trade vet

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.

I think you are in control of your business,you can probably walk away from this job anytime.Like you, I never had any stocking loans and given the T&C’s previously stated,they do not make any sense.Unfortunateley things have changed and it appears that the younger people starting out today have little choice for funding.The thought of trading for years and never owning all your stock,I see as a failure.I say good luck to the stock loaners but I would rather pack in and work as a rip off ‘equity release adviser’ than be controlled by a stocking loan.

It was pointed to me awhile ago how easy it would be for BCA to ‘finagle ‘ some system to bosh out any cheap left over stuff to WBAC and transport it away to another branch to sell it.It is a potential Conflict of Interest. BTW BCA do not own CAP however some people say they might manipulate it.

Someone I know who does heavy stuff ‘sale or return ‘ for selected dealers had to resolve an interesting problem a couple of years ago.One of his lumpy cars got lifted by a Stocking Loan provider and was then entered for auction when the seemingly ‘doing well dealer’ suddenly went ‘tits up’.The dealer apparently had put it on his stocking loan facility.( what a nice chap).I think the guy we know then had to bid and get his name on it at the auction to enable him to argue that the seller did not have title to it .He sorted it but what a carry on.

With reference to 3) Hammer down.For the benefit of the newbies ,sometimes if you are ever bidding for a car in the ring and the auctioneer sells it to you as being ‘ sold subject’ they then occasionally bring down the hammer.If that happens ,the fall of the hammer means you have bought the car and the auctioneer has created a contract.

I think most dealers agree with you that price markers are unfair and inaccurate.AT reps will be getting it in the neck every day.I think they will be gone by the autumn because dealers en mass will be reducing their AT listings.Its a PLC and this will show through in their results and could effect the share price.

Trading Standards is for punters.I think it is the Competition and Markets Authority you would need to contact.I think there is more chance of Man City getting relegated like Saracens for cheating.

Can you imagine trying to sue AT.They would probably retain barrister Geoffrey Cox MP,QC .He allegedly bills a grand per hour ? Did anyone see him shame Labour into agreeing to the election.He got sacked last week as Attorney General probably as a favour !

Your area appears to be saturated with Minis and 500’s ,so if you are not a well established dealer,your pricing will be important.I would reduce 2 or 3 to cost price and see what happens.Then try and pick and choose punters with good swappers and try and nick them.That often works in my experience with slow moving stock.....Everyone to their own !

I would trust online Bingo more than AT digital info.Are you sure your stock is showing up on AT.I have just searched for Minis and 500’s within 10 miles of Beckly ( which I am presuming is the Plymouth area) and Beckly Car Sales stock does not show up or do you trade as something else.Punters still buy Minis and 500’s so don’t be put off.

Interesting,you appear to know about taxis.Being nosey,do you rent out a few of them like they do here.

Ha Ha ,I didn’t mean LPG was bullshit,I was referring to John Prescott ! 100,000 taxis in Bangkok ! but how many go south of the river ? Enjoy . Being good at mending them must be awfull.Loads of work at £150 per hour.

LPG conversions.We got into them early doors when John Prescott said government grants were availible for conversions.We had several done and applied for the money and were told the grant allocation had been taken up for the year.This was about 3 months after Prescotts announcement ! It was all bullshit as far as we could see.

Ideal for Brightwells.Plenty of Landrover stuff there.I am sure you will do well,good luck.

AD This guy is a specialist Land Rover repairer and he could be a valuable contact for someone on here.

Specialising in Landrovers Wow ! where are you setting up.

I am sorry but when you set up as a bonafide trader with premises selling stuff like this you will find that your customers attitude will change from what you have been used to.You will need to factor in that you can expect a lot of comebacks and refund claims under CRA 15 which you will have to resolve.Also don’t be impressed with dealers appearing to do well unless you can see their previous 2 years trading accounts.I have lost count of the number of new big time dealers who have imploded as quickly as they arrived having taken on too much.Making money in this job is not easy but getting ahead is even harder.

So it was a private seller whose name and address would not be on the reg doc.If so,that is a big own goal and I think for the moment you should stick with your day job.