GEM Flipping, ROI and updates

GEM Forum
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I was able to get my hands on a 2003 4 seater GEM for near nothing. It was owned by an elderly man who was a member of the local electric car club and eventually donated it to the club as his health declined. The club spent a little time messing with it and finally decided to cut their loses, mainly because they need to clear out space for other projects.
It has new batteries and tires (on the 12" stock rims"). They pin pointed one of the problems with the car being that the DC to DC converter was faulty and they also couldn’t find the title. I got it cheap enough that I figured worst case, I could rip out the T2 controller, sell it on ebay, and recoup my costs.

Plus-es about the car -

  • New Tires
  • New Batteries
  • Body and structure seems to be in good shape
  • Brakes work
  • Upholstery is in good shape
  • Windshield is not cracked
  • Everything is there and it’s a complete car (although unsure what’s working and what isn’t)

Minus-es -

  • The clear coat on the hood and rear fender is pealing
  • Crack in the driver’s side mud guard
  • Does not power on (car club says they were able to get the dash to come on and power the controller - unverified)
  • Sunroof is deteriorating
  • Missing rear carrier
  • No keys for the glove box and rear carrier locking mechanism
  • Missing passenger side mirror

About me - fairly new to the GEMs although I’ve been eyeing them for years. Finally bought one this summer that I’ve been upgrading - Upgraded wheels, motor, t1-t2 controller, disk brakes, upgraded trunk, upholstery… and I have parts galore sitting around. I’m pretty handy and am comfortable cranking on this myself; I have the controller programming software and adapters.

So here’s my question for the group - I’m planning on flipping the cart - get it working and sold. If just thinking dollars and sense, what upgrades and fixes do you get the best return on?

My theory is that people in the market for the older GEMs are either 1) looking for a low cost way to try them out or 2) people like on the forum here, looking for a solid platform to tinker with and do their upgrades themselves. Both of these groups probably not wanting to pay a premium or margin on hot-rod upgrades.

Here’s my laundry list of stuff I’m working on (in order of priority)

  • Title - was able to get it titled and registered by getting a title bond ($100 bond + $250 registration, taxes, etc DMV fees). Seems pretty common to have GEMs that were never actually put on the road so people never registered them. At least now I can sell it and know for sure the new owner can drive it on the roads.

  • DC/DC converter - before I bought it, threw the VIN in the polaris recall database… guess what, the part that the club thinks is the issue is covered. Dropped the cart off at the dealer, they’re doing to do the install and do some diagnostics on the cart to see if they can get it to power and go. Wild card here is if the charger works… I have an extra T2 controller and motor sitting around so if I have to replace either of those, I’m good.

Assuming everything comes out of the dealer without a monster laundry list, now comes the part of what to invest in the cart. I was going to focus on safety and mostly cosmetics

  • Detail - clean it up REALLY good
  • replace passenger mirror
  • replace locks with missing keys
  • install my old trunk (round style)
  • Replace window molding that’s coming off
  • Replace cracked mud guards / re-paint hood, mud guards, rear fender ($600)

Assuming that after all that, it’s working, safe, looks decently good… here’s where the ROI question comes in. are these repairs / upgrades worth it

  • Replace sunroof ($250 in parts) - Will post pictures as soon as I get it back from the dealer. It’s not cracked but definitely worn from the sun. One of the things I didn’t notice when I bought it but my wife immediately honed in on it.

  • Wheels / Tires / Spacers - $900 (ride for fun package

  • Upgraded Motor - $750

  • Disk Brakes - $600
    -??? what else?

My thought is anything much beyond making it safe and looking good won’t see a return. Don’t get me wrong, for my GEM … I’ve done all this and love the upgrades. If I were keeping this for myself, I’d definitely do them all. I just think things like the motor and disk brakes will be appreciated by a narrower market and I’d (maybe) recover my cost in putting them in, driving up the listing price of the car.

Would be curious to get your thoughts. Will post pictures as soon as I get it back.

Thanks in advance and Happy Thanksgiving

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I can’t speak for everybody around here, but I think most people just like tinkering on their GEMs and know that anything they put into it is going to be for their own enjoyment/amusement. Sort of like people who have hot rods or custom cars. At some point there is a diminishing return.

After I put in Lithium and tires and wheels and baskets and a new trunk and hitches and all that crap I know that I am probably stuck at the same price that a stock one at some used car dealership is going for simply because if you are willing to pay 7k for a used one, you may as well just buy a brand new one from the factory for 9k.

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I think flipping gems has a real small profit margin $2500. And to make that you need to find a Near perfect car that just needs battery’s. I used to rescue gems and fix them up and then sell them. After only making a small profit on the ones that need the most work you end up passing on cars that are near perfect.

Example: you take a trailer out to a guys house and pick up the car it has to be a 9 out of 10 you bring it home You throw $1700 in new gell batterys in it and clean it up and store it list it and show it. You need to get 5+ k to make your $2500. It’s good money but you have to work for it. If your cool with a smaller profit and more work then that’s up to you, but for me I wanna make $2500 and pretty much just change out battery’s. And some small stuff. If you need to start doing body work or electrical trouble shooting you need to get the car for next to nothing. My 2c

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I am just getting into the whole GEM thing as @Inwo and @grantwest know. They have been an incredible resource and I thank them for everything they contribute to this forum. I now have four of these damn things and I am not sure of my direction. As Grant stated unless you can find them for dirt cheap your ROI is going to be very low ( add in lith batts and a charger and you are 1K - 1.5K invested) that makes it hard to make any money on the backend.
It is a really fun hobby, it might turn into a small business in the future but they take up a lot of space and buyers can be difficult if they don’t know what they are really buying.
When you have people asking 3500-4000 for a 2002/3 e2, you are not going to make any money.

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I tried to convince the wife that I should keep it for a lithium conversion… that was a short lived conversation! I dont think there’s a ton of money in it to quit my job and start a business… but heck, if I could make 1500-2k off it, that would pay for a lithium experiment.

Also - I’m still new to the GEM game too… figure this is a good way to learn about the cars. I’m more of a hands on, dive in head first type of learner. I could see myself doing 3-4 of them for the learning experience and calling it a day. If I’m making 1-2k off a hobby, that’s better than the $$ that gets dumped into my 1956 chris craft with varnish and maintenance :slight_smile:

I just dont want to go too crazy with mods that I lose money for the flips.

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@Erniea15 -
I feel your pain, we had a 1968 40’ Chris craft constellation for 15 years. Just sold it four years ago for a 2000 Searay 400DA. We loved that old boat but it was continuous maintenance, but it sure drew a crowd when we pulled up. Nothing like the sound of those old 427s rumbbling down the lake.

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