10:57 And to remove these, just get your fingers under the plastic

10:59 and give it a quick pull upwards to pop it out.

11:02 And don't be afraid to give this a good yank.

11:04 You can see these are very durable clips,

11:05 thick plastic with metal pieces, so they are not going to break.

11:09 Now, as I remove parts, I'm going to place it on this back seat,

11:12 cuz this back seat is not going to move.

11:14 It's a good place to store pieces.

11:15 I know that piece is going to go there.

11:17 I know that piece is going to go there.

11:18 It just helps keep things organized.

11:20 So, with those two pieces removed, now let's remove these two.

11:25 So, with the rear plastics removed, there's six bolts,

11:27 well, technically seven bolts holding in these rear seats.

11:29 There's one there, two, three, four, five, six,

11:33 and then underneath here is a hidden bolt that is holding in this seat belt.

11:37 So, we have to remove this passenger seat first to get to that bolt.

11:40 So, let's get this out.

11:41 And just like the front bolts, these are also 14 mm, so break it loose,

11:45 then loosen it up by hand, and finally, a magnet makes it easy to remove.

11:49 Now, the inner seat rail is held in with two 14 mm bolts,

11:52 so loosen them up and remove them all the way as well.

11:54 Good.

11:54 And now comes the most difficult part of this whole job,

11:57 the folding seat release cable.

11:59 And this is under tension.

12:00 So, to release that tension, all you need to do is pull the seat release,

12:03 but it has to stay pulled out.

12:04 And if you're working by yourself, that closes when you let go.

12:08 So, a little trick is to grab one of those seat bolts that you removed,

12:11 and it fits right here and holds it open for you.

12:15 Okay, so with the tension removed,

12:16 use a pocket pry bar to pop this plastic piece open.

12:19 Good.

12:19 And then, we need to line up this little keyway here,

12:21 so the cable could be removed.

12:23 So, spin this metal disc so that the opening lines up with the keyway,

12:27 then carefully move this wire out.

12:29 Perfect.

12:30 That went way easier than it usually does.

12:32 Now, we can remove the bolt and let this back down,

12:34 then push the seat back so it clicks in place,

12:36 and now the seat could be removed.

12:38 And the best way to do this is to tilt the seat sideways out the door,

12:41 then rotate it so the rails are facing up and down,

12:44 and now you can easily pull the seat out of the doorway by yourself.

12:47 Just be careful not to hit the metal

12:49 rails against any of the plastic inside the car.

12:51 Beautiful.

12:51 So, with that seat removed,

12:52 now we have access to that extra bolt right there for this bracket,

12:56 which holds in this seat belt.

12:58 So, let's remove it.

12:59 So, break the 14 mm bolt free, and then remove it the rest of the way,

13:02 and now you can remove the mounting plate and set it aside.

13:05 Okay, only two more seat rails to go, so remove the bolt on the outer rail.

13:09 Good.

13:10 And then, remove the last two bolts on the inner rail.

13:13 And then, finally, we have the dreaded seat release cable.

13:15 So, prop that seat release open with the seat bolt.

13:18 Now, open up the plastic with a pocket pry bar.

13:21 Good.

13:21 And now, we need to line up the disc with the keyway,

13:24 and carefully remove the cable.

13:26 Beautiful.

13:26 That went way too easy.

13:27 So, now we can remove the bolt from the seat release,

13:29 and the seat could come out.

13:30 Just be careful not to damage the plastics or the door.

13:33 Okay, and just like that, both seats are out.

13:36 So, with our seats removed, now we have access to our battery.

13:40 Check this out.

13:41 So, it's right here under the carpeting.

13:43 You can see it right there.

13:44 Now, before you touch the battery, it's very, very,

13:47 very, very important that we remove the safety plug.

13:50 When you remove the safety plug,

13:51 it cuts the voltage to the battery and makes it safe to work on.

13:55 So, do not skip this step.

13:56 It's very important.

13:57 And to remove it, just pull open

13:59 the orange safety handle and pull it straight out.

14:01 Beautiful.

14:02 And with our safety plug removed, we can now safely work on the battery.

14:05 So, next, what we're going to do is we're going

14:07 to pull up this carpet and fold it over here.

14:09 But, in order to pull up the carpet,

14:10 we need to remove a couple pieces of plastic trim.

14:13 And just give that a quick yank straight up.

14:15 And with that removed,

14:16 now let's head over to the passenger side and remove this one as well.

14:20 Now, all that's left are these three plastic vents that need to come out.

14:23 And to remove them, there's two hidden screws under here,

14:25 so use a pocket pry bar to pop these tabs down,

14:28 and then remove both of these with a 10 mm socket.

14:30 That's one, and that's the other.

14:33 Now, the vent comes right out.

14:35 Now, we can repeat the process for the other two vents,

14:37 unscrew the two screws, and the vent comes right out.

14:40 And finally, for our last vent, you guessed it,

14:42 unscrew both screws and remove the vent.

14:45 So, with all three vents removed, if you own a hybrid, listen up.

14:48 I'm about to save you a ton of money.

14:50 Make sure you find your vents and clean them out.

14:52 Look at all this carpet material, dirt, debris that's stuck in the vent here.

14:56 You can barely see my hand through this, and it is all clogged up.

15:00 That is horrible.

15:01 There is no way air is flowing through this efficiently.

15:03 And the number one killer to hybrid batteries is heat.

15:06 So, it's important that air could flow through this to cool the battery.

15:09 And also, something I've noticed,

15:10 every single hybrid battery that I've ever replaced has had a clogged up vent.

15:15 So, there's no doubt that this will degrade the battery quicker over time.

15:18 So, clean your vents.

15:20 And the easiest way to clean the vents is to use a hose like this.

15:23 And that's much better.

15:24 Look at that difference.

15:25 So, I'm going to hose off the other vents,

15:27 being sure to get all that debris out of there.

15:28 That way, they could actually let air flow through efficiently.

15:31 And let's do our last one.

15:33 Beautiful.

15:33 And look at that.

15:34 Now, our vents are nice and clean, and the air can actually flow through them.

15:38 And speaking of clean, since we're going to lift this carpet up and over,

15:41 we probably want to clean this up.

15:42 Now, I could pretty confidently say this is probably the first time

15:45 this carpet's ever been cleaned under these seats since the car was new.

