trade vet

Good cheap convertibles,I don’t think so.Out of interest I was annoyed with a friend yesterday at Newcastle where there was a 12 207 CC Roland Garros 8k ,white,leather etc ..a rare car.One or two said they wanted it and I was asked by this guy who I know well how much I had for it.I said north of £5k and he said how much more.So I said £5500 ish and his reply was it will never bring that much and the others agreed which inferred to me that they would not bid that much.Anyway it started at 38 and I could not shake off the other hall bidder and I stopped at 5850 and it was knocked down at 59.Low and behold it was my friend who bought it.If he had told the truth he would have had it for £400 less as I would have stopped at 55 so I let him know.

Hi Frankie Unless you are doing cheapies,I think you would be better off finding a small unit for a dozen cars.If you have to show something to a punter,they should find it more comfortable if you have premises rather than an open yard.If you can find one,it should not cost that much more and with small units there are no business rates.

Tell him he cannot use the car anymore and give instructions that you will collect it from his home at a certain time.In the past when these guys talk about not been able to get to work I usually establish where they work and then refer them to public transport.Please let us know how far he travels to work and in future when selling cheapies it is a good idea to qualify the customer.

Proper punters will not pay for dems.You might get Top Gear type wallys to pay £50 for half an hour then afterwards it can take a hour to clean it.We don’t yet have the technology to clean a car by using a keyboard ! You must have been out of the trade for a while,I would say,stick to what you are doing.

‘It can sit there forever etc until I get 2 grand profit on it’,....I have to say Mr C that is classic peripheral car dealer speak you often hear around the auction ring.Why not just trade it to someone on here and get on with your job.You have had a descent starting bid already.

Thank you....it might look OK,We are getting traders in wanting to buy stuff we haven’t got and ‘chucky reps’ touting for business but otherwise it is very quiet...As for retailing,.I might just crash the prices and start again and try something different,I have done that before.

Hi Auto Evo For a start,I would suggest when you download your copy of How to be Car Dealer,go to section 4 and read parts 9 and 10 and include that in your business plan.

Make sure the sausage rolls are cold or they will attract VAT.As I am quoted in the guide,I am happy to accept Greggs pastie options which vest in 5 years.

If you were a Jock you could probably claim a subsidy from somewhere towards the job.I see they have been promised another £450m in todays budget and the awfull SNP guy was not happy and went on and on.

Why not ask that dealer/Trader guy who is also big on solar panels...I think he is called Elon....

When I started aged 15 ‘hair cutting’ was widespread.You could also get MOT’s without taking the car,’dial a test’ stations would last for 3 months then get closed down having done thousands of MOT’s. Cars did not have service history then and the punters never queried mileages and I think some cars did not have mileometors.Nobody retailed high mileage stuff.I recall one dealer getting done for buying Jersey ex hire cars with 2000 miles then knocking them out as ex demos with 200 miles.He got off the main charge on some technicality but pleaded guilty to offering for sale without checking the mileages etc and was fined a few hundred quid.However,I recall this Trading Standards Officer who was hot on forecourt tyre pressure gauges.There was all sorts going on but his thing was to do garage forecourt owners whose air pressure gauges were inaccurate.The air was free in those days.Then there were the bungs.I recall one dealer who was mid twenties and had a 20 car pitch turning up in a new DB6 which took months to order boasting that he bunged the sales manager £500 to get it immediately and nobody battered an eyelid....I better stop here.

When I started aged 15 ‘hai

Hi Mark sellyourcar2us.co.uk..........it’s a bit ‘non league’ at the moment......all criticism welcome.

Never seen that one,but all the rediculously expensive ones we see here are owned by Russians.They are usually too big get in,are armour plated,have helicopters and other boats installed within the hull etc.One of the worst is a submarine yacht,I have forgotten the name,it cost over £100m apparently and the Russian owner is about 40 or younger.You just wonder what these guys do....I don’t think they pay VAT... put it that way.

Our new ‘old pitch’ eventually started up early in the month with 15 cars having taken awhile to set up.Website just went live 5 days ago.Nice stock,some small stuff,a few SUVs all good prices.We are on AT and the local rag and this used to be a prolific pitch,it is in a very busy location.We have not got it right yet with Descriptions and photos and no videos yet but the bottom line is,we have only done 3 and bought 2 in at the door.I think this is going to be a challenge even though we are only aiming to recoup the equivalent of the rent we were getting.If I had not been in this job so long,I would probably be worried.I am already thinking our stock is wrong.

I agree.Mind you although there are some beautiful sail boats here,some of them have electronic sails !

Yes,I know who you mean Bubba or was it Forest Gump who did well with shrimp boats.Did he not then invest in a fruit business.....and did OK.What was it called again........

Stink boats ?

I am in our apartment now in Puerto Portals marina Mallorca.Leases on births here for the big floating caravans change hands for over 1m euros and I think there are only 12 years left on the leases. Most of them rarely go out yet they have a full time crew,it makes no sense.

I think you are right to be cautious.Lets say the hirer defaults within 6 months and there is a reposesion.Your broker will be out of pocket and their commission will be clawed back by the lender.They could in theory then claim that the lender had examined the car and a quality assurance issue was found (which should be easy.)Then without informing you until after it has been sold off cheaply at auction ,in theory you could be legally bound to cough up the outstanding balance including interest. 16) I would add to this.......which covers a 6 month period after the date of sale which have not been caused by misuse or neglect and were promptly notified by the hirer at the time. or on those lines otherwise you could get stitched up. I used the same major finance company for years but probably like most banks they sometimes slipped something in to our annual rates and terms contract which did not mean how it read......Try....If the hirer fails to make 3 instalments etc....( fair enough you get your commission clawed back) However I recall one regular punter calling in and he still had his car.So I just asked him about missing his payments. What happened was that on several occasions over the term his D/D had been delayed by a day or two because of glitches in the banking system resulting in us getting our commission clawed back.

Now beach huts,that’s a good business.This summer I was talking to a dealer friend who introduced his son to me.He managed some seaside leisure park in AD country.They aparently bought glorified beach huts or mobile homes which are manufactured in Yorkshire fo £70k and sell them for £250k to people on their site on the coast who then rent them out.They charge site rental and management fees on top,what a great business.

Long ago,I went to BCA Peterborough or ADT or whatever a few times.There was these 2 farmers who bought all the best stock.It made no sense what they were paying for stuff.I recall asking a local what was going on.Apparently they sold from their farm and had a great business selling stuff at rediculous low prices.I was told people had to pay an entry fee at the farm gate to view the stock.No idea whether it was true.

I am interested to know how this works.You buy a van for £15k+vat which you claim back.You work on it and claim back as much VAT as you can on the parts and fittings.You then sell it for £30k.Is the VAT due on the sale £6k.or is there more duty to pay for converting a commercial vehicle to a private vehicle.

Clint Eastwood etc.....When we first started we had an open pitch with a ramshackle office.We had this huge poster of Clint Eastwood on the wall from ‘The Good Bad and the Ugly’ with sales manager printed on it.We used to tell the punters if they had any problems Clint would deal with it.They loved that,but in those days punters rarely came back......true story.

Just what I thought.Which proper finance company would advance 100% at 15% on an old Mini.Its called irresponsible lending,the punter has no money.They probably don’t want the car any more,sub prime mentality.Why don’t you ask the punter to prove they have kept up their instalments on time.If they have not,you are wasting your time repairing it and it could still bounce back later on.