trade vet

I would not want to retail 1) and 3). too risky. but 2) is different,I would be helping the punter.If you are going to deal in heavy old stuff,expect to take some big hits.

Not much happened this week,the new signs have been delayed by high winds,the website is not ready and NAT West are stalling with our new proposed faster payment account.Bought a few to help get us going.Star buy....I was at the local block and a ‘faded’ 61 Jag XF 2.2 Auto with cream leather but no nav comes through as a rerun from last week.Auctioneer says it’s done 9k but no history.Anyway I have only one bid at £93 and the hammer comes down.I thought ‘O dear’ what have I done.Picked it up the next day,it’s one local owner,it is 9k miles,smooth driver and just needs minting up and we are getting the history from the local Jag Dealer.What a relief. We are about 10 days away from trading,but I will do a warts and all running commentary until I am told to stop.

I think if you work on your own or you are a home trader,when you have a problem,punters are more flexible and don’t expect a warranty.However with a pitch,staff and workshops etc and you are doing 500 or more per year,your punters expect warranties.Long ago,we began administering our own FREE 12 month 12000 mile warranty or mechanical breakdown agreement as we call it.We started by putting £70 per sale in a separate account.The fund mounted up very quickly and from then on we treated claims as an investment.The outcome was that we then did a lot more repeat business.Most people do appreciate that if they break down or have a problem miles away from home and with one call you can sort it out for them.Some of the claims would be suspect,but we just paid them. Nowadays main dealers offer service contracts which are charged monthly and are a good source of extra income.With our new venture we are exploring a similar thing with warranties and free future MOTs and few other things.Our theory is that a good proportion of punters taking out our ‘ customer care pack’ but who will have the option to cancel at any time,will instead let them run on......I think I can sense the doorsteppers reading this with negative thoughts !

Hi Area 51 ...Been on a Virgin 787 ,it was great,super smooth and quiet.Unfortunateley when it landed ,it couldn’t get parked at LAX,we had to wait for an hour.Hope you have photo of you and The Donald in your office.

Hi Ryan. All clever stuff,sounds good to me,these LA guys are ‘switched on’.We call the rejections ‘chucky duffers’ over here,what do you guys call them.?

Owen ?

Hi Ryan. Typical scenario -prime finance customer.Let’s say we have a repeat prime finance customer who gets declined.When we inform him ,he then volunteers that it must be because he has taken out one Wonga pay day loan but which he had promptly repaid.So we then send you his details on his behalf.I would be interested to know (if possible )how much you may charge for the service,who pays and what guarantees you give in order to correct his credit rating. Also and most important ,how long does it take....Thank you.

Urine Gold is also very popular.

They always shut down for a month.They are just bringing it forward to Brexit time in case a ‘no deal’ happens and confusion may effect their supplies.They have already said,they are not going anywhere.It would take years to establish another Mini plant elsewhere.Its,the same with Nissan and Airbus.

I agree about silicon spray it is so adaptable.We had a part time guy years ago whose job was to Autoglym the stock.We had an outside pitch then and the Autoglym made the rain run off smoothly and made washing and leathering off a lot easier.However when machine polishers where introduced,what a difference they made.I think back in the mid eighties my Makita cost £300,worth every penny.

Mr Trump sorted out the EU in one day.He just told them to stop cheating on secret subsidies in the steel business and other industries and cough up for under paying into NATO or they would be tarriffed.Meanwhile because we are British we follow EU Regs to the letter and have destroyed our own steel and fishing industry while allowing other EU states to cheat.

If Wayne has traders insurance cover surely that would include public liability cover.As regards volunteering he is a mechanic,I have to disagree.We employed an ex mechanic as a salesman,he was a straight talking no bullshit guy who would wear an overall with a few spanner’s in his top pocket.The punters loved him,he used to nick the swappers and do great chucky deals and when they returned for another car they used to ask for him.Even our Black Horse rep thought he was a star.Regarding HMRC,I agree Wayne definateley needs to record and declare everything,otherwise you can now be crucified .It is not like the old days.

Hi Wayne Sounds to me like you are doing OK.If you are good at your day job,you will be earning £30k or more depending where you are.If you can then do 3 or 4 cheapies per month staying below the VAT threshold,that is good.There will be quite a few on here who would settle for that.Your USP is that you are a mechanic and punters will always buy cheapies from a mechanic.

You are right.He was doing his job discussing various Brexit scenarios in a meeting with ministers and not in public.It appears details of the worst case scenario were then leaked to the media.

Hi Lucas You must be very carefull.Keep in touch with us guys,you are entering ‘shark infested waters’.You need potential partners trading accounts and personal bank statements going back 3 years.You will need to check them out at Companies House and also get various other references.

Mark Carey manages to get his contract extended then comes out with ‘ there could be economic chaos with a no deal Brexit and house prices could fall by a third if interest rates rise’.He should know that his statement will have an immediate adverse effect on trade.He is probably now trying to get fired and get a bigger pay off with his contract extension. Sorry Carney.

A good auto example James.I have just been checking my notes from Wed.at BCA Newcastle.In the UKCG premium section 61 Jag,warranted 9k,leather,no nav.Cap Clean £11300 ish ,it was provisional at £9600.I was watching online but it appeared a nice car.That would probably retail for £12950 down your way.

It’s ‘horses for courses’ and there are definateley regional differences in this job.If I was in the South East and needed high spec petrol auto stuff I would be following the northern auctions.There are good freelance buyers who attend most auctions who for £50 will inspect and buy a car for you.For instance,we have bought manual Mercs for years in the south where they are frowned on.

Our accountant also submits all our HMRC stuff on line.However my understanding is that MTD involves a lot more.I think HMRC want the ability to access from ‘the cloud’ your income and expenditure from last week and your quarterly VAT return will be like submitting annual accounts.It will probably be a disaster like Universal Credit,Free Schools ........and Find and Fund My Car.

That’s right.It just means more people will fiddle more.

Thread was ..MTD just what you need ....17th July....people generally don’t understand the implications.I asked my accountant to get me age related digitally challenged dispensation from HMRC.He said I have got no chance !

I had never heard of gilfs,I thought it must be some MX5 conversion company from Guildford like the Chelsea Tractor Company.I know a trader who is a MX5 expert retailer,you may know him Andy.As for these gilf punters you refer to,I imagine you must look like Brad Pitt or George Clooney.I hope you don’t look like the average Geordie pie eater with a shaved head.I think these gilfs will be far better punters than these’ Wonga’d up under 40 ‘ chucky duffers we keep getting........Do a few today guys !

Don’t let it put you off buying from private sellers.If you have the time and patience you can get some good stock.

So he would only let you view the car in Aldi car park ?

Out of interest how did he want paying .