15:48 So, by vacuuming, not only is this going to look cleaner,

15:51 but I bet it's going to help reduce that musty smell in here.

15:53 So, take your time and vacuum up the carpet

15:55 while the seats are out to clean it real good.

15:58 And that's much better.

15:59 So, with the carpet clean, let's lift it up and fold it over.

16:02 So, there's three panel clips we need to remove,

16:03 and to get them out, they lift straight up.

16:05 And now, the carpet's free.

16:07 So, just pull the carpet up and fold it over, and there's the battery.

16:10 Now, let's remove this rubber piece,

16:12 then we can remove the three black plastic vent tubes,

16:14 which divert air to the battery.

16:15 Next, we need to remove this, but first, unplug the wire here.

16:18 So, just depress the tab and pull it straight out.

16:21 And now, this plastic piece pops out,

16:23 which gives us access to the high voltage wires under here.

16:26 But first, we need to remove this safety panel clip.

16:28 And this isn't a normal panel clip.

16:29 To remove this, you need to use the safety plug and get

16:32 the end here and twist it inside, so it pops up.

16:35 Now, all that's left are these two bolts

16:36 that hold the panel on, and these are 10 mm,

16:38 so unscrew both of these, and now the panel can be removed.

16:41 And that gives us access to the two high voltage wires we need to disconnect.

16:44 Now, the car is off,

16:45 the 12-V battery is disconnected, the safety plug is removed,

16:48 and there are other safety features in this battery

16:50 to make sure that those don't have any power.

16:52 But, to be extra safe, I will show you how to verify there is

16:55 no voltage using a multimeter set to DC volts.

16:58 So, get your two leads and touch one lead

17:00 to one post and the other lead to the other post,

17:02 and you can see the multimeter says 0 V, so it's safe to work on.

17:05 So, use a 10 mm socket with an extension to remove both of these nuts,

17:09 and a stick magnet works great down here, so you don't drop the nut.

17:12 And real quick, where these wires go matters.

17:14 So, you can see there's a white piece of tape,

17:15 which goes here, and a red piece of tape, which goes here.

17:18 If we remove this, you can see there's red paint there,

17:21 and if we remove this one, you can see there's white paint there.

17:24 So, that's how you can keep track.

17:25 So, when you reinstall it, don't forget that.

17:27 Now, we want to tuck these wires underneath the case,

17:30 so when we pull the case out, they don't get caught.

17:32 So, with our high voltage wires disconnected,

17:34 all we need to do now is remove a vent tube right there,

17:37 disconnect a couple of wires,

17:39 and then unbolt this from the car, and it'll come right out.

17:42 So, let's start by going to the passenger side and removing the vent tube.

17:46 Good.

17:46 Now, just for reference, the new battery won't have one of these vent tubes,

17:49 because it's no longer needed.

17:50 So, now let's go remove the wiring harness.

17:53 And don't worry about keeping track of which wire goes where.

17:55 All these connectors are different, and you can't mix them up.

17:57 Good.

17:58 Then, pop out the wire holder, and there's also a wire holder here,

18:01 a holder here, and a holder here.

18:04 Then, there's two more connectors down here in the middle,

18:07 and two wire holders on the battery case that need to pop out.

18:09 And then, the wire could be removed from here.

18:11 So, with the harness loose,

18:12 there's only one more holder that needs to be removed, and finally,

18:15 we could come over to the driver side

18:16 of the battery and remove the last two wire connectors.

18:20 So, that's one, and that's another,

18:22 and then there's one last wire holder back here.

18:24 Beautiful.

18:25 With all the wires disconnected,

18:26 what I like to do is I like to grab the wiring harness,

18:28 and I just like to put it on top of the back seat in the corner here.

18:31 That way, it's out of the way for when we remove our battery.

18:34 Now, the only thing holding the battery in are six

18:37 bolts in the rear and five bolts in the front.

18:40 So, let's start removing these bolts.

18:42 So, these bolts use a 12 mm socket, and that's one, and that's two.

18:46 Then, we can slide over to the middle and remove these two bolts.

18:50 And that's three, and four.

18:53 And the last two bolts are right here.

18:55 So, that's five, and that's six.

18:58 Perfect.

18:58 So, with all six bolts removed from the back of the case,

19:01 now let's remove the five bolts from the front of the case.

19:04 So, the two bolts we have to remove are actually hidden behind these brackets.

19:07 It's hard to see.

19:07 You could kind of see it right there, and a little bit right there.

19:11 So, to get to them, we're going to remove this big bracket piece,

19:13 which is held in by those two bolts.

19:15 And these bolts are 10 mm,

19:16 so let's remove these, and now the bracket could come out,

19:19 giving us access to the two bolts that mount the battery to the chassis.

19:23 And these are 12 mm, just like the rear bolts, so remove both of them,

19:26 and then there's one bolt in the middle that needs to be removed.

19:29 And finally, on the passenger side, we have to remove the bracket,

19:31 which is held in by the two bolts.

19:33 And then, when that comes out, that gives us access to the last two

19:35 bolts that's holding the battery to the chassis.

19:37 Perfect.

19:38 Now, the battery is completely loose.

19:40 All right.

19:40 So, with our checklist complete,

19:41 that means we are ready to remove the hybrid battery.

19:44 Now, this is a pretty heavy battery at 160 lb,

19:47 so I recommend using two people to remove this.

19:49 What we're going to do is we're going to turn the battery on its side,

19:51 and then pull it out through this doorway here,

19:54 being careful not to damage the door or the door sill.

19:56 And what I'm going to do is I'm going to put

19:58 a moving blanket down here because as you pull this out,

20:00 it's pretty heavy, you're going to want to rest it,

20:02 and it's a perfect place to rest this.

20:03 So, let's go and remove this battery.

20:05 1 2 3.

20:06 Now, this battery is very heavy at around 180 lb,

20:09 which is twice as heavy as the normal Prius battery.

20:12 So, be careful, and I highly recommend having a buddy help you with this one.

20:15 And once you get the old battery out of the car,

20:17 you're going to want to place it on the pallet the new battery came

20:19 on, then strap it down so you could return it for the core charge.

20:23 They include free shipping and come to you to pick it up, which makes this easy.

