trade vet

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Everything posted by trade vet

  1. Hi guys, Interesting topic.I think this business model is a minefield.With varying rates of duty charged on both the purchase and freight invoice price and with VAT charged on top,you must need huge mark ups to make it work.When you factor in waiting times for shipping, type approval and registration at DVLA .DVLA alone can take months and your import will probably get highly taxed as private light goods under the new regs which can confuse punters. Another consideration regarding VAT is that HMRC inspectors are allowed to interpret their own rules any way they want and challenging them is not easy.Those of us who traded in the 90’s will recall that many dealers did well with Jap imports while following what they thought were the correct import rules.Unfortunately many of them were subsequently destroyed by HMRC at a later date. You can make enquiries with HMRC but they are unlikely to help and they might refer you to your accountant or your agent as they call them. So not much help but best of luck,there must be easier ways to sell cars.
  2. Wonderful.Thank you for your update Mr C.
  3. Sounds brilliant Mr C.Can we have an update on how you are doing.You surely cannot do 20 of your wonderful conversions on your own.
  4. On the 10 o’clock news last night they were discussing inflation and a guy with a vast pitch in Nuneaton was explaining about paying 4 grand more than last year for the same stock.It’s not just cars and vans,a house opposite us went on yesterday at about 20% more than we thought and today they are onto second viewings.I was in Wicks for a smallish tin of gloss which I thought would be £10 at most and it was £18.
  5. Just watching the new GB News channel.There is such a shortage of fruit and veg pickers that the growers are now offering £20 an hour for 45 hour week. ( equates to about £1100 p/w PAYE )I doubt the Cazam guys at Peterborough will be impressed with that.The old story with the job,you are going well then something comes out of the woodwork to bite you. .
  6. Replacing stock must be a bit easier where you are.Heavier or different stuff was always cheaper in Scotland,you just had to be prepared to do a bit of paintwork.I don’t think Scots will like paying 2/3 grand into book !
  7. We lived in aTyneside ‘back to back’ terrace and when we were 11 or 12 several of us would play football in the back lane which was quite normal.None of our parents had cars and then this ‘old bloke’ moved in up the lane.He would constantly warn us to keep away from his A40 which he was very proud of.We used to agitate him by saying things like ‘ nice Volvo mister ‘.Years later the ‘old bloke’ still lived there and we then established that when he used to bother us he was 37.
  8. Watch the video Rory.Nice kids who live in the same area as the skater park.Think about it,to them it is some sad old bloke ( with a new Ferrari ) interrupting them and complaining about planning permission.He has made a big mistake,we all make them.No wonder they told him to F Off.This story is likely run and will not endear the guys punters.An elderly car dealer having a new Ferrari is NAF,if it was a 30 year old one or similar that would have probably impressed the kids.Long ago I collected a new Ferrari Daytona and drove it 300 miles,being a car dealer I thought it was shite around town.Why do a lot of people think skateboarders are undesirables.However I have to declare I do quite like ‘ Socal ‘ skater music.
  9. CD Mag News.Multi millionaire and fairly elderly Trade Centre boss with the new Ferrari ( how sad is that ) confronted juvenile skater boys while using their skate park which is on public land near his residence..He was complaining to them that the council should not be extending the skater park and he has offered to fund a new one somewhere else.It appears the Skater Boys told him and his Mrs to F Off and film of the episode has caused so much anger that people are driving past his residence sounding horns at night and Trade Centre has been inundated with bad reviews.The Trade Centre guy is now heavily backtracking.Do you think he might be forced to donate a Skater Boy music system to encourage more use of the park.
  10. A friendly MOT could have been done by a connected party working in the testing station.The owner of the testing station who has probably invested a lot of money may not be involved.How many miles has it done since January and the previous MOT.You could contact the testing station and draw their attention to it but I would not do any more in case of any reprisals.Be carefull you never know who you could be dealing with.May we enquire what this ‘jalopy’ is which you appear to want to retail.
  11. Yes they are claiming £143 Gross Profit per Unit as being a success.Classic financial market bullshit.All very Alan Partridge.At some stage someone might point out their actual Cost of Sales per Unit could be £3,000 or whatever.I suppose they can’t claim a success by admitting a loss of £2850 on each sale.
  12. What about Pendragon.They bought Buist Bramall which was a successful long established business then leveraged the freeholds by either selling them or selling them and leasing them back which created a profit.They sacked all the best people and replaced them with cheaper ones and then repeated the process by buying Vardy’s.Now they appear to have a lot of leased empty pitches which they are trying to dispose of which must be costing them a fortune.Do you remember when Phillip Green came close to buying M&S.
  13. I do remember them well although we did not specialise with them.I remember buying late petrol Montegos with British Aerospace on the doc which was a big help when infact they were ex hire cars.Good margins,few comebacks.I used to ship Maestros ( which were for nothing )from Newcastle down to Bridgewater when it opened and they did well into book.I used to have my own line.Unbelievable when you think about it.
  14. Also for the smaller business guys,I was reading something recently wherebye Bounce Back Loans were refered to as Bouncing Bombs.Not certain but something about BBL’s restricting businesses from taking out further funding during the duration of the loan unless you settle or face a penalty.Alternatively Tottenham Hotspur got an £175m emergency loan,maybe that’s why they might have to sell Harry Kane.
  15. Last time I mentioned the potential 100% penalties for those who have profited during the pandemic having received government help and are not intending to repay it,it did not go down well.I am not sure Vertu can afford to repay it,they have massive liabilities.
  16. We had this proper young guy in wanting to buy and he had a good deposit but we told him he needed a parental guarantor in employment.He said his mother would be OK.So his mother comes in wearing LOGO’D overalls.So I am filling in the docs,name ,address, employment and she says engineer domestic stuff.Who for ,self ,so enter self employed engineer.Anyway we prop it and Black Horse reject it as the mother does not have a job.So I give them a call and the mother goes ballistic and insists she is a hard working domestic engineer.So do the usual ‘sorry it’s out of my hands ‘ routine and refer her to Black Horse not thinking she would contact them.Within a couple of hours BH Cardiff HQ are on the phone because the mother had phoned and spoke to several of them raising the roof about being rejected.I had forgot about the telly game shows where housewives were described as domestic engineers.
  17. Pardon me but is remapping best left to the punters.Any punters talking about remapps is not a good signal.We do our own warranties,I would tell them if you buy from us and get a remap,your warranty is void.Saying that,remapping as a stand alone business appears to work.
  18. If the millennials knew what it was like, they would understand why we like to refer to the old days.Do you recall it was normal to carry a donkey choker,I think it gave you more credibility.Once got poisoned with using wire wool,used loads of it on bumpers,hub caps,wing mirrors,window frames,wiper arms and no plates.They put my arm in a sling but I still watched the pitch.The thing is the traders who operated in the 50’s thought we had it hard.If they operated now they would be slitting their wrists.
  19. Brokered an old Daimler XJ Double Six resurrection job deal the other day.Only a ‘cheapie ‘ though 5 grand.Some would say a scrapper.I do call in to the pitch and they are still very busy.
  20. OK but I think most traders would still describe downing a cheapie as having no warranty and no prep.I’m out.
  21. Ha Ha ,well in Newcastle you can’t do a £3500 deal and tell the punter it must be trailered away.If you don’t want to tell us the area you operate in,that’s OK.
  22. Where is your pitch is it in Mayfair.