trade vet

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Posts posted by trade vet

  1. Posted

    16 hours ago, petrol head said:

    Im loving the Datsun stories and it must have been much more fun back in the day. 
     

    However have merc given up on the agency model?

    Apologies PH for us ‘oldies ‘ hijacking your topic ‘.

    • Haha 2

  2. Posted

    2 hours ago, It's me said:

    Datsun 100a

    Now they were bad

    We got one tested one Saturday morning and it passed, the tester had been to a party the night before

    We got I back and realised it wasn't his finest hour as the inner wings weren't attached to the chassis rails

    We spent 2 days welding it up 

    That would be right but mechanically it would have been good.You probably paid £100 for it ! About 25 years ago in a restaurant in Spain  I got talking to guy who said he had been the financial director for Datsun UK from day one. They sold thousands of 100A Cherry’s and this guy insisted that the total cost of new car warranty claims on the Cherry in one particular year amounted to under £1000 ?

    A friend of mine only sold Cherry’s ,he had a small paint shop and having bought them for under £200  he then bodged them ( or resurrected them ) during the day and doorstepped them in the evenings for about £500.

     

     

  3. Posted

    On 4/14/2024 at 3:30 PM, It's me said:

    :D boss man took the hump

    He definitely did ! Do you remember the early Datsun Cherry’s and Sunny’s .They were cheap to buy,plentiful and brilliant sellers  although the wings and sills rotted like hell and needed bodging !………..past glories.

     

    • Haha 1

  4. Posted

    Don’t understand the ‘agency model ‘and it doesn’t benefit dealers.It reminds me ( probably not you guys ) of the distant past when new car dealerships held an ‘agency’ rather than a ‘franchise ‘and if they didn’t like something being imposed on them ,they would just tell the manufacturer to find someone else to sell their cars ! I saw it happen once,I was buying stock from a family owned main dealer who had added Datsun ( years later called Nissan ) .The worst model was a 180B Coupe which was a camel and didn’t sell and on this day a transporter pulled up unannounced delivering about 8 of these Coupes .The boss went ballistic and got on the phone and told the then Datsun importer to the UK where to go !……..You couldn’t do that today.

  5. Posted

    Brilliant !, “ They are transitioning to a pure play automotive market place and exiting fulfilment operations.How good is that for  ‘gobshite ‘,you couldn’t make it up.Their proposed platform will need to be free of charge to get the trade to support them.They would be better off getting into the Hand Car Wash ‘ industry ‘ ( Sustainable Net Zero Automotive H2O Cleansing )as most of us started out washing cars and then progressed from there.

  7. Posted

    If it wasn’t for the severity of CRA 15 discouraging bona fide dealers from retailing decent cheapies ( and paying VAT on them ) ,there might not be a black market in them.Out of interest,it appears that the ex Lib Dem MP Jo Swinson aswell as being the author of CRA 15 was also a Post Office minister in the Coalition Government allegedly encouraging the fake prosecution of sub postmasters ……..and we are regarded as being dodgy ?

    • Like 1

  8. Posted

    On 1/21/2024 at 9:52 PM, It's me said:

    I told all my customers they were getting 7 days or your money back but didn't use it these last 10 years 

        He is clearly a moaner and I have to say he would have failed my attitude test and the car he wanted always got a major problem seconds before he came for another apraisal just before he said it will be cash you know  or we took a deposit on it only 10 minutes ago sir sorry about that, you must have passed him on the way in

        Life was too short to help the cares in the comnunity 

        If they show signs  of pissing you off today then they will definitely be back if you bend and show weekness to them before during or after the sale  

        Some people live to create problem's  

        Currently in the club watching the snooker and enjoying retirement

        Remember you are the captain and all customers need permission to board your vessel

    In retirement,congratulations.You will find it strange not having the daily aggravation to deal with.

  10. Posted

    Clearly the guy has issues,he may suffer from Autism.Whoever sold it to him needs to be penalised,it should have been evident to them within 2 mins of meeting him.I am sorry to say but I think the problem maybe that you need to employ ‘pro’ salespeople who are able to qualify your punters better.I started advertising our 7 Day Money Back Guarantees nearly 25 years ago which quickly routed out any difficult punters ……..and it generated a lot more business for us.It was one of the best things we ever did .

  11. Posted

    Named drivers don’t appear to qualify for no claims discount when taking out their own policy.We had a similar experience having been individually named for social domestic and pleasure on our fairly expensive company fleet policy which we had with the same insurer for many years.When we retired ,we were taken off our company policy and took out a new private policy with the same insurer.They accepted my application which included full no claims discount so I settled up.Sometime later,I was informed that my no claims discount had been disallowed and that the cover would be cancelled if I did not immediately pay the balance they requested.Although I thought  this to be very unfair,I paid the balance ‘ under protest ‘ and complained to The Ombudsman.

    Sometime later The Ombudsman service got back and they agreed with the insurance company that we did not qualify for any no claims discount and we would have to start afresh having been previously comprehensively covered to drive any car by the same insurer for 40 years without making a single claim.