20:26 So, it's out with the old and in with the new,

20:29 and this upgraded battery pack is ready to go as is, so let's get it installed.

20:34 And I found that the easiest way to get the new

20:36 battery in is to rest it on the door sill,

20:38 and then you can move it the rest of the way from the inside.

20:40 But, just be careful not to trip.

20:42 Then you can lay it down into place,

20:43 and just make sure you don't pinch your fingers.

20:45 Perfect.

20:46 And finally, we can remove the mover's blanket.

20:48 All right, so our upgraded hybrid battery is in.

20:51 Installation is opposite of removal,

20:53 which makes this nice and easy since we have a checklist.

20:55 We're going to work our way up the checklist,

20:57 and it's also good that we kept our fasteners nice and organized,

21:01 so this will be quick and easy.

21:02 So, the first thing we need to do is install

21:04 the front bolts that hold the battery to the chassis.

21:07 Actually, real quick,

21:07 you see how that bolt hole doesn't line up with the hole in the case?

21:10 We need to move the battery just a little bit.

21:12 You just shift it just enough like that so it lines up.

21:16 So, with all the holes lined up at the front of the battery,

21:19 we also have the holes lined up at the back of the battery.

21:22 We're good to go here.

21:23 So, now we can torque down all five

21:25 of these battery to chassis bolts to 20 ft-lb.

21:29 Then we need to install the two vent brackets,

21:31 so get that in place and torque each of these bolts to 60 in-lb.

21:35 And you're going to do the same for the other vent bracket as well.

21:38 Now, with the front bolts tightened down, let's go to the rear of the battery,

21:41 and there are six bolts here that we need to torque to spec,

21:43 which again is 20 ft-lb.

21:45 Beautiful.

21:46 And now the battery is bolted to the chassis.

21:48 So, now let's go grab our wiring harness,

21:50 and then spread it back out across the battery where it's supposed to go,

21:54 and let's start over here on the driver's side connecting the connectors.

21:57 And there's two connectors here and one wire holder back here.

22:00 And it's very important that when you're connecting these wire connectors,

22:03 it makes a solid click because if any of these are not pushed in all the way,

22:06 you're going to get a check engine light.

22:08 So, make sure you connect all six connectors nice and tight.

22:11 Beautiful.

22:11 So, with the wiring harness connected,

22:13 now let's go connect our high voltage wires.

22:16 So, untuck them out of here, which we did so they wouldn't get damaged

22:18 by the battery when we removed it and installed it.

22:21 And remember, red goes to red and white goes to white.

22:23 So, get each wire on the correct stud,

22:26 then get the nuts on each of the studs finger tight,

22:28 and these get torqued to 60 in-lb.

22:30 Good.

22:31 Now, get the cover plate on, and these two bolts also get torqued to 60 in-lb.

22:35 Then our safety panel clip could get installed,

22:37 and just push the middle to lock it in.

22:39 So, with the high voltage cover installed,

22:40 now let's install this black cover, which just pushes right in.

22:43 And don't forget to connect the wire and the wire holder as well.

22:47 Next, we want to install the black vent plastics,

22:49 and they all fit into place like so.

22:51 Then get the rubber cover in place, and then the carpet could get folded down

22:54 and tucked under the plastic trim so it looks good.

22:57 And don't forget to install the three panel clips that hold the carpet in.

23:00 Good.

23:00 Now, let's move to the front of the battery pack and install the vents,

23:03 starting with the middle vent.

23:04 So, tighten the two bolts down, then snap the covers closed.

23:07 Same for the other two vents,

23:08 tighten down the bolts, and snap the covers closed.

23:12 Now, with all our vents in, let's go add our safety plug and test out

23:15 the battery just in case we forgot

23:17 to connect something or something's not working right.

23:19 We want to know now rather than when everything's back and installed.

23:22 So, push the plug in all the way, and then turn the latch so it locks in.

23:26 Good.

23:26 Now, connect the negative terminal on the battery

23:28 and tighten it down so it's snug.

23:30 Don't over-tighten this.

23:31 Okay, moment of truth.

23:32 Let's test her out and see what we got.

23:35 All right, so our dash doesn't have any check engine lights.

23:38 If we come over here,

23:39 you can see our engine is charging up our new hybrid battery,

23:43 and finally, there are no warning lights on here.

23:45 So, we are good to go.

23:47 Now, let's finish getting the last bits of the interior back together,

23:50 starting with the door sill trim.

23:52 Then we want to carefully get the passenger seat in first,

23:54 and now we can connect the seat fold down cable,

23:56 which carefully fits into this keyway.

23:58 Good, and then push the plastic cap back together like that.

24:01 And don't forget to remove your seat belt from the latch.

24:04 Okay, now slide the seat cable onto the metal bracket,

24:06 then torque the seat bolts on the inner seat rail to 27 ft-lb,

24:10 and get that plastic cover back on.

24:12 Then we can torque the seat bolt on the outer seat rail to 27 ft-lb,

24:15 and get that plastic cover on as well.

24:17 So, with our seat rail covers installed, now let's go install the seat belt.

24:21 So, get the bracket in place,

24:22 and then put the seat belt through this loop on the side of the seat,

24:25 and torque that bolt to 27 ft-lb.

24:27 Now, we can get the passenger side seat in, and carefully

24:31 get this seat fold down cable into the keyway.

24:34 Perfect.

24:34 Now, snap this together, and let's mount it to the seat rail.

24:37 Good.

24:38 Now, torque the seat bolts to 27 ft-lb, get the plastic seat cover in place,

24:42 remove the seat bolt from the latch,

24:44 and use that bolt on the outer seat rail and torque it to spec.

24:47 Good.

24:48 And finally, get that last plastic cover in place.

24:50 And we are almost done.

24:51 So, the back of the seats are bolted down.

24:53 Now, let's come to the front of the seats and finish bolting them down.

24:56 So, get both bolts in, torque them to 27 ft-lb,

24:59 and then get the plastic covers on.

25:01 Good.

25:01 And same for the passenger side.

25:03 Get the bolts in, torque them to spec, and get the plastic covers back on.

25:07 All right, so with the rear seats bolted

25:09 in, we have officially replaced the hybrid battery.

25:12 Our checklist is complete,

25:14 and I am so excited because now we get to go for a test drive.

25:18 All right, check it out.

