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@jimreidvehicle and @umesh I'm glad you like Spec Chek - it was a product I developed and launched when I was at HPI so it's nice to see positive comments about it from users. @Steve92 If there are things you think aren't right then click on the 'report a problem' link and they will be investigated and fixed. If we sort a problem out it fixes it for all cars with that option so we really appreciate the feedback. Regarding the difference between the check providers, in most cases you get the same data from them all, however there are some differences. Private plates are tricky and the companies are not always in sync depending on the amount of manual processing and work they do behind the scenes. The other big thing is warranty, hopefully most customers will never need to use it but do check the small print - some companies will refuse to pay out if the finance co hadn't updated their records leaving you liable for the bill even thought he car showed as clear when checked.

I currently sell vehicles all be it in a small way from my mot garage repair business, with a 5-7 vehicles pitched up for sale at anyone time using social media, gumtree, ebay and word of mouth as I am well known in my area. Anyhow I have been looking for while to get into the dirty depths that is Sub prime finance, Looking to gain FCA licence get a bigger pitch to stock say 20 vehicles and promote vehicles mainly for people who have less than perfect credit history or near prime etc. Looking to deal with vehicles around 2.5-6K and keep to the basic family flyers, (astra, Focus, Cmax, 207, Qashqai, Zafira etc). Why I hear you screaming !!!, Well I have fellow traders in other towns who are doing very nicely in this market, there seems to be a good selection of lenders out there for this market and I would say it's never been easier to get finance for sub prime customers. Now am sure we can debate the morals of this type of lending but to me from what I have been seeing on a business grounds it makes complete sense to tap into this market. Does anyone have experience in working with subprime lenders, such as Money way, first response, VTG, Advantage, and TCFC ??? and the customers, are they a different breed to your average cash customer. ? I have been sitting on the fence for while about this, A fellow trader in this sector says it's nothing like normal retail, its paperwork and lots of telesales, but he has a small pitch 30 cars and is selling 7-10 vehicles a week with a markup average of £1500 per unit, YES 1500 per unit running on 3 staff (him included). And is spending £400 on advertising per week, not on AT with main traffic from Social media and Adwords with a good website with tag cloud. Thoughts ?

I have done quite a bit of research in this area. The lenders you mention are good for sub prime but you also need a couple of the black box type company's who have pin code boxes fitted to the cars. You need to sell the cars at max advance whether that is calculated using cap or glasses varies lender to lender. Good stock profile suggested with the family favourites I would just be looking at stocking really basic models and average run of the mill stuff. Plenty of 7 seaters. It it is paperwork orientated and these sort of places make sure the customer has everything done and all proofs with them on the day, if they haven't the application does not get progressed ( my understanding) I see the customer expectations for aftercare being hard to manage. They are not going to want to spend any money or have any money to spend fixing their cars when things go wrong. Growing sector, spending equivalent to an autotrader bill on marketing I think would work and I think you could do very well. I would go for it and for me personally I would not completely rule out moving into this sector via separate business name and premises in the future.

quite what?

The main flaw with Icontrol is the prices it says you should buy a car in at. Tell your autotrader rep to load it up and sit and watch a bca sale with I control on. I hazard a guess that you won't be able to find a single car go through any sale for what I control suggests you should pay .

Might as well tie a bungee rope to the back of the 807...