trade vet

Hi ECJ If you check the legal definition of a ‘minor’ in the UK ,I think I am right. Hi Blenheim Are you saying on the second occasion that when she collected the car from you,it had not been repaired, you had only examined it and reported your findings to her which was that she was negligent.Did you quote for the work in writing. Sorry Blenheim,I do think CRA could be ‘ out the window ‘ in this case and the buyer being ‘a minor ‘ has every right to rescind or void the contract. Good Luck.

Inflated,pretend warranties to suppress VAT.People were getting caught with that one in the 80’s.Basically it is fraud and HMRC charge a lot extra for that.

The way I see this ( I am probably wrong ) is that because you knew your customer was a ‘ minor’ at the time of the sale and you were awhere that she had held a licence for only a week,you had a greater duty of care to find a successfull remedy.A judge may expect to see proof where you made the effort to contact her parents or guardians to explain what happened after the second failure.( I would have wanted to know where a 17 year old got 5 grand in the first place) I would be checking out the consequential damages claim which could be fabricated.Have they been calculated after deducting the usual Polo running costs,fuel,road tax,insurance ( for a 17 year old) ,parking charges,servicing and MOT,depreciation,etc. Unfortunately I have to say that I think you were negligent in your dealings with a ‘ minor’...I would be trying to negotiate a reasonable settlement.......Lets hope I am wrong !

Thank you,I will get back later,very interesting.

I have done this before.However you can’t discriminate against buyers who don’t require finance.What we did was to give those people requiring finance a £500 discount on the cash price to offset their finance interest charges.We were retailing stuff at virtually cost but with finance income from commission and volume bonuses with no VAT it did work well.To get round the loss of finance income from early settlements we got the punters to sign paperwork agreeing to pay an admin fee if they settled before making 3 monthly instalments.This was a good while ago and it did work for us for about 18 months but today when Punters can buy money for 5% APR from Tesco,I am not sure whether it would work....But you have to try different things in this job to try and get ahead.

Hi,first of all could you just confirm when the 17 year purchased the car,was it invoiced to her and not a third party.

Quiet up north.Its half term week here and it has a huge knock on effect.The public sector employs the most people up here and it never fails to amaze me that these people can sometimes take i.e.Valentines Day off and turn it into a weeks holiday while claiming to have flu.( on full pay).We also had a good January.....Rant Over.

Exactly,but AD has this skill which is rare at our end of the market to get punters to commit with a deposit before viewing.

We all get ‘stickers’.If you think they are no longer good value,don’t be frightened to chop them brutally.You often then shift them quickly and get a good retail swapper to help you out.The big operators need regimental stock turn policies because ‘the wallys’ they employ are not allowed to make decisions like ‘knock a grand off that one’ etc.

Of course you get them,but not many and often they just swap to something else.Several weeks ago we had 2 straight refunds in a week and from a small pitch.That has never happened before even on the old big pitch.

Everyone does their own thing.Not only do I not take deposits,I also refuse them.Works well for me,I have done this for years.I tell them I don’t need one just shake hands and to settle up on collection.I also tell them to give us a call should they change their mind.Up north Punters appreciate that because a lot of dealers want a deposit before they can have a test drive......We have also done 7 day money back guarantees for over 20 years ( some of you must be horrified).....

£16950.......cheapest 09 @ 30k appears to be £18500 .......you must have bought it at the door. BTW I have only had 1 or 2 of these over the years ( too frightened) ,so only guessing.

AD I don’t think that you understand that your business model is possibly unique.I think most dealers including me would have liked to emulate what you do but we can’t pull it off.Your videos,presentation and especially the advance deposit message connects with your punters.I can’t recall anyone else being successfull with your policy of insisting on a £200 deposit prior to viewing.

The flash 50s and 60s car dealers that I can recall when I was about 15 would be in a constant rage these days.I was reading Bernie Ecclestone’s biography and it recalled when he was a car dealer and when he decided to pack it in because it was not worth the bother any more,no money in it.That was 1973,the introduction of VAT was the last straw for him !

Hi Flip Its all part of the learning process.Listen to the pros on here.Get the car back and check it out.It could be registered as a taxi or been modified and used for motor sport,never believe punters.Be prepared to negotiate a refund.Dont even think about going to court because the claimant could embellish the claim with consequential damages.The bottom line is,if you lose you have about a month to settle and if you default you get a big CCJ against you which will effect you for years to come.I have to tell you that worse things than this will happen in your first 18 months in this job.

We had an AA guy in a few weeks ago and I think he was wanting us to advertise stock on their website.In return you could use their logo and your punters got some sort of free breakdown cover. I think if you are doing cheaper stuff,prominently advertising free breakdown cover may give out the wrong message.I passed anyway,can’t remember why.

I think their drummer lives up the coast from us ?

Which bands Dave,it will establish whether you really are boring.

It reduces the possibility of corruption.

Dave is clearly a ‘ local hero’,remember the movie.

Yeah,we also bought one today ( ex deceased lady) from her son.As an exercise I had bid book on the condition he took it elsewhere so I could see what others were bidding.One bid £900 less than us and WBAC had offered the same online but when he showed it to them,various extra charges were brought in to play and they were then £400 less !

Took your advice and put a car buying ad in the local paper,£50 quarter page.If you recall,the ‘21st Century digital guys ‘ on here said this was a total waste of time.We get a call from a guy who has given up driving.So I go and see him and he is 90 and we agree a price.So I say,give me your acc. details for payment and we will pay you now etc.He refused and insisted on a cheque ! BTW I gave him a proper price,thinking back to when I was 23 with my first pitch,I would have probably got it £1500 cheaper.So thank you again Noacross,we will extend the ad.

If that was us and my wife found out she would be saying ‘ WTF are we doing charity work for’ you know what happens.

Hi David I have to say that it is a shocking admission that you actually spent time with this guy.Forty years ago the rule was that if any punters produced a Parker’s ,you gave them short shrift......You must be good natured.

I can imagine an inspectors response ‘so when you settle this account,how do you do it,what time of day,do you declare the journey etc.in your business vehicle for corporate governance purposes ? On the other hand,I was in the local and watched this guy just hand over plastic for a round of drinks and it is scanned and handed back.So I said,do you not get a receipt for that,how do you know you have been charged correctly.The look I got,I think he thought I was stupid !