trade vet

A friend of my daughters is self employed and has 2 zero hours contract jobs which are suspended.She does have an accountant submit her tax returns.She has applied and has been informed she is eligible and will be paid from next week.!

I think there might be Gucci,Ralph Loren and Burberry N95 fashion item face masks shortly.

Get a handfull of warranty books from other companies to give you a few ideas.Then adjust to suit yourself.Then get some books printed ( not to many as you will be making changes) ,it has to be easy to read and in clear understandable language.Sorry but I cannot send you one of our booklets to copy but if you get in touch,I will give you some tips.

Doing 120 and putting in £100 per car you should be slightly better off over the year but you won’t build up a pot of money.Just do it yourself and get your own books printed and call it a ‘ breakdown agreement’.Unless things have changed you can’t call it a warranty unless it is underwritten by an insurance company.No need to use a warranty administration company,you can manage any claims yourself and customers do appreciate that.

We started doing our own in 95.It depends on how many you do for it to be worthwhile.Having your own workshop also helps.More info required.

The auctions will find a way to reopen.Just a few thoughts.To avoid crowding and follow social distancing they could restrict the auction ring to people who have a permit having registered a prior interest in a particular vehicle.They will have to up their game with grading and photos to attract more online buyers and continue not to charge online and storage fees.Collections might only be allowed 3 days after sale days when the car has been parked up to limit the possibility of any infection.

I was only suggesting having the contract legalise checked incase it was flawed in some way.It happens.

It must be an awfull worry for you Arthur.All the main dealer groups and car supermarkets have huge stock facilites,I doubt it will be the same for them.I would have thought you should be able to renegotiate the terms because the government has prevented you from trading .I would be getting a commercial lawyer to look at the T@C’s ,other than that I know very little about stocking loans..

Good luck Simon.I like the way your punter friendly website is set out.I like the 300CE ! they were like hens teeth and your 61 C class manual diesel Est would be more money up north ! BTW my wife has been our CFO for over 40 years and we have constantly argued about the job with my cock ups and losing money on stuff.Is it the same with you.

Learned to drive in Reliant Regal 3 wheelers when I was 16 using my motor cycle licence.I rarely had my own car although I did have a nipple pink Cortina 1600E ( with an 8 track stereo) for a short while.I was never interested in owning a top car although I could afford one in 1972 basic wage £10 but I was earning £150 per week.We worked long hours and on Sat and Sunday doing 20 was normal.

I have loads of stories but you will have to give me a clue to remember them and a light might come on.It could be anything connected to the job.

I was given the task of collecting a new F/Daytona in about 72.Stopped at a services on the M1,came back out and there was a crowd of people drooling around the car.I made sure to tell them that the car was shite,it jumped out of 2nd and a charging light kept winking.No big deal,I knew it was bought with 2 months chucky commission. ( 10 grand ) imagine that !

If you have nice self contained premises,I think it is a good idea to show images of all the facilities.Better still if they can be embellished.However,it will need to be reasonably priced to get dealers to use it.Its a low margin business and funds for marketing are generally used up.

You were right Frankie,talks have been confirmed,there has been a stock exchange announcement.

Another Lambo story to pass the time.This one from 20 years ago was widely publicised at the time and might still be online. As I recall,this London guy is in his 60’s,lives alone in a flat from where he runs a successful cigarette vending business called Fagomatic.He has a van and works day and night and never goes on holiday.Using the van however restricts him from doing more lucrative business with exclusive London clubs.Apparently doormen would not allow him to park his van directly outside as it ‘lowers the tone ‘ and he could not park it elswhere as it was too risky late at night. So to get round this problem he buys a new Diablo.This investment subsequently works and business flourishes because it looks good parked outside club entrances late at night and also impresses doormen and there is also less risk of having his cigarette stock stolen. However,after buying the Diablo he claimed back £25k VAT as he was only using it as a commercial vehicle.However the VAT people did not agree and wanted their money back and the case went before the Tax Commissioners.Also at stake was the non payment of company car tax which would be another £20k per year for a Diablo. Incredible as it sounds the Lambo guy won the case as he was able to prove that since buying it, his business had increased by 50%.He also proved that he mostly used his van and the Diablo was parked up in a secure public car park in the same spot during the day. However I understand that sometime later and unfortunately for Lambo man, the Vat people successfully appealed the Tax Commissioners ruling to the High Court . It reminds me of car dealers in the distant past who would have flash smokers to help impress main dealer sales managers to get offered first choice of all the best swappers.

