trade vet

You must have a lot of contacts at franchised dealers.They are the ones to buy cheapies from.

I would be trying your local cricket,tennis,golf and rugby clubs which have secure parking,a lot of them are run on a shoestring.

Hi True Trade Where are you.........Mark deserves your reply for his honest account,he is clearly very experienced.

That’s a bit unfair,you don’t know the circumstances.My understanding was that it was a sizeable operation.You don’t know how the losses were accumulated,there could have been some extraordinary items,then there is depreciation,it happens.The guy was just pointing out his experience.Several years ago we were hit with a large HMRC assessment after we had invested in a connected party deal from 5 years earlier.HMRC were right but agreed we were innocent in that we had received mistaken professional advice so they waived any penalties.It could have been a lot worse but it was bad enough and it showed in our results.

Yes Len I think it is.To give you an idea of how tough this job is,take a look at Big Motoring World.Huge operation,vast stock and debt but a successfull company in your area.If finance commission and sales of warranties were removed from their financial results it appears they would not make any money.I know it is hard for electrical contractors with all the regs (we have plenty also) plus I understand you guys need £5m insurance liability cover which is expensive so you can quote for good jobs etc .You should take note from the guys on here,they are genuine with their advice.

Hi Lee Rather than ask your friend to show you his annual accounts,you could casually ask how much VAT he paid last quarter.Tell him how much you pay etc.

Yes it is bollox.This type of talk is normal in this job.If he is employing people and paying the proper rate of VAT,PAYE etc plus his pitch costs,his cost of sales could be £800 per car including his own drawings at say £30k.He is probably trying to bring you in to his business.Take a look at his accounts,I bet he won’t let you. My advice,stick to what you are doing.The bottom line is that it is hard to net 2% on T/O before corporation tax in this job.How does that compare with electrical contractors.

It was also HBOS and a lot more.If you are interested read The Big Short it explains what went on,where it started.Banks everywhere were buying,selling and generating packages of sub prime mortgages dressed up as prime which were then insured against default.When they all defaulted the insurers couldn’t pay and no one went to jail.The movie was OK but you need to read the book.

There is always a recession coming.We have been through all sorts of stuff but I won’t bore you. The bottom line is that transport is a priority for people.I seem to remember in 08 that book prices in heavier or “aspirational” stuff ( thank you EPV) took a dive.We took hits on some stock then within a few months prices recovered.However it may have been a different story for those carrying a lot of debt when lenders called it in.

I get more of a “buzz” out of the buying.We can all do cracking retail deals but then the profit always just evaporates !

Keep going guys,this topic is very interesting.’Aspirational cars’,I like that expression,with detailed videos helping to attract out of your area punters etc,all good stuff.

Thank you James but I doubt we will attain the standards of you ’ video stars’ on here.It is a good pitch in a busy location but it was back in 1982 the last time I traded from it.Retail wise,it could turn out to be an under 5 grand pitch,time will tell.

Thank you Noacross.We are now open and equipped for business but not exactly up and running.We presently only have about a dozen 3 to 6 year old stuff bought mostly online from BCA but all good stock at right prices.However our website is still 2 weeks away.We have a few on Autotrader but the photos aren’t right so our guy is now learning to do videos and use a gimble etc.We started well we thought and bought one at the door 2nd day and sold it very quickly to an older guy but then had to refund him because it would not tow his caravan ! We have 2 more deals on the go but we haven’t got it right yet.I think it will take about 4 weeks after the website goes live to establish what stuff the punters want and whether we can buy stuff at the door on a regular basis.I have had several pitches and getting them going is always a challenge.

EV Batteries. A guy I know was telling me last week about his new car,the way punters do.He has bought a £30k Nissan Leaf and thinks it is great.You can imagine my reaction.This guy would have paid list price.So I asked him if he leased or owned the batteries,can you believe he didn’t know.

I agree Nick,we also subscribe to Cap I watched it on line,the BCA catalogue valuation was £9100,sold hammer down £8700 Ring Bedford,it was Lot 86 UKCG Premium section today,can’t remember the colour but it was 13k and 61 plate I only watched out of interest after reading what you said yesterday.However I did get a cheap diesel high mileage high spec 14 Mondeo Estate Business Edition there today for just over £5000.You guys probably think that is expensive because who buys diesels !.....If I see any more descent hybrids up north,I will let you know.

Hi Nick Out of interest....Just watched a 61 Auris Hybrid with 13k do £8700 ,4 below Cap Clean at Bedford Was that not cheap.?

Yeah....Yeah .....Yeah !

I see ,inner London ULEZ commencing April or pay £17.50 per day to use your current car within the zone........Just thinking how you could beat this London crap.Surely this does not apply to taxis which I think are now deregulated.If you were driving into London every day,could you not just buy a taxi licence over the counter in Berwick on Tweed. Then buy a cheap Mondeo and sign up to a local mini cab firm on the outskirts of London to work very part time. You could technically record and bank £150 of bogus fares per month.Cheap car,plus good tax relief etc,no emission charges,better than spending daft money on an expensive Hybrid.......not very PC of course.

No it’s not,Tom says he has a ‘site ‘whatever that means.Come on Tom where is your ‘site’ ?

It depends what area you are in.Inner London traders would ask £2000 for that.Where we are £700 with a new ticket.

Testers cock up involved.....it happens........but 7 grand for 13 90k Auris,is that cheap? OK it’s a Hybrid but if that was up north etc. Regional differences must apply here. Good Luck.

It’s not just getting stuff delivered which is a problem.It is getting them pulled on site.We had three to collect at Blackbushe and the wagon driver was held up for nearly 4 hours.This resulted in us being surcharged 50% and our transport company being well out of pocket.Same chaos at Bedford,I have complained of course to BCA but don’t expect a reply.( I have suggested they should be liable for the surcharge considering their extortionate buyers fees).

I don’t think so.I recently opened an additional on line account and it involved posting the application to Manchester or somewhere.

Thank you,we will get one.

I thought I saw a hybrid camera with a microphone in the reflection on the Jag door !