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Put it on red

so the full mechanical failure rendered the car undriveable, [and if i wrote everything that happened it would be more suitable for a book so will skim best as] this is where the recovery, storage and mental strain loss of income etc claim came from, i also had the claim for remember, court costs, original claim and also i had a claim for money spent whilst in there ownership [ i fitted a part and charged them cost price, at the time it was agreed it was failure due to age/mileage, later in the claimants claim paperwork this was denied lying barstewards ! ] reading up on internet i learnt [ and the point in writing this is to help people who face a future claim] that when you look closely at the claim, [and whatever you do respond in a time !] it maybe made up of 3 or 4 or more claims in one, now what you MUST do, and its just easy to say i deny selling them a faulty car, you must also deny the other parts of the claim, or you may end up paying 25% of the claim because you didnt deny it ! covered by a simple = "defendant denies each and every allegation" because when writing your defence, its so easy to miss something! small claims work on the balance of probabilities, and if its judged probable you did sell them a faulty car then because you didnt deny the other aspects of the claim [ maybe car hire] youll pay for that too ! this particular case i was 100% not going to be treat as a fool, the car was right when it left me, thats why i didnt just give em money back. my defence was the above, and it had a pdi, and it had a full mot, [ car also had a superb history, which i brought up in court] and my sales invoice, [learn here]. the case lasted a hour, i was confronted by loads of lies, but a good well written defence followed up by paperwork [proof] and straight answers to the claimants and judges questions gave me a "it is ordered the claim is dismissed" result! it was proven = fault was not present at time of sale. it was proven= any after sale work done by me i did not profit from [ customer service, i am a good lad ] . it was proven = my invoice did not withdraw the customer from his rights, and should have been read before signing / agreeing . little extra tip to slow these claimants down if your ever there, in your defence hold them to proof for every claim made in it, i e , they have to show proof [receipts, paperwork,diary pages etc.] to back up there claim, it slows them right down, and makes them work for it i was denied costs, i asked, i was refused .

A big factor I would take into account would be where you are in the country. If you're in the South East like me 30k start up will mean trading from home is the only option as there are zero sites or units around that would be anywhere near affordable. I've never traded from home so can't give any tips or hints other than do it properly because the last thing anyone needs is a disgruntled turning up on their doorstep.

I started with this amount 7 years ago selling cheap bits around £3000. I couldn't get enough Corsa C SXI's, used to sell like hot cakes. I now have 10 times the value of stock and 10 times the headaches but it can be done with some hard work.

Depends on your circumstances really but with 30k only way is at home or small unit and they aren’t easy to find at decent price nearest I can find is 500 s month and only 1000 sq ft not many landlords want car trades in their sites if u get 2000 unit by time you find cars to fill it pay insurance rent etc you will run out of money before you make anything

Trade from home or a small unit trading in shite under £3K. With £30K that’s all you can do.