I don’t believe this story.I think that what has really happened is that Lookers has got a third party to float the story in the hope a white knight will rescue them.They are a household name with a lot of freehold property to sell off or maybe sell and lease back,and they are cheap.

I know a full Yorkie Spec ( part of the Brighouse closed shop ) Top Car trader now retired.Some people might know what I mean.He tells a good story about a mate who a good while ago had to have a effing Lamboeffinghini ( his words ).He warned him to no avail but the guy pays £150 grand for one from that well known trader in the Blackpool area ( who I have forgotten )..He gets told on handover,don’t forget if you want to blow 10 grand just give me a call and I will have it back.The guy has it a few weeks and he hates it and everyone is laughing at him and taking the piss.So he rings the trader up for a chat and the trader asks after the car and the guy says ‘I love it,it’s brilliant.’The trader then says don’t forget if you want to blow 10 grand,bring it back and I will put the money in your bank.The guy says,’ I will be around in 40 minutes’.

You think it’s bad,can you imagine having a car sales and mot station business in Northern Ireland over the last 4 months.May I enquire what area you operate in.

It’s all spin.Yesterday they were claiming tests had increased to 100,000 per day.Do you believe that when the chemicals to do the tests are in short supply ( quote Gov.Como New York State ) We now have a big virus testing centre and a hospital 4 miles away have now got the equipment to anylise 6000 tests per day.Where are they being done,240 miles away in Milton Keynes by a private company.The explanation given,De Loitte are advising the government on carrying out tests. On Thursday,the chancellor said there were now more than 25% of businesses on lock down ( sounds better than 70% ) and 4 million workers were now furloughed ( sounds better than 15 million). A local company on telly were complaining that NHS were messing them about regarding buying their protective visors and they had made thousands.So they were now just selling them to the US who wanted them yesterday. I think it might be better if the army were put in control.

You will be popular with your ‘client’ then.Expecting a main dealer to do everything right,that is very unprofessional if you don’t mind me saying. I think you should do the proper thing and refund your ‘client’........ha ha !

If you are talking about the lockdown,factors will be down a lot more than 50%.Not many Euros vans about.Also,I have an involvement with a usually busy car sales and workshop business,it’s closed up.Unlike restaurants and gyms,when it reopens it will be OK,like the other workshops nearbye. What about garden nurseries,they invest a load of money in stock ( often borrowed ) ,work like hell to get it ready and only have 3 months to sell it to cover 12 months expenses.They are closed up and will be dumping stock and many will go bust . One thing with this lockdown,small businesses in future will have learnt to have a cash reserve rather than operate on the edge. Rant Over !

More bullshit.I do not know any good workshops who were down 50% before lockdown.The problem I constantly hear is that they cannot get good all round mechanics anymore.There must be thousands of vacancies.I know one place who recently employed a good all round mechanic,overall it took 6 months to get him.It is probably easier to sign an out of contract top premier league striker.

The good small Indy garage repair shops will always be busy whether they do MOT’s or not.

Most of the guys quoted are not car dealers like us,they are just rotating employees with no skin in the game and bullshit theories.It is easy for them to say ‘hold your nerve’.You have to factor in what happens if prices at the block plummet for similar stock to yours ( like 08 ).A competitor near bye might be buying them and knocking them out a grand or more cheaper.So what do you do,you can’t just sit still with £x grand p/w overheads doing zero business and guess when things might return to normal.I may be wrong,but I don’t think Car Giant did that after 08 and no one is better than them.

It is all right saying hold your nerve,but what happens if values take a big drop.After the 08 crisis we were forced to mark up a lot of stock £2000 cheaper to stay in the game.We took a big hit but then we restocked quickly,were not greedy and were knocking stuff out.