Hot Wheels and Deals

Many have heard about the loud ‘racecar’ that screams into the parking lot in the morning hours. The red Corvette with a screaming V8 engine, riding low to the ground. Yet not everyone knows the driver behind the wheel who has worked with multiple vehicles and platforms to become an accomplished owner. Senior Trenton Casa, in his fourth year of high school, has been able to obtain this exciting car, among his others, primarily through his long hours working on cars both on his own, and within his time with the PRHS Auto Program.
Most notably, Casa currently owns a 2006 Chevrolet Corvette. But it’s not just any regular Corvette. Added on to the already captivating sports car is a widebody kit, a full angle kit (in order to make it more capable of drifting), a fully cammed engine, and a straight piped exhaust, among other things. Without a doubt, it is one of the loudest cars on campus, and Casa says that it “breaks necks” all around town.
Casa first got interested in cars through his brother, stating that, “when he was in high school, he had a cool car as well, and many vehicles. So I kind of carried that trade on, and I was just always interested since I was little.”
In order to obtain this vehicle, Casa has had to work sometimes, all his week. Yet, rather than work various jobs conventionally to earn his money, he has focused on the process of flipping cars, where he purchases used cars at a low price and repairs it with the expressed intention of selling it quickly for a higher price. Starting with fixing dirt bikes, he’s worked his way up into trucks and continued to flip until he got the dream offer. He’s still worked summer jobs and found ways to earn extra money, such as power coating and painting car parts, but it’s the side gig of flipping vehicles which is what has allowed him to be where he is today.

After flipping over 5 dirt bikes, Casa was able to purchase a pearl white 2003 Ford F250 7.3 in March of 2023, which he called a “spaceship.” After fully building it, he was able to sell it for around $17,000. He says he “still misses that thing a bunch. I put a lot of hours into it, a lot of time and money, and it was fully built.”

Back in February of 2023, he bought a red 2004 Ford F350 6.0 Powerstroke, and completely rebuilt the motor after buying it for only $6,500. For reference, it costs around $12,000-17,000 if in good condition. After owning the F350 for around half a year, Casa was given an offer he couldn’t refuse; driving 7 hours north to Reno, Nevada to trade the now fully built F350 for a Corvette. The F350, which had cost him less than $10,000 to buy in the first place, has now earned him a car worth an average of $20,000 stock, not to mention the many upgrades done to it.
Currently, he is also building a 2006 Ford F250 6.0 Powerstroke, which he only bought for $2,000 but has now invested around $20,000 into the motor. It is set up to be, what some would call a sleeper build, which is a car that boasts high performance while having an unassuming exterior. According to Casa, “it looks all stock” and he’s done a full body rebuild to it as well.

He plans to continue moving forward and purchase more cars too. “I definitely want to work my way up to newer cars, and keep building and stacking my way up to have more cars that are worth more value,.” Casa said.
He’s currently preparing to make more aftermarket mods for his Corvette, and continuing to work on the F250 to make it ready for the road. One of his biggest goals is to own a C7 Corvette, a newer model of his own car that is more modern, and notoriously popular for its ability to be built up into a much faster car.
Although there can be upsides to flipping a car, Casa has found that it is not always successful. Part of the process of flipping vehicles is the given risk that you can also lose money from the process, and that it may not go the way you intend it to.
Casa has experienced this firsthand, losing money on another 6.0 that he bought, and even with repair, lost an estimated $2,000 through the process.

This mindset has allowed Casa to keep moving up, even with these setbacks, as there’s never enough time to dwell on them. Over the 2 years he’s had his license, he has now owned 5 different vehicles in total, and countless bikes.
Despite wanting to keep his career away from his hobby, as he doesn’t want it to become boring or start getting neglected, he wants to continue buying all kinds of cars and customizing them to his own taste. It’s been ups and downs for Casa, but his process of earning money has yielded him thousands of extra dollars and massive experience in the automotive industry, all while still being in high school.