25:20 So, we have no dash lights, the battery's charging up,

25:23 we have almost 30 mi a gallon on the dash, and the AC is ice cold.

25:27 This car is driving great.

25:29 I really like this car a lot.

25:31 And don't worry, I will sell it this time.

25:33 I will say when I turned the AC on, it did smell a little musty.

25:36 Don't worry, when we get back,

25:37 I'll show you how to fix that with a new cabin air filter.

25:40 And it is a mess.

25:41 The glass is a mess, the dash is all dusty, everything's all dirty.

25:44 I'll show you how to clean up all of that.

25:46 So, let's head back now and clean this car so we can sell it.

25:49 All right, so back at the house,

25:51 we have a car that's in perfect running condition with no problems.

25:54 The hybrid battery is fixed.

25:56 The last thing to do before we sell it is clean the car.

25:58 Never sell a car that is dirty, you're leaving money on the table.

26:01 If the wheels are dirty,

26:03 if the headlights are foggy, if your paint work's dirty,

26:06 the interior's dirty, all those things will decrease the value of the car.

26:09 It's so easy to clean a car,

26:12 which will increase the value and make it quicker and easier to sell.

26:15 The first thing we're going to clean is the interior.

26:17 I'm going to show you my tips and tricks,

26:19 but I really want to get a brand new cabin air filter in there.

26:22 This thing costs 15 bucks.

26:23 It's so easy to replace, and I think it'll fix that musty smell.

26:26 So, let me show you how to do it.

26:27 Now, for most cars, the cabin air filter could

26:29 be found on the passenger side behind the glove box.

26:32 So, just open the glove box and remove all the junk inside.

26:35 And now you can see it won't go any lower

26:36 than this, so grab the sides and bend them inwards,

26:39 which will allow you to lower it all the way down.

26:41 Now, we can access the cabin filter back here.

26:43 So, pop this open, then take the cover off the filter box,

26:46 and notice how right there it says up.

26:48 Make sure you remember that.

26:49 And now we can remove the old air filter by sliding it straight out.

26:53 So, it's out with the old dirty filter, and look at this.

26:56 No wonder it smelled musty in here.

26:58 And in with the brand new one.

27:00 What a difference.

27:01 So, let's get this installed.

27:03 So, the new filter goes right in, and make

27:04 sure you keep that arrow up just like before.

27:06 Then install the cover for the filter box,

27:08 making sure it clicks in, then close the other

27:10 cover and make sure that clicks in as well,

27:12 and finally, just close your glove box all the way.

27:15 Now, it'll open normally,

27:16 and don't forget to put all that stuff back into your glove box.

27:19 With that done, now let's go clean the interior because it definitely needs it.

27:23 I mean, look at how dirty this is.

27:24 Look at all the dust on the dash.

27:26 Look at all the dust and the dirt over here.

27:29 Even the screen is all messy, the center console's disgusting.

27:32 Look at this down in here.

27:33 I don't even want to touch that.

27:35 Inside the buttons, inside the cup holders, over here where there's dials.

27:40 Basically, anywhere you're going to touch,

27:41 any dials that you're going to turn, they're all grimy and disgusting.

27:44 Who wants to buy a car with somebody else's dirt and grime?

27:47 And to clean this up, all you need is some soapy water and a brush.

27:50 And what you're going to want to do

27:51 is spray the soapy water directly into the brush,

27:54 and then simply brush the surface you're trying to clean,

27:56 making sure you don't miss any spots.

27:58 Next, grab a microfiber towel and dry the surface completely,

28:01 and this towel's absorbing all the dirty soapy

28:03 water and leaving behind a nice clean surface.

28:05 With that dry, then get another microfiber towel

28:07 and spray it with some non-greasy interior protectant,

28:10 and this works great on plastics, vinyl, and rubber.

28:12 Now, you can work that protectant into the dash,

28:14 and already you can see how amazing this looks.

28:16 The good thing is this protectant dries completely, and it's non-greasy.

28:19 It actually adds a UV protection layer

28:20 and makes the dust and dirt wipe off easier.

28:23 So, now you know the process to clean all the plastics in the car.

28:26 Just brush in the soapy water,

28:27 then you soak up all that dirty water with a clean towel,

28:30 and finally, you wipe it down with your protectant to make it look brand new.

28:33 And check out that before and after.

28:36 And here's another before and after.

28:38 Next, I've been wanting to clean the shifter

28:39 the second I bought this car because it's so dirty.

28:42 And again, it's the same process.

28:43 And look at that.

28:45 Here's a before and after.

28:46 Dirty buttons, clean buttons.

28:49 Dirty cup holder, clean cup holder.

28:51 And a lot of people have a hard time cleaning deep cup holders like this.

28:53 So, real quick, just use a brush with some soapy water,

28:56 and brush it until all that gunk down there is loose.

28:59 And then do the same thing to the other cup holders.

29:00 Swirl that brush around, and get all that dirt loose,

29:03 and then you can take your microfiber towel and absorb

29:05 all that dirt up and out of the cup holder.

29:08 And finally, you can wipe this down with the protectant,

29:10 and this came out amazing.

29:11 Here's a before and after.

29:13 So, now you can apply this method of cleaning

29:14 to the rest of the interior and watch the transformation.

29:17 And attention to detail is key to make your plastics look brand new.

29:21 I even like to clean the gas and brake pedals,

29:23 and the brush works great at getting all the dirt out of the textured surface.

29:26 But remember, never use any protectant on the pedals.

29:28 Protectant makes it slippery, and that wouldn't be good,

29:31 especially for your brake pedal.

29:32 So, I think you get the idea.

29:33 Look at this interior.

29:35 It came out incredible.

29:37 The door panels look brand new, the dash looks amazing,

29:40 the center stack here, screens, all the buttons and dials are prindle.

29:45 Look at all this.

29:46 The cup holders, they all came out looking brand new.

29:50 And it is just a really nice place to be in this car.

29:52 Steering wheel, I mean, you get the idea.

29:54 Just pay attention to the little details,

29:56 get into all the nooks and crannies with that brush,

29:58 and it's going to make a huge difference.

30:00 Now, we still have two things left to do.

30:01 We have to get the carpets done and the seats cleaned.

30:04 And the seats look decent, but wait till you see this.

