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There is without doubt an art to Facebook which is why so many people find it painful, couple of obvious but items often missed i see daily. No1 you have to have a business page it doesnt cost anything but set it up right logos good pictures videos ect opening hours ect set yourself apart from some of the lower life forms already on there. no2 avoid these stupid groups cars under £2500 -£5000 what ever that is where all the low life hang out. no3 build your target add around the people who are going to buy your car we aim ours to under 25s for the c1 aygo 107 market they see them send you loads of messages about bluetooth connection and stuff and then the parents turn up and your away, another example a 1.4polo tdi we select an audience of over 25s that way your not wasting you money sending the wrong car to the wrong people. Sounds obvious but my 17 year old son was sent a sponsored add for a c class coupe what a waste of money that add is. no3 be sure to select the right towns area for your add we have some lovely parts of swansea and then some not so nice again common sense. And build on it, dont let it fester take cheeky pics of stuff just arriving people who have liked your page will see the updates and tag there mates in it before you know it you will have over 1000 followers and that part of facebook is free. it all sounds very obvious and common sense i know but as my gran would say common sense isnt common. love it hate it doesnt bother me works well for us and thats all i care about.

I've discounted FB as a waste of time up to now, but for some reason on 23rd Dec I put all our stock on FB on individual adverts with click to message for enquiry / finance quote / test drive. Had 128 clicks to our website, 23 serious enquiry messages, 7 finance quotes, sold 2 cars as a result with another viewing this afternoon. Total cost £110. This compares to Autotrader who we spend £2300 with a month. Zero website clicks, zero phone calls, zero anything.

ECJ, I like your thinking, good philosophy

I sold another car via text yesterday, collection tomorrow. That makes 4 cars in the last 6 weeks I have sold via text messaging when I haven’t spoken with the person until they arrive to view the car. Not saying you’re entirely wrong, text messages allow a degree of anonymity that people can hide behind but you’re not entirely right either. People buy cars by text. By messenger. By email. People cock on deals when they have seen the metal and driven it. People are people.

Create yourself a "Jobsworth" page (your company name). Type in your advert, attach photos, create link to AT or your website. I would try it first by sticking an advert on free of charge, then if you fancy it boost the post and pay per click (define your local area, demographics, etc to maximise response). Ask your friends to like the post, then advertise to your friends and their friends - and build from there. You can even upload a list of previous customers to FB and they convert the list into a list of FB users that you can target. The list goes on and you can drill deeper and deeper into a more and more defined market. Good luck and Happy New Year... I did the adverts and let a few enquiries come in, then (no patience) I boosted the post to people that have liked my page and their friends. I also tried setting certain demographics with age, self employed, directors etc and a local area. Today I've posted our most expensive car into London FB with a diameter of 50 miles to see what response I get. The mind boggles..... I'm getting no response from Autotrader and I joke not I've been up and down like a yo-yo at my desk responding to FB enquiries. Might be a flash in the pan or it might be the way to go. Better than sat here waiting for Autotrader to produce some leads...

I put 11 adverts on, some for 2 days and some for 5 days. If you don't have a website you can include a link to your Autotrader advert (but my thinking is that if you direct them to Autotrader there will be lots more to choose from and I prefer to keep their focus on my car on my website). Normally Facebook doesn't work for me. Maybe it's the time of year where everyone sits scrolling down FB newsfeed. I don't know. It's the first time we've had good results. What I do know is since October the Autotrader response has been hopeless, so thought I would try something different.

That is exactly what I was going to say, word for word, I had an ex demo 2018 Cross Country Estate and I used it for a long journey this year (July 2018), around 2000 miles racked up in a few days of all different roads and traffic scenarios. Apart from the Maps Update and Vibration at 80 mph it was exactly like that, the guy who programmed them was probably the same wanker that programmed the Grand Picasso, that's another pile of shit to drive in the real world As for that braking actually working, it depends, big vehicles and certain colours, like Red Sprinters f.e. it simply does not see them, I am absolutely convinced it would have hit them, when coming up behind them at around 50 - 60 mph, it did not brake full stop, I had to absolutely smash the brake pedal when down to the last 6ft or so, conversely, at slower speeds it will be well back from a small light coloured car at 30 mph rolling traffic and then smash it's own brakes on when there is no need, full on application of pre safe belts, whiplash the works The twat who programmed it is a fucking moron who should have been sacked when Electronic Ignitions first came out !! The Mercedes system actually work flawlessly, it is almost like you are driving it yourself

Fb is a place for c**ts. I’m pissing into the wind but personally I’d ban it & a few other divisive platforms - it brings the worst out in many people. Remember 25-30yrs ago the outcry about introducing identity cards? The likes of Fb have harvested far far more data and the best thing is, is the stupid public don’t mind. Of course all this is immaterial as I’m aware my views are outdated (if you won’t say it to someone’s face don’t put it on email/forum).

You do of course have the right to inspect the car mate. My initial reply was probably a half hearted one as this sounds like a right headache. Get the car back, with a working key, explain you will be inspecting the vehicle and if the only issue with the car is the glow plug one you will refund but after you have had the car delivered back and inspected. Pretty much ignore his rants and threats and get on with your life.