One year ago today...

[clemon79]

Then immediately flip it to somebody who would love a $157K Audi for the low Sale of the Century price of $125K.

Herein lies the flaw to your cunning plan. I mean, I know at least fourteen people ready to throw down $125K at the drop of a hat for an Audi because I'm a baller like that, but I suspect most people would have trouble finding a ready buyer.

[Thunder]

$10,000 spent on targeted advertising or a fixer that knows that market repairs that flaw quickly.

High dollar performance cars like that have a dedicated niche market of people that have the money to spend quickly. Buyer gets a deal, Fixer gets Money For Almost Nothing, Contestant gets a decent cash profit after taxes.

[gameshowcrazy]

One other flaw with that sales plan is when buying the $156k car for $125k is the $31k below value of the sale becomes a gift as a matter of tax law.  Without looking up the actual number for 2014, the gift tax is in the $14k range, leaving a $17k gift on which taxes are to be paid.

Not that the IRS could track or do anything about this, but by letter of the law, it's still another flaw.

I've wondered about winning cars, if a winner could get their local dealer to sell it on consignment.  A dealer would make more money on that particular sale than other sales, and the contestant would still have a nice lump of cash.

[jmangin]

...I suspect most people would have trouble finding a ready buyer.

True, but I would be willing to wager that an Audi dealership would be providing a higher level of customer service, even some type of "concierge" assistance like other luxury dealers (such as Mercedes) provide, especially when vehicles of this value are involved. The contestant could use that to their advantage and have the dealer provide a pool of potential buyers based upon those who already own a vehicle serviced by that specific dealership. It would certainly be more advantageous than posting a CraigsList or newspaper ad.