trade vet

I think there is a lot garages helping the community by staying open and doing essential repairs and MOT’s.Otherwise there appears to be plenty of good people on neighbourhoood websites offering to help.There will be one or two bad ones aswell.One thing we could do,being generally more ‘streetwise’ than most public sector officials is lobby MP’s and councillors with ideas.It is doubtfull however that they would take notice.Things that annoy me at the moment like the registered hard working, tax paying self employed being discriminated against when being not allowed to work.The least they could do is send them a cheque for a grand per month like the US proposes.Then these reports of frontline hospital staff not being able to buy groceries because of panic buying.Surely these 250 grand a year Hospital administrators can arrange for space to receive groceries for staff.Then there is the free food banks,there must be a lot of fraud when you see the reports on local tv.There always appears to be overweight people being interviewed and others on their mobiles and smoking in the background who are supposedly on the breadline........Stay healthy and Good luck everyone.

It will be interesting to see if Lookers stays open for business and have a future.One year ago their shares were £1,closing bell last night they were down to 11p.I think it is very sad as they were established in 1910,have 150 dealerships,plus parts distribution companies,employ 1000’s and appear to have been led downhill by ‘ Corporates’ with little frontline motor trade experience.I was going to buy the shares at 17p last week but held back,I am pleased I did.

If I was a doorstepper,I would be getting friendly with the guys in the local WEBAC shed if they are not buying but only trying to ‘steal them ‘People will still be calling in with stuff to sell......Wink Wink,no what I mean Harry !

Not good enough.I think you need at least a 3 months package waiver to remain.AT has been doing £360m T/O with net profits of £270m so if they offered a 6 months waiver, it would not impact their business.

Ha Ha Don’t tell us ,tell Saatchi and Saatchi.

More problems for Philip Schofield then !

WEBAC bid you £7k under Cap Clean . What was it ?

Thank you for the warning and you certainly got a reaction.It would be interesting to know what you do for a living. I am sure most of the guys on here are awhere of the potential of this virus.Quite a few will be classed as self employed and probably will not be offered any help including £94 sick pay.The fact is that self isolating ( with zero income) might finish or bankrupt a lot of self employed people. I have looked on The Lancet site regarding Italy and the projections are worse than you have stated.I think we are 3 weeks behind them. Good luck.

I agree I would be trying to downsize as many standing contracts as possible no matter what notice is stated ( I don’t think they are still enforcible ) so if they won’t play ball just say you can’t pay.Advertising,HPI,card machines,rents,dealer management systems and also check with the local authority about making the new extended business rates relief applicable etc.

Ha Ha ‘ So you are over 80,don’t worry it’s only a pandemic ‘

You are right Mark.I recently enquired about putting a commercial property on Rightmove .They wanted a grand per month and would not budge.

I have been through secondary banking crisis ( causing minimum 40% deposits ) ,2 long miners strikes,( one causing an energy crisis and 3 day working week or be fined ),quadrupling of oil price crisis ( restricting finance up to 2 litres,petrol ration books issued ),the Falklands crisis and aftermath,Black Friday stock market crash,ERM crisis ( where basic variable rate mortgages went to 15%,yes 15%),Desert Storm,9/11,sub prime mortgage crisis ( when the banks went skint) and others I have forgotten about.All of these have effected our trade and caused many dealers to take financial hits to keep going.Indications by medical and finance experts speaking on CNBC today fear this crisis could be worse......I certainly hope not.....cash is king,used car dealers should not expect any financial assistance which may be offered to other businesses.

Solo/ doorstep operators will be OK and probably don’t need to trade.For the guys with the premises and the staff that have to sell X number of cars a week to stand still,it is another story.I have been watching CNBC all day and listening to experienced financial experts and medics and I hope they are wrong.Its not just the virus,it’s the Russian/Saudi row and the knock on effect as huge oil companies may be forced into bankruptcy putting thousands out of work.

It’s not a good time to set up,I would keep your day job for several more months.You will have enough things to cope with when you do start up ( which you had never thought of ) so sit tight for the moment but keep asking on here and the pros will help.

Excuse me,why would HMRC do that !