    • Thanks 1

  13. Posted

    40 minutes ago, TRADE SURVIVOR said:

    Best wishes to Andy Conde in retirement, Great auctioneer looked after us guy's in the hall over the years.   

    I remember when auctioneers did look after you ‘ know what I mean Harry ! “. The best ones of course had their own catch phrases .If Andy did Rothwell I probably bought from him.I hope he does his memoirs,ha ha the millennials will open their eyes.

  15. Posted

    On the face of it,it appears to be an ‘on premises’ contract but CHR 15 is wide ranging and Small Claims Court Judges ( who are not fans of used car dealers and tend to side with claimants ) may interpret the law in different ways.Who did you invoice,was it the son,his mother or her brother.Would you be able to prove to a judge that the brother ( a close connected party ) inspected the car on your premises and made the contract after contacting his sister.Also did you establish what qualifications the brother had in order to carry out an inspection.For instance anyone trying out a car on my pitch had to give their name and address and provide their usual signature and if they were ‘ in the trade’ to state where they worked. ( I got caught out on that one once )

    • Like 1

  17. Posted

    6 hours ago, It's me said:

    You just couldn't make this crap up could you, I'm now awaiting to see if according to car dealer magazine I might have been overpaid 

    Meanwhile a log book came this week, it only took 2 months

    2 months,that’s not bad for DVLA ,try registering an ex MOD vehicle !

    • Haha 1

  19. Posted

    10 hours ago, It's me said:

    My mot station are a mechanic down and lost the last one to a main dealer who offered 20g more to join them, I still can't get my head round that pay increase

    I had to have the front ball joints replaced on the merc truck last month.,i didn't fancy doing them, got charged 400 nicker, I could have done it for 70, so we know who's paying these eye watering charges

    20 grand more ! No wonder Stratstone are apparently quoting £2500 to service a Range Rover 

  20. Posted

    I was at my old pitch today and they were discussing trying to replace a mechanic who has left to earn a lot more money at a main dealer.As adverts rarely work,such is the scarcity of good all rounders,it is apparently better to poach another one if you can.However I am told signing on fees of 2 grand are now commonplace.Has anyone else come across this ,we are in the North East,it is probably 5 grand in the South East.

     

     

  21. Posted

    34 minutes ago, It's me said:

    But you dont 

    Give each and every car a fresh mot at point of sale by an independent mot station so no mates rules

    Sort out any issues so car has no advisories for customers or trading standards to nit pick on unless obviously it's something like slight corrosion to brake hose ferrules or slight corrosion to front subframe, you wouldn't change these items but you would underseal or protect them

     

    Have each and every car go through a comprehensive tick box pre delivery inspection

    Have each and every car go on a 10 mile drive to confirm no problems

    Do all this and you cut problems down by 99%

    If you do then get a visit by trading standards or heaven forbid you go to the small claims court you can prove you did everything possible to sell a proper sorted car prior to sale and this goes in your favour because it shows you keep records and show due diligence to the trade we are in

    Remember everyone loves us as they buy a car today but tomorrow if they even hear as much as a squeek tomorrow you are their enemy

    Finally always keep business and pleasure separate if you like a nice quiet pint

     

    Spot on, I think it is called ‘ protecting the down side ‘. Also if you want to make any money retailing older stuff,unfortunately the reality is you have to do the lions share of the prep yourself.

    • Like 1

  22. Posted

    Kwik Fit ! There is the answer. There is probably little wrong with it.Anyone who has been in the trade for a while has a Kwik Fit story.They are worse than the main dealer free health checks.Unless things have changed,Kwik Fit fitters have daily sales targets and get paid 10% of jobs and if they miss their target ,they get bollicked.Kwik Fit should be able to tell you the mileage if they think they will get work.They may have done a lot of miles,so you could refund them less at least 40p per mile and charge for any paintwork ,a valet and probably collection.

    • Like 1

  23. Posted

    It might well need discs and pads.We did our own 12 month warranties and occasionally we would investigate claims especially if the customer was from out of our area.I recall one guy claiming for a turbo on an Astra 1.7 diesel estate that he only had for a short time.His local garage confirmed the job so we gave the go ahead . Replacing turbos on those Astras was not uncommon but for some reason I sensed something was not right.I checked where he lived on Street View and he had a bloody great caravan parked on his drive !

  24. Posted

    I doubt you are getting the true story.The car could have been purchased for his partner or ex or ‘ bit on the side ‘ and they don’t want it or might even have fallen out.Have you spoken to her to establish who she is.At the point of sale did the buyer state that it would be used far away by a third party covering long distances.I think that is material information a dealer should know when selling an older vehicle.Firstly  and to cover yourself,I would email informing him that as the car has been inspected and having stated as being unroadworthy,the car cannot be used on the public road.If he wishes to process a claim under CRA 15 he or his partner should promptly send a photo showing the current mileage reading together with copies of the said inspection reports and their receipts.He should then arrange to have the car trailered to his home address which he provided at the point of sale.That you will then collect it and your engineer will then promptly carry out a CRA Post 30 Day statutory inspection.If this is not to his satisfaction he should then contact his local Trading Standards Dept. who will then usually contact you with their observations.

    if he has been telling you Bullshit,in my experience he won’t cooperate.