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Not a part exchange but about 10 years ago I sold a TATA Loadbeater Pick Up to the local egg farmer. Imagine stereotypical Devon/Dorset farmer type in a little Britain type way and you get the idea. He brings it back for service and MOT and I have to drop him back to the farm in it. In the back are 6 big dustbins which he asks me to unload, not a problem expecting them to be full of grain. I was wrong, they were full of the slops and waste food scrapped off peoples plates from the local holiday camp. I'm sure people don't have stew and dumplings for breakfast so they were clearly from the day before and left in the summer heat. I still remember the smell now...........it never leaves you....never !!!

I think we all know which one it is... ...as long as he leaves you with a bank account full of cash and then does a disappearing act without showing you his magic wand!!

never judge a book by it's cover, I once worked at a rover dealership and every sunday at 2pm a scruffy looking man would always come and look through the window and ogle an MG Montego Turbo with his KFC dinner in his hand, everybody else wouldn't even go an speak to him, I'd always go and say hello and give him the time of day, after about 18 months of this happening he came in one monday and ordered a new car for his wife, himself and his mother, Turns out he was a senior partner in a firm of solicitors who just liked to dress scruffy of a weekend. Ended up supplying all of his office staff as well.

Is it that bad?? How old is the car, price, miles etc?? Most questions are just what a customer would ask in any case. Questions 5 and 6 are an matter of opinion but can be answered by saying.............In my opinion the car drives as it should, has no visible fluid leaks and no untoward noises that you wouldn't expect from a car this age and mileage. BUT PLEASE Mr Skillawonjker feel free to take an extended test drive and see for yourself. BUT If he offers to pay by Western Union Money Transfer via his shipping agent tell him to do one !!!

Hello all, Interesting debate this; I’ve observed from the side lines and thought for a while before deciding to contribute because 1) I’m a noob and everyone knows they know nothing J and 2) I’m firmly in the part time trader category and I’m not here to stir it up or make cyber-enemies. I can see why some full time professionals might feel frustrated or aggrieved if they see part timers asking for advice and then not always playing by the same rules but I struggle to believe that manifests itself in any change to their bottom line. The total addressable market for second-hand cars is massive and quite segmented, so there is room for a lot of people to serve it. Margins are squeezed due to customers driving down prices (someone nailed it with the Voucher Generation comment) and suppliers maximising their revenue (why wouldn’t they, they also have businesses to run) and somewhere in the middle the best has to be made from it, which presumably, is the challenge and where the fun is and why people choose to run their own business! The conditions are similar in many markets and the challenges for the businesses serving them are the same too. Maybe a suggestion to reduce this frustration might be to have an Sticky about start-ups at the top of the page, so that the people that are interested in either doing part time or full time dealing have a reference point on their legal and financial obligations, along with some non-specific ‘things to consider’ and FAQs when coming in to the industry – this would probably head off 90% of the queries might even ensure that genuine ‘chancers’ stay off the forum as they are generally only interested in superfluous info anyway. Another possibility is to have a ‘part time’ or ‘start up’ section on the forum where the non-professionals can exchange information about their own challenges and exploits, with the pros dipping in as they wish to give guidance if they want to. This would also keep the professional area clean from the more routine questions. Anyway, just a couple of suggestions and I’ll shut up now J I hope this post is taken as intended and adds some value to the debate… Cheers Pad

My thoughts on this. We should encourage all levels of the motor trade. We have competition in all walks of life. We have it in the magazine world and I think it's healthy. That's not to say I would offer them advice on how to run their magazines. But I would offer advice to an aspiring motoring writer - and I do. If you don't want to offer advice to the new members on here, don't. Simple as that. If you want to encourage and help new businesses, then do. I don't care either way, all I care is that you all play nicely on here.

He buys them off roadside traders I met him there when I was stocking up keep it quiet 3 today here, couple of finance declines who I could place sub prime but the payments were to high. Loads of test drive time wasters who have just come out and first question can I drive it, we have 6 more to look at.

I hold between 30-35 normally however I am a bit lower at the minute due to the volume of sales in last ten days. And not telling