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Having not long landed from USA managed to get flights to Tenerife for a whopping fiver return so off again whoop whoop Tenner for flights my own apartment zero my own transport zero maybe spend £250 on food hmrc do your worst

Mercedes are very easy to get the history out of. Just email a copy of the trade purchase invoice, front page of the V5 and a short covering letter requesting the service history to cs.uk@cac.mercedes-benz.com. They will email it back within a day or two. No GDPR issues as you have a logitimate interest in the vehicle.

wouldnt it be nice if we could stick a nice polite letter in those old red things often with a cheque for a £10 ASKING FOR SPARE KEYS SERVICE HISTORY like in the old days though

Im gonna kick off with this one, Sold a MK5 Mondeo to a regular customer, phoned up asking us to look at why the heated front windscreen wasn't working. Googled it first and found several people mentioning about battery not being charged up enough, so as soon as it came in i plugged it into the diagnostic machine and noticed that battery charge was at 45% and the battery was 1145 days old. Told it the car had a new battery installed (even though we didn't change it) and then the battery charge went immediately to 78% and the heated screen started working! I'm glad we go out mitts on it and not the main stealers, where no doubt it would have got:- 2 Hours Diagnostic One New battery Software update £465 all in (guestimate)

I would also add that you take a pic of the speedo’s exact mileage if you’re going to do this. As all the above (some great feedback). I too don’t like the location though, but it is being harsh. You come across very well and you’re obviouly ‘normal’ For me, maybe controversially, the cars and the mileages are the main issue. The Mini (while good for the young drivers) is 90k and boring. My feelings on german cars at this age and miles particularly are well publicised though If you’re only stocking a few cars as EPV says, you need to buy better. And you’re definitely more than capable of marketing better stuff p- and that’s when your great approach and ability to string words together well & your videos will reap the rewards. I would rephoto them and zoom in more and consider two approaches: One where, as discussed, you make the cars look better and try to get the people to come to you/ not giving them a reason not to buy just from the advert. Second approach- inspired by our erstwhile member AD, where you shoot from a ‘warts and all’ standing -particularly on the type of cars you currently have; as Simon says ‘people buy from people’ and I’m sure you have the same great, no bullsit, honest manner about you that he does. And some person’s 90k German delight will be better than others & Simon’s approach may help you show that yours are ‘better than a lot of the rest in comparison’. Good work though considering how long you’ve been doing it and as TV says, don’t panic. Sometimes they just stick and, unless you need to blow them out to get the dough back in, then just hold your nerve.

I had a look at the Audi A3 mostly. The location is OK, not great but not the worst I've seen. Similar to one of mine I sometimes use when the light is really low (https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201811072224788). You can zoom in thye car a bit more to get rid of some of the background. 1) The £4050 price should be £3990 or £4000 or over £4190. Otherwise you don't appear in a lot of searches for the sake of £50 that EVERYONE will want to chip down. 2) The mileage of 90100 miles should absolutely be 90000 in your ad, again to be visible in searches 3) I like your text but remove half of the superlatives. Have a couple, sure but "fantastically smooth" as an example for the DSG gearbox is a bit over the top. 4) Remove the bit about NOT offering finance. You can do a finance deal with ZUTO for example and even if you don't want to work with them you can always get a customer to come, see the Audi, love it, then find the money somewhere else in a few days. 5) Remove the number of owners. It could put people off. If it's really important for someone they will ask over the phone. 6) Remove the payment by BACS or CASH bit. 7) With a service and MOT date like that put New MOT, New service or recent service. 8) Change the order of your images slightly so customers see the nice leather interior very early after clicking on your ad. Mix them up a bit :-) 9) Pick ONE photo of the alloy with the least amount of damage and use that. Don't give buyers a reason not to come and see the car. If you are worried about letting their expectations down put in your advert text "Some kerbing marks on alloys" 10) Use the world Petrol and the word Auto somewhere in your ad so if someone is specifically searching Google for a Petrol Audi Auto you have a chance of them finding it. 11) Pay attention to every little detail in your ads and if it bugs you - get rid of it. 12) If you have a landline number give it to Autotrader to display along with your mobile. Divert the calls to your mobile so you will always answer it. Use call whisperer.

Your videos are good but in my opinion on old stock like this its the wrong type of video to be making. Your style of videos are the sort of thing i would expect a franchise to be doing. Personally i would do a full walk around video of the car and highlight the good and bad bits which inevitably a 10 year old car will have.

Last time I went skiing I ended up being airlifted off the side of an Austrian mountain after "pizza wedging" wasn't slowing me down......

Ditto

TV, I don’t really see why you are challenging NIk. It costs me more taking my boys down to my van at at Newquay for a weekend and I’ll be doing it every weekend from April. We are all entitled to family and leisure time, it shouldn’t be questioned. Nik, make the most of the slopes whilst you can.

You can look at digital history here..... https://me.secure.mercedes-benz.com/wps/portal/mmp/logoutpage/!ut/p/z1/04_Sj9CPykssy0xPLMnMz0vMAfIjo8zizfwtHA2dTQz9_f1dTA0Cgw0dDQMs3Iz9LUz1w_EpMAgx0I8iRr8BDuBIpH48CqLwGx-uH4XPCrAPCJnhpR-VnpOfBAyucCf9SG1tw9CSQP2C3NDQCIMs02xHRUUAID4p8A!!/dz/d5/L2dBISEvZ0FBIS9nQSEh/

LOL I think his wife was the one who suffered he'd have to use his other hand now

Mercedes are difficult about it all. You need the V5 in your name, or, V5 and proof of purchase. Audi and BMW are much easier to deal with. Ring Mercedes UK, ask them to confirm if the car has been through their franchises and how many times. They won't tell you anymore than that I reckon. When you have the V5 and proof of purchase, if you email it to MB UK they will send you the history. Failing that, find yourself a good indy who has access to MB's systems and reward him for such information...

I bet it wasn't an AGM or and EFB type. Oh and by the way, im from Yorkshire... believe me... if i can get a battery for 50p less tomorrow... ill wait

Same thing actually I religiously check all platforms daily to ensure stock is listed everywhere. Only takes one error or change that no one tells you about.

You could have chucked a battery on for the poor sod if he's a regular customer of yours... they will just be twice as annoyed when it stops again in a week or two in this cold weather.

+1. I went to a really good car dealer masterclass where one of the tips was to advertise SOLD vehicles. Called "The syndrom of the busy pub" in marketing (where you walk along a street of restaurants and you naturally want to go in the one which is full of customers or even has a queue to get in) Will have to think of another text: Thank you, no longer available Thank you, found a great new home Thank you, you just missed out :-)

reminds me of the Irish punk rocker with a safety pin through his nose, pulled the pin out and blew his head off

A lot of that at auction is a buyer who is planning on exporting it. 250K miles turn into 75K and the car is sold abroad with no service or MOT records. A newish Audi A8 with almost 200K on the clock and book value of 8000 recently made £13000 at Brighouse. I bet a proud new owner in Malaysia or similar paid over £25K and regard it as the bargain of a lifetime :-)

What if its father and son or a mate... Lol Bet that's why some people have 2 cars

And if they all look like models and don’t haggle they are Bulgarian. The easiest customers ever. Very difficult to please if they are car dealers though.

I was reading the forum with my 5 year old son who afterwards said to me "Daddy can't mummy eat a Man-size pasty?" I said of course not Pasties are strictly for real men only ! And also, due to your mum putting on a bit of timber lately she needs to stay well clear of pork related pastries and stick to salad, otherwise I'm off. We laughed