trade vet

Off topic.Unless it is on over age stock,slow punters,’doubting Thomas’s ‘,that expect extras or money off,especially if it is on older stuff,don’t deal with them.It takes 2 minutes to qualify a punter either on the pitch or on the phone.When I used to buy from main dealers,they often had a hard boiled sales guy who sold the most who could spot proper punters by their body language alone before homing in on them.

Ha Ha, ‘ If they appear on the used market ‘,only an amateur would say that........I’m out !

It’s the franchise’s who will have to sell them and take them back in.I expect there will be SFA profit in them.I was making a light hearted observation comparing it to The Howard.Ever heard of the Bond Bug and of course the wonderful Sinclair C5 which was going to change the world..I have to say,if you haven’t got a sense of humour you will never be a successful car dealer.Apologies for the grammar,left school at 14

Did I not wish him luck.If he can make millions retailing RS stuff,he must be a clever guy and I suspect clever than you.I see you appear to rate the new Citroen ‘Howard ‘,that about sums you up.

Do you trade AIM stuff ? I did until Black Friday wiped them all out as they were unsaleable.Still got the share certificates.Penny shares are a penny for a reason.Now let’s here your views please on the advantages of trading AIM shares and your share tips thank you.

He who dares Rodney,good luck.

Ha Ha,good luck to him with that.That market is fraught with danger, it is unregulated Wolf of Wall Street stuff.

In the 70’s if you had a top car where we are and it got nicked,a third party would quickly contact you about getting it returned provided you paid the ransom and they usually did.Nowadays it is probably better for thieves to forget stealing cars and just steal the keys.For example I think the latest Bentley key costs about 7 grand and is encrusted with diamonds.

AT directors will need to come up with something to protect their share price and their bonuses.It hasn’t moved yet so it could be fake news.AT might want to lock dealers into longer term contracts in return for bigger discounts for increasing stock.On the other hand Google have the firepower to offer dealers free introductory advertising providing they drop Autotrader.We started using AT mag in 84 ( I think) and it was far cheaper than local newspaper advertising and it was brilliant for nearly 20 years before being sold and the rates then gradually went up and up.I do agree with the Autoraper tag as they have been netting 70% of their t/o for several years when the trade find it difficult to net 2%.

CD mag news reporting that Google are test marketing their own platform which they intend to be global.I think that would be good news for the trade.Apparently there is no way they would be charging anywhere near Autotrader or it could even be free from the outset.

Going off topic,it reminds me of our helpfull family run PO from long ago.We were taxing stuff every day but because the PO was so busy and you had to queue up,it was quicker to leave the docs and make 2 trips.The postmaster suggested we just left an open cheque made out to the Post Office and he would complete it on a weekly basis.Months later I checked to see that the PO calculations corresponded with ours for mostly 3 month and the odd 12 month tax.It didn’t and we had been charged for a lot of 12 month instead of 3 month taxes.I asked them for an explanation and they invited me into their house.They said they used the PO computer system to calculate the weekly amount and they would never steal any money from us.They were very nice people but of course I didn’t believe them as there was thousands of pounds involved.They repaid us the money and we never used them again and the PO later closed up.Now reading about hundreds of cases where the Post Office had forced Post Masters to admit theft of thousands when all along it was their faulty computer system.Many of them had their lives destroyed ,went bankrupt,got jailed or died of ill health caused by the worry.I often think about our PO people because there was no way they would be ripping us off.I think it is a huge scandal especially the Post Office Cover Up which has taken years to uncover.

That’s what I thought.However their last set of accounts state they had a SEVEN figure cash balance and no debt and had been producing excellent net profits since they set up.How good is that !

I was thinking ‘ another one bites the dust ‘,how wrong that was. Found their accounts out of interest,what a cracking niche business.

Look forward to episode 2.

Good for her.There is no doubt when you email quoting their specific T&C paragraphs and subsections plus BTB online regs,they take you seriously.

I have used a lot of the smaller independent auctions in the past.The best one by far was WOMA or West Oxford,family run and nice people who have long supporting dealer group vendors.If I was buying older stuff online,I would have no problem using them.

One door closes another one opens.If BCA and Manheim go online only that might be good news for the smaller Independent Auctions.Once Main Dealer groups work out they will get more for older stuff from physical auctions,they will use the Independents.There is no way I would risk buying 10 year old stuff online based on their rules regarding descriptions.You might get them knocked down cheaper but I suspect you might be spending a lot of your time negotiating for partial refunds.I would prefer to see them,hear them and smell them and pay less in buyers fees.

Good luck to those who will reopen tomorrow who have been closed all this time.Make sure to emphasise to prospective buyers the potential risks of buying blind from those online only operators who advertise on TV.Remember their advertising is aimed at discouraging buyers from using the likes of us.

Company car tax gets me annoyed.For years I was paying it plus personal fuel benefit tax based on any car from stock with a list price of up to £25k.The cars I used were usually worth about 4 grand.However pre online buying,I was doing 50k miles per year and our accountant failed to advise that I should have purchased my own car and charged the company 40p per mile.I did not find out until years later,very annoying.

Speak as you find.We have found taxi fleet operators to be a great source of business and met some interesting characters aswell.I can think of a town councillor who would only rent cars out to ex wagon drivers and a chemist shop owner who rented out quite a few.The best one though was a guy who reminded me of Fred Dibner the TV steeplejack ( who ! ) had a big fleet of cars and also small terraced houses which he either owned or sublet.His drivers would be his tenents on condition that they could only remain as tenants as long as they were his drivers.There was also an Asian guy from Teeside who ran a huge fleet who had devised some loophole where his drivers picked up and dropped off on bus routes for a set fare.All these guys were easy to deal with.

Not a good idea to put a warranty on a taxi.Some of them can have 3 drivers and operate round the clock.What we always did was to guarantee they passed the taxi test which proved they were fit for purpose at the point of sale.The test had to get done within 7 days of purchase and experienced taxi drivers/ operators rarely objected to those terms of business and still don’t.

Ha Ha,Were they VW Badges,have the Beastie Boys reformed.For those who don’t know,it may have been the lead singer who wore a VW badge necklace so the fans just stole the badges,millions of them ! It was rare to see a VW with badges intact but kids were seen everywhere wearing them.( having just borrowed them ).

Also,what Cazoo and Cinch BCA don’t understand is that there is still a high per cent of punters who when buying their next used car,stay loyal to one dealer,get servicing done and see the same guy who looks after them.These sensible people can’t be bothered with apps,pass words,automated phone systems,far away call centres,security questions,texted back messages etc.when contacting their garage. Given any opportunity I am making sure people get to know about the downside when buying from the online only operators.

99% ? Don’t think so,where are you buying stock.When Nav’s were introduced we found a few were missing.We just used to get replacements from ‘ The Nav Meister’ in Germany.Also wagon drivers have been pulling up seats /glove boxes looking for money for as long as I can remember.

Nice one.When VAT was introduced in 73 when I got my first pitch,a lot of dealers packed in.It was the last straw !