30:07 Now, I'm going to use tape so you can easily see the difference.

30:09 And I'm not going to work this in too much just so you

30:11 can see how much even a little cleaning will make a big difference.

30:14 Now, let's wipe this down with a dry towel.

30:16 And even though the seats looked pretty clean before, look at that difference.

30:19 Pretty much all seats will have a layer of grime.

30:21 I mean, you do sit on them every time you drive.

30:23 Okay, so now let's even this out and get the whole seat clean.

30:27 And it's amazing how much lighter of a color

30:28 these seats actually are when they aren't dirty.

30:31 And finally, add some protectant so the seats

30:33 could stay clean and the pleather could stay hydrated.

30:35 So, I cleaned all the seats, they're looking amazing.

30:37 You guys don't need to see every single seat getting clean,

30:39 but I do want to show you this right here

30:41 because there is a stain that is not coming up easily.

30:44 So, let me show you how to get that out.

30:45 So, my trick with stains is using a steam cleaner.

30:48 The heat from the steam works really well on interior stains,

30:50 whether it's seats or the carpet.

30:52 It just helps make it a lot easier to remove them.

30:54 And this stain is a pretty tough one,

30:56 so I'm using a stiff bristle brush to really agitate that stain.

30:59 So, check that out.

31:00 It's still there, but this is way better.

31:02 Now, I'm going to get a little more

31:03 aggressive and very carefully use a plastic razor blade.

31:06 This is a last-ditch effort to remove

31:07 this stain because the brush just wasn't aggressive enough.

31:10 And I'm really not pressing hard at all.

31:11 I'm just using the edge to try to lift

31:13 the stain as it gets blasted by the steam.

31:15 So, just take your time and don't be too aggressive,

31:17 and eventually that stain's going to come out.

31:20 Beautiful.

31:20 And check that out.

31:21 Here's a before and after.

31:23 All right, so that looks way better.

31:25 You can still kind of see a faded area there.

31:27 Don't worry, over time that'll blend in just from use.

31:30 But no matter what, that's way better than what it was.

31:33 So, with all our seats nice and clean,

31:35 with all our plastics nice and clean, that leaves us one thing.

31:38 And it catches your eye right away when you open the door,

31:41 and that's these dirty carpets.

31:43 So, to clean the carpets, first let's remove the floor mat.

31:45 And it looks like we have a dried lizard under here.

31:48 Then you're going to want to vacuum everything

31:49 to get all the loose dirt out of the fibers.

31:51 And don't worry about the stains right now,

31:52 that's going to get cleaned in the next step.

31:54 Next, you want to get some soapy water and a brush,

31:56 and you're going to spray down the carpet.

31:58 And anywhere there's stains, spray a little bit extra there,

32:00 that way it'll help clean it a little bit better.

32:02 So, cover the entire carpet with your cleaner,

32:04 then use a brush and work that cleaner into the fibers of the carpet.

32:08 And as you're brushing,

32:08 you should see the stains start to disappear as you work them.

32:11 Good.

32:12 So, once you're done brushing the entire carpet, get an extractor vac,

32:15 and let's suck out all that dirty soapy water.

32:17 You're going to overlap each pass by about 50%,

32:20 that way you suck all the water out and make sure the carpet's dry.

32:23 Now, with the carpet clean and dry, now we can add our cleaned floor mat.

32:27 And we're going to want to do the same

32:28 thing for the rest of the carpet in the car.

32:29 Vacuum the carpet, spray it down with soapy water,

32:32 brush that soapy water in, and finally use

32:35 an extractor vacuum to clean all that dirty water out.

32:37 And just look at how dirty this carpet water is.

32:40 And once that carpet's dry,

32:41 the last thing to do is put the clean floor mat back in.

32:44 And just like that, we are done cleaning the interior,

32:46 and it came out incredible.

32:48 Look at how clean this looks.

32:50 It looks almost brand new.

32:52 What a transformation.

32:54 Now, when we have our potential buyers come in to test drive the car,

32:57 they could sit in the car and it'd actually be comfortable.

32:59 It won't be grimy.

33:00 They won't be afraid to touch buttons cuz everything is all clean,

33:04 including back here.

33:05 Look at how good this looks here.

33:06 No stains, no odors, that musty smell is gone.

33:09 And then finally, we have the trunk,

33:11 which there's a ton of space back here, but it's nice and clean.

33:14 So, the interior is clean.

33:15 Now, we have to move on to the exterior, and we have to clean up this paintwork.

33:20 It is really dirty.

33:21 It's hard to see on a white car, but trust me, this is all faded,

33:24 and I'm going to teach you how to polish it up

33:26 to give it a nice gloss and make it look brand new.

33:29 And then we also have our headlights, which are faded,

33:32 and they have yellowing, and they just are not clear.

33:34 I'm going to show you how to get that clear again and make it last.

33:37 And then we also have our engine bay,

33:39 which we need to match the rest of the car, that brand new look.

33:42 So, let's finish this up.

33:43 Cleaning an engine bay is really simple.

33:45 Do not be afraid to do this.

33:46 I have two rules I follow.

33:48 One, never use a pressure washer.

33:50 Yes, the engine bay is designed to get wet.

33:53 Cars drive through water and rain all the time,

33:55 but these connectors are not designed to get high-pressure water shot into them.

33:59 It might not damage anything right away,

34:01 but over time corrosion could cause issues.

34:03 It's not worth it.

34:04 You don't need to do it.

34:05 Instead, just use a shower setting on the hose, which is low pressure.

34:09 And then the other rule I have is never use any type of silicone oil,

34:13 grease, anything that will attract dust.

34:15 Instead, use something water-based.

34:16 This is the same stuff I used on the interior.

34:19 It works great.

34:20 And on the back, you want to make sure it

34:21 says it dries so that there's no oily or greasy residue.

34:24 And that's perfect.

34:25 So, the first step is to grab soapy water and a detailing brush,

34:28 and you want to spray down the entire engine bay with that soapy water.

34:31 Make sure you get everything completely saturated,

34:33 and then you're going to use your brush to agitate all the surfaces,

34:36 that way the dirt and grime get loosened up and they're easily washed away.

34:39 So again, make sure you use your brush on the entire engine bay.

34:42 The more surfaces that you can brush, the cleaner this is going to come out.

