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Hi all, just wanted to introduce myself. My name's Matt (obviously), I'm 30 years old, and I've worked as a mechanic/MOT tester for around 10 years for an independent garage. For the past 3/4 years I've been also trading cars as a money maker on the side, I appreciate and respect this is often frowned upon, I can only say we all have to start somewhere, and as far as roadside dealers go, I've been a reputable and decent seller, never had any complaints from any buyers, and on the few occasions I've had comebacks, the issues have been dealt with and I've always said if an issue arose and a buyer wanted their money back within a reasonable time frame I'd do so, but that's never hapened. I'm also fully insured with trade insurance with demonstration and public liability too. My stock profile has generally been cars between £2k - £5k, family hatches etc, although I've had some relative success and decent margins on Land Rover Discovery 2s and Defenders lately too. I source most of my vehicles either locally from classified adverts from gumtree/ebay etc, usually needing work, or often from customers in the garage I work knowing I trade the odd car. I average about 3/4 a month, and have been more than happy with that since starting out. I've recently come into some money through an unfortunate means (inheritance), some of which I've used to buy a house for myself and my partner, and some I'm looking to invest into a business venture for a future. I've really enjoyed the last few years dealing cars, and I'm looking at viable opportunities to scale it up, and go 'legit' with it. I have around £50k capital to invest, out of which I'm considering a couple of local modest sized units (around 8 - 10k per annum), combined with a small amount of parking space at the back of my house that can be used if space runs tight. Being from a mechanical background I obviously intend to do repairs as much as possible 'in house', and as I'm a time served mechanic I can take on various mechanical repairs and servicing to both improve margin, but also maybe give a little edge on the stock I could take on that may put other traders off. It's very early days for me in this expanded venture yet, and I'm a very cautious and methodical type, so I won't jump into anything without feeling confident and assured I'm doing as much as can be forseen the right thing, but I want to get my head around everything neccessary to go completely legit, I have a relatively good understanding already of the VAT margin scheme, and I'm fortunate enough to know a very competent accountant to point me in the financial right direction as neccessary too. I'm not going to ask too many questions from the off, as I can see there's a wealth of information on the many questions I have already here on these message boards for me to read through, particularly in respect to buying stock, which I feel is probably the area I'm currently least comfortable with at present. All I want to say is hi, and that the motor trade has been my life for a little over a decade now, and for better or worse I love it, and I always have. I really can't see myself doing anything massively different, I believe this industry is in your blood once you're in, and I'm driven to make a real success of this future venture. Thanks for reading my introduction, and if anyone has any pointers or tips, good criticism or bad, I'm always extremely grateful of the guidance. Matt.

the problem is as we all know is that magistrates hate used car dealers, if it went to court they would tell you to fix, it's a grey area but they will side with the consumer, sometimes i just say some you win some you lose, jim's sumeed it up

Don't answer their text. My guess is you'll hear nothing from them. Text messages are just another way for time wasters & bullshitters to chance their luck dealing in a spineless manner - no different to the 90% of idiots communicating their stupid offers & midnight queries via email. My adverts all clearly state No Text Messages. Any received are simply ignored. Sorry to those of you who actually enter into text discussions with potential customers, but I refuse to in order to protect my sanity. Why on earth anyone chooses to do business by text is beyond me. Business deals are definitely NOT conducted by text message.

who said it needs a cat? where did the guy take it? could you not just ask him to come back to you so you can run a check on it yourself? This is what i would do. I have had many cars come back with eml on dash several weeks after sale, often O2 sensor and i will just erase the code and take the car for a drive with the customer in the car. As long as the light stays off then send them on their way, if the light comes back and is persistent then maybe look to start changing parts. Quite often though you will never see them again.

Dear Mr Customer, you bought an old used car. The fault wasn't present at the time of purchase which you confirmed by signing the comprehensive PDI. Wear and tear is clearly not covered under the CRA. It is your responsibility to take ownership to repair and maintain your car.

if you fancy a giggle go to youtube and type in = hitler takes car sales saturday morning meeting

Just out of interest how much time do you guys dedicate to hunting down stock. Am I the only one going through auction lists at 2.30am?

Ha. my first (and only so far) part ex was a Renault Laguna in chop for a Discovery. Gave it a good clean out in prep for going on the bay to clear, found no money, but did find a pair of knickers in the back of the driver's seat door pocket. Best part of it is, they guy who swapped it in had to be in his 60s, or not far off. G'won lad.

Welcome Matt. I guess the only thing I have to add is on the negotiation/sales front. Sometimes there are customers who just want a little bit off (just because they're blokes and they want to feel like they've chipped you) - usually £50 suffices. Typically this type of punter will massively low-ball you first. I just smile, make little laugh noise and shake my head. Never ask them to make an offer, they then have your permission to low-ball you and it's much harder to come back up. Always state your position first if the question of "what will you take" comes up. Remember the things they've pointed out which they like "oh, it's in good condition, hmm look at the service history" and remind them again of those things later on (people forget they've said it and it reminds them how good the car is). Don't say "so what can I do to make you buy it". It makes people feel uncomfortable. Often you need to go at their pace. There are people out there who need edging along (really anxious, plodding types) simply asking, if you think they're serious and after they've had long enough to wander around and ask questions, "do you fancy a little drive" takes the formality off of a scary "TEST DRIVE". Never get insulted by low-ball offers in person - it means they want to buy it but they're just a bit of a character! Ultimately I think alot of it comes down to trust and if you're a specialist in one particular make of car and you're a nice bloke that will come over as you chat to LR nuts about their passion! Hope it helps & good luck!

Hi Matt,...Land Rovers etc,sounds promising to me.There is a guy near us just does Range Rover boxes and employs several people.Have you checked out the MOD agents who flog off Land Rovers and unused parts for them.I see you have a lease, you need to check out commercial property regs with regard to 'delapidations in leases' and what could happen when you decide to leave.We were hit with a mega bill just for moving on after our landlords,the local council had outsourced management of our premises to a professional commercial landlord......Good Luck!