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I'd rather set fire to my hair and put it out with a spade than use Autotrader.

I started Sept 15. Lost my job and took the plunge. On my own, at home, a few ££££ and went from there. However I have worked in the industry for 20 years, selling, business manager, sales manager, GM, so i'd like to think i've learnt a bit. 2 years on I now work with my partner, we have a 15 car unit and are selling 12/15 cars a month. FCA registered, warranties, sell supagard, brilliant website ( check it out done by cardealer5 www.superminiuk.com ), Award finalists and looking to expand next year ino servicing too. It can be done. My advice - Don't p1ss off your neighbours, ( i did in the end, washing cars every day, customers parking sometimes in ridiculous places etc..... ) - Learn from your mistakes ( there'll be plenty ) - Don't take stuff personally - Prep properly and If it breaks, fix it, don't fudge it - Treat every £ as your own, but don't be afraid to take a ( Calculated ) risk. I used to drive cars to a local forecourt past 2 others to fill the tyres as it was free and not cost me 50p. But i bet I saved £50 overall! -Embrace the CRA and Look after your customers, they are your lifeblood, deal with problems quickly and fairly. Customer service is my number 1 priority - Have a sounding board - My Mrs was mine, Every time I had a wobble, I called her, she talked me through it and made me think rationally. I now have her working with me so my phone bills are lower !! - Enjoy the freedom, don't deny yourself a day off every now and again or god forbid, a holiday. Life's for living. - Seek advice, its free, there's people in this world with years and years of experience, lots on this forum too. Good people will be willing to help, share and encourage. Remember, people love nothing more than talking about themselves, take advice and use it when necessary. - Be lucky - I am the luckiest guy in the world, acknowledge this and you'll get luckier, I swear it works... If you need anything, give us a shout...

I had a dabble at the first time drivers market. It was tough. As Mojo says, in that market, customers are very unrealistic. They tend to want an as new car, with full history and ultra reliabilty for £1,000. Never going to happen. Also you need think, 17/18 year olds are very social media friendly. Have you looked at your local facebook buying and selling page? They tend to be full of 1st time cars being offered for peanuts, can you compete with that? What area are you working in? What are your potential customers like? Where i am located, its quite a well off area. Alot of the kids go to private school, and mummy & daddy are keeping up with jones's. I found alot of them were buying the kids nearly new cars, or opting for the new Corsa/Clio on £100 a month finance deals. I'd say think outside the box. Do your research on your area & find your market. Are you in a congested city? maybe go for little city cars. Maybe you are in a well off country side? maybe appeal to the stay at home mums and go for some chelsea tractors? If you are in an area where alot of people commute to work, look at prestigue saloons and hatch backs. Other markets to look at, maybe stick to ultra low mileage cars, low running cost cars or even just what i call "odd ball cars", the stuff you arent going to find at every car supermarket or dealership

Extreme translates to Extremely Bad Spec. I learnt the hard way on those after a Clio turned squatter.

It is different in a lot of respects however it is still promoting favouritism of some vehicles & companies and profiting in the process to the detriment of other paying dealers, no? The process in my opinion is flawed and is misleading customers by not drawing their attention to the fact that it is 'sponsored adverts' first and explaining what is a sponsored advert! It would be much better for customers to see clearly that they have a choice of how to search ie distance, value, price , monthly payment etc first. I mean really out of 100 customers GIVEN THE CHOICE how many of them would select sponsored adverts first?