When I was very young and learning the job,a few of the dealers from up the street ( all flash guys )would call in after work.I recall being fascinated sitting in a corner in overalls earwhigging all their chat this night and whatever anyone said another would have a better deal or story.One the guys was known as Top Cat,immaculately dressed in a dark suit,white shirt and tie,looked the part and had a big cigar.( car dealers dressed like that ).After awhile Top Cat announced he was going home to have dinner,nothing special just Venison and a bottle of Chablis,I was impressed.Sometime later I found out he lived on a local council estate. !

Must be good money in service plans. Vertu Motors ( Bristol Street ) have 100,000 and financial commentators have said that is what is keeping them afloat.

The guys running the car wash next to us are young Polish,they have an incredible work ethic.Washing and valeting 8 to 4 then home and then do taxi work to late at night. Every so often they buy a cheapy like a diesel Passat and drive back to Poland to sell it and then check out the houses they are building over there with the money they are making here.There must be plenty of Poles in your area Lambchop given the number of flights to and from Poland out of Speke.Out of interest which car sales pitches in your area have impressed you to make you think ‘ I could do that ‘ .

Hang on,you are paying minimum wage rates,PAYE / pension contributions and VAT,that would be a first for a car wash.Its also been the worst Feb weather on record.You will be fed up.The Eastern European car wash next to us have about 3 who are in daily and depending on weather, they sometimes have a dozen people they can call in.The thing is,I know the landlord and he is not a philanthropist and he tells me the car wash guys always pay the rent on time. Maybe sub let the car wash to similar tenants and the pitch for car sales to someone else with an arrangement to have a few cars of your own on the pitch.Other than that ,not knowing what your site consists of ,I cannot think of anything else.

Hi Marc Dont worry about stock sticking everyone gets them.Your business plan is good because you are doing one product and fixing them yourself.That is a big advantage and should save you 30 o 40 grand a year if you are doing 5 or 6 per month.Good luck.

Next on BBC is Dragons Den from Islington. First into the Den is Mr Cazoo who is hoping to raise £10m for 10% of his unique online used car business. Hi Mr Cazoo my name is Deborah. How long have you been running your business and what have you spent on Advertising so far. ’12 weeks and we have sold 1000 cars and spent £250,000 on TV and AT advertising ‘. Deborah. Tell me about your premises. ‘We have an umpteen hundred thousand sq ft buildings and compound prep area employing several hundred with no customer sales area ‘Deborah.How much profit in years 1,2 and 3. ‘We expect to lose £70million’ Deborah. I think I will pass on this one. Hello Mr Cazoo my name is Touker. Tell me about your sales in years 4 and 5 . ‘We expect to sell 120,000 and then 200,000 ‘ and make £250m Touker. In that case I will make you an offer.I will give you £100 for 25%. Hello Mr Cazoo my name is Sara.What are your cars made of. ’ Mostly metal ‘ Sara. Oh dear,I would have preferred that they were knitted or sewn together so I am out. Hello Mr Cazoo,my name is Peter.I think you are taking the piss, so F...k off ! ‘

Even Bernie Madoff would not have projected those figures. Could make a good Will Ferrell movie.

Cheapies are easy to sell, it is just the potential liability.For instance this one where you have described the defective handbrake,that could be construed as an unroadworthy vehicle.So if you are a professional motor dealer and have sold it to a private buyer,you would have to make sure and be able to prove it was trailered away.If you did not and it was later involved in a fatal RTA ,the bottom line is you could be looking at being charged with corporate manslaughter.I have to say if I was starting out and not being a hard boiled long experienced trader,I would probably be taking the risk and retailing cheapies.

You get some great value cheapies these days but the precautions and time you have to take qualifying punters to comply with CR 15 legislation makes it not worth the bother selling them.Also the expectations and maintenance skills of the majority of today’s cheapy punters are different from bygone days.Why is it often the case with punters who live 300 miles away and desparetly want to buy something under a grand that they get annoyed when you advise them to buy something on their doorstep.

Birds of a feather etc. I agree and it is the smaller independent guys who are effected.Its a bit like the saying ‘ borrow $100 from the bank and you have the problem but borrow $100m and the bank has the problem ‘. Excepting The Great Trade Centre, the supermarkets all have huge stocking loans,do big T/O and make little profit.