34:45 Then grab your hose with the low-pressure shower

34:47 setting and rinse off the dirty soapy water.

34:50 No high pressure is needed.

34:51 Next, I'm using one of these handheld air

34:53 dusters to blow off the water from the surface.

34:55 You could also use an electric leaf blower,

34:57 and this works great for spots that are hard to reach.

34:59 And if you don't have something like this, don't worry.

35:01 You could skip this step and move on to the next step,

35:03 which is to grab a large absorbent towel and dry the engine bay.

35:06 And you don't have to worry about getting this perfectly dry.

35:08 The protectant we're using is a water-based protectant,

35:10 so it's going to soak in and won't be a problem at all.

35:13 Next, you want to grab the protectant and spray

35:14 down the entire engine bay so it covers everything.

35:17 Then use your brush to work that protectant into all

35:19 the plastics and the rubber surfaces in the engine bay.

35:22 Right now, you don't need the protectant to be even on all the surfaces.

35:24 Just make sure you brush it all into every crevice.

35:27 You really want complete coverage because it's going

35:28 to soak into the plastic and the rubber.

35:30 And then any excess later on, we're going to wipe off.

35:33 Now, let's use a microfiber towel and wipe up any of the remaining product.

35:36 This is when it should start looking really good and have a nice clean,

35:39 new-looking surface.

35:40 And just look at how amazing this is coming out.

35:43 All right, so for 15 minutes' worth of work, look at how amazing this came out.

35:47 Check out this transformation.

35:49 And the best part is give it a day or two to dry,

35:51 and the plastic is going to be super slick and repel dust,

35:54 so it's really easy to clean it the next time you need to clean your engine bay.

35:58 So, with that, we are completely done here.

36:00 So now, let's get this paintwork clean because

36:02 this paint hasn't been cleaned in a long time.

36:05 I can tell.

36:05 Look at all this embedded dirt.

36:07 And it doesn't have a glossy shine to it, which we will bring back.

36:11 Plus, we'll do the headlights, we'll get the glass, we'll get the wheels done.

36:13 This car is going to look like a million bucks when we're done cleaning her.

36:16 So, let's finish this up.

36:17 So, the first thing to do is rinse down the car.

36:19 I'm using a 25° nozzle on the pressure washer,

36:22 and I'm staying about 2 ft away from the paint,

36:23 that way we don't damage it by accident.

36:25 And the goal here is to remove as much loose surface dirt as we can,

36:28 so we're less likely to scratch the paint when we wipe it down with a wash mitt.

36:31 Now that the whole car is rinsed down,

36:33 let's clean the glass using our favorite glass cleaner.

36:35 And my trick to get the glass super clean is to use a fresh plastic razor.

36:38 So, keep the blade at a really steep angle

36:40 to the glass and run it back and forth using medium-light pressure.

36:43 And it's important that you have a lot

36:44 of glass cleaner to keep that blade lubricated.

36:46 Also, technically, you can do this with a stainless steel razor,

36:49 but if you don't use a metal razor correctly, you're going to scratch the glass.

36:52 With a plastic razor,

36:53 you won't scratch the glass even if you do it completely wrong,

36:56 which is why I'm comfortable showing you guys this.

36:57 Plus, this works really well, better than just a towel.

37:00 With that done, let's rinse it off.

37:05 And I'm going to dry it right now just so it

37:06 doesn't leave water marks as I do the rest of the glass.

37:09 And with all the glass done, next we need to do the wheels and tires.

37:12 This is really simple.

37:13 Just use your favorite wheel and tire cleaner and spray down the whole wheel.

37:16 Next, I'm using a stiff bristle brush to brush the whole sidewall of the tire.

37:20 And I normally don't recommend cleaning tires because it removes

37:22 the UV and anti-ozonate that protects the tire from dry rotting,

37:25 but don't worry, we're going to add our own protectant once we're done cleaning.

37:28 Next, you're going to want to use a soft bristle brush on the wheel itself.

37:31 You want to get into every nook and cranny on that wheel,

37:33 making sure you get between the spokes,

37:34 around the lug nuts, and around the valve stem.

37:37 And we're just loosening up that brake dust from the surface of the wheel,

37:39 that way it could rinse right off.

37:41 Now, clean the wheel and tire starting from the top,

37:43 working our way down since dirt flows downwards due to gravity.

37:46 And once we're done with this one, you have three more to go.

37:49 Beautiful.

37:50 Nice and clean.

37:51 Okay, next use a foam cannon with car soap and spray

37:54 down the entire car so we could do a hand wash.

37:56 And for this hand wash, we want to use a microfiber wash mitt,

37:58 which has all these fingers that trap the dirt deep

38:01 inside of it instead of pushing it on the surface,

38:03 which could scratch the paint.

38:04 Now, when you're wiping down the paint,

38:06 make sure you go in a back-and-forth motion instead of a circular motion,

38:08 because if you do lightly scratch the paint,

38:10 straight scratches are a lot harder to see

38:12 and a lot easier to remove compared to swirls.

38:15 And with the whole car wiped down, let's rinse off all that dirty soapy water.

38:18 And just like with the wheels, you want to start at the top and rinse downwards.

38:22 That way all that dirty water flows downwards off the paint.

38:24 And a real quick tip, right after you're done cleaning,

38:26 carefully spray that wash mitt with a pressure washer,

38:29 and that'll work all the dirt out of the microfiber fingers.

38:31 You want to do this right away before that dirt dries onto the wash mitt,

38:34 and this will make sure that your wash mitt stays clean

38:36 and doesn't scratch the paint on the next car that you're cleaning.

38:39 Next, grab your extra absorbent drying towel and dry the entire car.

38:43 And the key is to not press too hard.

38:44 That the towel do all the work.

38:46 And just make sure that you're not only drying the paint,

38:48 but also the glass and the trim as well,

38:49 because you don't want any water marks on these, which is a pain to remove.

38:53 Now, I like to clean spots that nobody thinks about, like behind the fuel door.

38:56 So, use a detailing spray and then agitate the dirt with a soft bristle brush,

38:59 getting into every nook and cranny.

39:01 Then finally, wipe away all the dirt with the microfiber towel.

39:04 And attention to detail like this is what makes all the difference.

39:07 And another spot people don't clean is under the rear hatch.

