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After successfully helping guide a small start up in it's infancy to greater things I now find myself at the point where I'm more than happy to help anyone in the motortrade looking for assistance. This doesn't have to be a start up , maybe a business that feels that it has gone off the tracks a little or someone just looking to get some business ideas bounced about. Now I'm NO self confessed car guru or expert however I have learned many things over the last 30 years in the trade and especially the last 13 + years building my own business and I am happy to share this experience FREE of charge if anyone feels they would benefit from it. Many of you won't know me or my business so I have attached my LinkedIn Profile as a link, https://uk.linkedin.com/in/jimreidvehicle If you feel you can benefit then contact me on jim@jimreidvehiclesales.co.uk I'm eager to get my teeth stuck into something very soon! Jim

The point I found most interesting – apart from the percentages and various breakdown stats – is that the story suggested that fundamentally, the internet might not be the holy grail and the answer to everything. That in itself would appear to contradict a lot of current thinking. Be interested in more views on this one!

This is one reason why we get them all up on the ramp and service and check them over. can you not ask to have it back to inspect it for a day, get some additive engine stop leak, put it in, you will need to let it tick over for possibly a few hours to make it work. i had a Nissan terrano as my own car that was dripping underneath, put the additive in, ran it up for possibly 3 hrs, kept cleaning it off with brake cleaner to check it and it went bone dry for the next 2 yrs I owned it. it can't be a metal seal and must have rubber which will swell when in contact with the chemical. has worked a few times for us. just a suggestion that help.

This is an interesting poll, who doesn't agree with the findings? http://cardealermagazine.co.uk/publish/dealers-missing-out-on-billions-because-a-lot-of-buyers-dont-use-car-sites/111974

If I may add a couple of bobsworth... I struggled to understand the point of the article when I first read it (other than a bit of free PR for carsnip. And well done to them for that). So, Dealers are missing out on £14billion worth of sales through their websites.... Only they aren't, are they? Because those surveyed did actually buy vehicles. So the sales weren't 'lost'. So how do you work that out? And who buys through a website anyway? Generally, they buy from us. On-site. Face to face. Oh, nearly forgot... And customers lie. So, like other items I just heard on the news today - bit of a non-story, really innit?

Thank you Alastair for clearing up some of my concerns. I do agree your statement. A lot of the so called "go to places" have become over complicated and to some extent unusable. As we learn more about databases and rational uses and extracting information from them I think we have forgotten some times more is just too much. Looking back and it still applies today, if a customer does not find on your website what they want within 30 seconds they will be gone to the next site. May be we need to all re-evaluate our thoughts about the web and how we use it to interact with customers.

Hi We commissioned the study so hopefully I can help. The sample size was more than 2,000 UK adults, who were polled in March by the independent market research company YouGov. The survey asked them whether they'd used 'classified-ad' type websites like Autotrader or Motors the last time they bought a car. 30% of people said they hadn't used a car search engine at all last time. This really surprised us and we published the results to let dealers know. There are two ways to look at this - one, as Dave Brown said, is that the results show the internet is not the holy grail. I bet if we asked most car dealers they'd agree with Jim and say that most of their customers combine internet research with 'in-person' visits for test drivers. You mentioned that the piece says 30% of all buyers didn't use the internet when actually they just didn't use Autotrader or Motors or the like. You're absolutely right, it's not all encompassing, but it leads to the second viewpoint; that current car search engines don't effectively serve today's car buyer well enough. They're either too complicated or not intuitive enough to help customers find the right car for them fast enough, so lots of people simply don't use them in the first place. That's what we believe. Hope that helps. Shout if you have any more questions. We will be publishing more findings from the survey over the next couple of months. Best, Alastair CEO Carsnip.com p.s. If you are going to CDX - click here to meet the team.

I have one policy for buildings, liability, family and friends, staff, stock, test drives etc 100k stock £250 excess £2800 a year

I've always used onesureinsurance.co.uk but never accepted there 1st quote or renewal. I've always got them to work a bit and it's saved my £100's. Decent company to work with, no sales patter, just ask them to get you the best quote and they do I have 3 seperate polices with them, road risk including private use for 4 drivers, accompanied demos and cover while at home address. Stock cover (away cover I think they call it) at my showroom and my public liability insurance for my showroom.