39:10 So again, use detailing spray and then get in there

39:12 with a microfiber towel and wipe the dirt away.

39:14 So, clean around the entire rear hatch.

39:16 And this attention to detail is going to set this car apart.

39:19 All right, so this is looking great,

39:21 but we still have to polish and wax the paint.

39:23 And to do that, I'm using a two-in-one, so polish and wax all in one.

39:27 It'll help remove little scratches, and it'll provide a protective layer of wax.

39:31 And I'm going to be using the small DA polisher to get the job done.

39:34 Okay, so get a couple of dots of polish on the foam

39:37 pad and then dab it onto the paintwork to spread it out.

39:39 Then you You to start on a low speed

39:41 to spread it out so you don't sling polish everywhere.

39:43 Good, with all the polish spread out,

39:44 now we can speed it up and work our polish into the paint.

39:48 And it's important that you keep the polisher moving,

39:49 that way you don't overheat the paint.

39:51 And as you go back and forth,

39:52 you want to overlap your passes about 50%, that way you don't miss any spots.

39:56 Also, you don't need a lot of pressure, let the polisher do all the work.

39:58 Just keep it flat and smooth.

40:02 And once you're done, buff off the area with a clean microfiber towel,

40:04 making sure that you don't leave behind any residue, and check out that shine.

40:08 So, you're going to want to repeat this process one body panel at a time,

40:11 and I love the transformation.

40:13 And check this out, keep an eye on the reflection in the paint.

40:15 Look at how nice this is coming out from a simple polish.

40:18 And a quick tip, if you have polish

40:20 on your emblems like this, when you wipe it off,

40:21 it's not going to remove the polish

40:23 from the embossed letters and in the crevices.

40:25 So, just use some detailing spray and then

40:26 get a soft bristle brush into those letters.

40:29 And again, attention to detail is the name of the game.

40:31 Look at how good this came out.

40:33 It might not seem like much, but look at the difference.

40:35 And with the car polished and waxed, look at how amazing this came out.

40:40 For a quick two-in-one polish with wax in it,

40:42 the gloss is absolutely incredible, especially for a white car.

40:46 This came out way better than I ever expected.

40:48 Now, the paint wasn't horrible to start with, but still,

40:50 this has a nice deep gloss and it really pops.

40:53 But, the only thing is, these tires are not matching the rest of the car.

40:56 So, we're going to use the same exact protectant we've

40:58 been using on the interior and on the engine bay,

41:00 and not only will it protect the tire from dry rotting,

41:03 but it's going to look really good as well.

41:04 So, with some cardboard on the ground so we don't stain the driveway,

41:07 spray protectant into the brush,

41:08 and then just brush that into the sidewall of the tire.

41:11 And using a brush allows you to get

41:12 into all the texture and letters on the sidewall,

41:14 that way it could soak in everywhere and look even.

41:17 Now, do all the other tires, and holy smokes,

41:20 look at how amazing this car came out.

41:24 It looks absolutely incredible.

41:26 The last thing to do to finish this up so we could put

41:29 it up for sale is to restore these foggy headlights because they're yellowed,

41:33 they're faded, and they don't look good.

41:35 So, all you need to do is grab your favorite headlight restoration kit.

41:38 It doesn't matter the brand, just make sure it has a clear coat in it

41:41 so it lasts more than a couple of months.

41:43 These kits are great cuz it comes with everything you need.

41:45 Well, everything except the soapy water.

41:48 So, grab the tape and we're going to tape around

41:49 the edge of the headlight so the paint doesn't get scratched.

41:52 And a little tip, if you pop the hood,

41:54 now you don't need to tape that section at the top.

41:56 Okay, now just tape the paint work where it meets the headlight.

41:58 And I try to slide the tape in the gap

42:00 between the headlight and the body panel like that.

42:02 Huh.

42:03 And this is not sticking because this car is polished and waxed.

42:06 Okay, well, do the best you can,

42:07 tape around the entire headlight, and then we can start sanding.

42:10 Now, we have two sandpapers.

42:11 We have the 1,000 grit and then we have the 3,000 grit.

42:14 The 1,000 grit is more aggressive,

42:16 the 3,000 grit is finer and more like a polish.

42:18 So, we're going to start with a 1,000 grit.

42:20 And they give you a nice Velcro pad to put

42:22 the sanding disc on, make sure it's centered just like that.

42:25 Looks good, and now we can sand this.

42:27 So, grab your soapy water and spray down the sandpaper.

42:30 Also, spray down the entire headlight because we want to wet sand.

42:33 And you're going to want to sand in a back and forth motion, not circles.

42:36 So, go back and forth with a medium to heavy pressure,

42:38 that way we can sand away that oxidized yellow surface layer.

42:41 And if you're wondering, the soap and the water helps give you

42:43 a smoother finish and prevents the sandpaper from clogging up.

42:46 Okay, so now let's wipe down the lens to remove all the dirty water,

42:49 and check out all the yellow we removed.

42:51 That's exactly what you want to see.

42:53 Okay, so let's remove the 1,000 grit sandpaper,

42:55 and now we're using 3,000 grit, which will give us a smooth finish.

42:58 So, spray the lens down with some soapy water, and spray the sandpaper as well.

43:03 And again, sand in a back and forth motion, not in circles,

43:06 and this time use a medium to medium light pressure.

43:09 You don't want to press as hard cuz you don't

43:10 want that sandpaper digging in, we want a smooth finish.

43:13 Also, make sure you don't just sand side to side,

43:15 you want to go up and down as well.

43:16 Okay, so let's wipe this clean and check it out.

43:19 This is looking really good, and we're not even done yet.

43:21 Okay, so now we can remove the tape because we're done sanding.

43:24 And a little trick before you put the clear coat

43:26 on, use some alcohol on a towel and wipe the lens down,

43:29 and this will show you exactly what it's going

43:31 to look like when that clear coat goes on.

43:32 That way you can see if you missed any spots.

43:34 And in this case, we're good to go.

43:36 And don't worry, the lens is going to fade back once that alcohol evaporates,

43:39 so that's completely fine.

43:40 Now, we want to grab our clear coat wipe,

43:42 and we're going to start from the top using

43:43 a medium pressure and wipe horizontally across the lens.

43:46 You want to overlap each wipe by about 50%, that way you get complete coverage.

43:50 And this is a self-leveling clear coat,

43:52 so it goes on pretty decent, but it'll smooth out as it dries.

43:55 Beautiful, and check it out, that came out absolutely incredible.

43:58 Here's a before and after.

44:01 Now, we just need to let this dry for 1 hour.

44:03 As we're doing that, let's do the other headlight.

44:04 And this one's even worse.

44:06 That's much better.

44:07 Now, with the headlights looking amazing,

44:09 let's do one last thing to hopefully make this car easier to sell.

44:12 And that is to install a dash camera.

44:15 This small 4K dash camera was on sale for $100,

44:18 and there's so many situations where you wish you had a good 4K dash camera,

44:22 especially with all the bad drivers out there.

44:24 And this is really quick and easy to install.

44:26 It was inexpensive enough,

44:27 and I'm hoping this gives us a little bit of an edge to make it a little

44:30 bit easier to sell a car because a lot of people want dash cameras these days.

44:34 Okay, so you guys have seen me do this before.

44:36 We want to hide the camera behind the rearview mirror so it's out of sight,

44:39 and now we can remove the protective backing from the double-sided tape,

44:41 and then push it into place so it sticks.

44:43 Good, and now let's also take off that protective screen cover.

44:46 Next, we want to install the charging cable,

44:47 which goes right into the cigarette lighter.

44:50 Then we want to pop out the plastic trim with the trim removal tool,

44:53 that way we can fish the wires behind and out of sight.

44:55 So, peel this back, then we're going to remove the glove box,

44:58 and this is the same exact process

44:59 as before when we replaced the cabin air filter.

45:01 Now, we can fish the wires back behind all this, that way you can't see them.

45:05 So, pull the wires all the way through, just like that.

45:08 And if this was my car,

45:09 I'd make a little hole in the plastic trim around here for the wire to fit

45:12 in, but I don't want to do anything permanent

45:13 just in case the next owner wants to remove this.

45:15 So, just push this trim back in place nice and tight,

45:18 and that looks pretty good.

45:19 Now, let's take the wire and run it to the side where the door is,

45:21 over here, and pull that all the way through.

45:24 Then we can put the glove box back in.

45:26 And now with the wire off to the side,

45:28 we want to run it upwards along the dash so it's out of sight.

45:31 Then we can put that weatherstripping back in, so

45:32 not only does it hold the wire in place, but it covers it up.

45:35 Next, we want to run the wire along the bottom of the A-pillar trim,

45:38 that way we know we're not crossing over any airbags.

45:40 And use the included tool to tuck the wires

45:42 into the gap between the dash and the A-pillar trim.

45:45 Now, we're going to run the wire up the A-pillar and tuck it in at the top here,

45:48 then we can push the panel back in so it clicks in.

45:50 And then finally, run the wire along the headliner,

45:52 tucking it in as you make your way to the dash camera.

45:55 And then at the dash camera,

45:56 we can plug it in and clean up any excess wire so it looks good.

46:00 Now, we can test it out by turning the car

46:02 on, and this Vantrue dash cam should power on in a couple seconds.

46:05 Perfect, just like that.

46:06 Now, you just need to set up your language, time, and date, and you're all done.

46:09 And this is actually really nice.

46:10 If you need to use the cigarette lighter,

46:11 the power adapter tucks right into this little cubby right here.

46:14 But, the good thing is there's a USB port on the adapter,

46:16 which most people use nowadays,

46:17 so it's probably going to stay plugged in most of the time anyway.

46:20 And now we are officially done cleaning and fixing this car.

46:24 One weekend and we completely restored this older car.

46:27 Now, she runs and drives great.

46:29 Clean exterior, clean headlights, clean engine bay, clean interior.

46:33 She's super clean.

46:34 Wheels and tires, and she runs great.

46:36 Brand new upgraded hybrid battery.

46:38 The next owner is going to love this thing.

46:40 I'm curious to see how much money we make.

46:43 So, now it's time to list her.

46:44 So, I listed the car for $10,500, which would give us about a $3,600 profit,

46:49 but you have to figure buyers are going to negotiate.

46:51 Now, for the ad, I kept the information

46:53 simple and included the stuff you'd want to know.

46:55 I said the car is fully loaded,

46:57 has a brand new upgraded hybrid battery with a 3-year, 45,000-mile warranty.

47:01 The car has been completely detailed inside and out,

47:03 and it has newer brakes and tires, and a 4K Vantrue dash camera.

47:06 So, with the listing published, now we just wait and see.

47:11 All right, so the second person that comes to this car ended up buying it.

47:15 The first person lowballed the heck out of me,

47:17 and I was not interested in selling it for $7,000.

47:19 So, second guy offered me $8,000.

47:22 I said let's do 10, we met in the middle at 9,700,

47:26 and now she is officially sold.

47:28 So, I'm on the way to meet with the buyer, and I'm not going to film this part

47:31 because I don't want to make the buyer uncomfortable.

47:33 But, a very important tip is always make sure you meet in a public

47:36 place with plenty of people around when you sell a car online.

47:42 Back home, and I'm really happy with how well this weekend flip turned out.

47:46 The new owners have a really nice car,

47:47 it's going to last them a long time, and we made a healthy profit.

47:51 Let me break it down for you.

47:53 So, we bought the car for $2,800, the brand new battery is $3,940,

47:57 the cabin air filter was $10,

47:59 and let's just say cleaning supplies and stuff were an extra 50 bucks.

48:02 Plus, we had the dash camera on sale at 100 bucks.

48:05 So, we're all in at $6,900, and we sold the car for $9,700.

48:10 So, at the end of the day,

48:11 we made $2,800 in profit for a weekend's worth of work.

48:14 And if you guys are wondering what I'm going to be doing with my profit,

48:17 I already spent $2,100 on my first ever legit barn find,

48:22 and I can't wait to show you guys

48:23 the future video on how to restore the barn find.

48:26 It's going to be amazing.

48:27 So, with that, I hope this video was helpful.

48:29 If it was, remember to give it

48:30 a thumbs up and consider hitting that subscribe button.

48:32 As always, all the tools and products I used in this video

48:34 are linked in the description so you can easily find them.

48:37 And stay tuned for that barn find, I'm really excited about that.

48:40 It's going to be a lot of fun.