trade vet

That’s good.

Is the paintshop a proper business.Will your painter have a proper tenancy agreement,it is doubtful.He may have been paying his rent in cash,ask the painter.If that is the case,email the landlord and inform him you are going to break in and collect your stock.Also that you are going to inform your friend at HMRC that he has been receiving £150 per week ‘cash in hand’ rent for years.That may get a response from the landlord.

That’s similar to what I had except mine had a wider plastic chrome edge.

In the US,plates are in frames with names,logos and stuff engraved on the chrome surrounds.I think they look good and lift the look of the car.So because our plates are larger,I sent off to China and got some samples made up.Got them back,was impressed and showed our guys......they thought they were crap.......yet another idea fallen on stoney ground.

At some stage,you will probably have a pitch and have all the promotional stuff !

Plates are important,Elite Performance Vehicles would look good on a plate especially to punters who are concerned that their neighbours will know where they purchased their car. In the 90’s ,we sold ex Police patrol cars which were repainted and looked mint.We used to put main dealer plates on them because punters would lie to friends and neighbours.

£2995...must have been 6 months old,we sold a lot of Wedges,crap car but the punters loved them.( Those who didn’t go anywhere ) Your punter must have wanted it for regular use !

I hope it’s not a WAV,you cannot chip £2000 on a WAV In 2 months,not British.

Not quite.Funnily enough a few years ago I was sent a photo taken from the ‘All our yesterday’s column’ of a local rag.It was me serving Cleveland petrol at about 3s 6p per gallon in ‘67.I often did an hour on the pumps then.I was 17 and had been selling cars for 2 years.I will try and find it.

Was at BCA Newcastle today,I had to laugh.One of the old guys who buys and breaks lots of cheapies was complaining.While he initially excepted the exorbitant buyers fees of £84 on a £100 car,he could not accept they would no longer give him a paper invoice.He was requesting dispensation because of both his age and lack of e commerce knowledge and equipment.He was also requesting a breakdown of the 84% buyers fee.He was declined saying that they no longer print out invoices.What made it worse was that they then printed out a pass out sheet for him. My suggested remedy was that they email his invoice to someone he knew who could print it.Then he could invoice back BCA for his time trouble.

I think most Trading Standards inspectors are reasonable people.We just had one who over many years would pick fault on minor stuff.However,they did wrongly prosecute us for a cheapie we sold at ADT ( BCA) which was bought by a private punter ( who was actually a Trader).Our solicitor managed to keep the case going all day at the Magistrates until it was thrown out.It must have cost the council a few quid,so maybe that is why this guy would bother us. When I was a kid working at a petrol station there was this Trading Standards Officer who was a top .’jobs worth’.He would take ages checking the air pressure in the ‘free air line’,he was a bit like McKay in Porridge.

Surely you just email a copy of your trade ins policy,quote your vat number and website details.I seem to recall at first they did not accept our company ins policy because my name is not mentioned on it.It was quickly resolved.

Good point.......I will do that.

I am embarrassed to say I have discovered that our guys do not subscribe to this mag,they get sent the other one which maybe should be rebranded Franchised Dealer Bollicks.I do think £49 for the info we get from this forum alone is worth it,so I have now subscribed.

I like that,punter friendly language,it must help the job

Kia’s and Skodas ........There are those that know and those that don’t know.....!

Hi DCS What I am trying to understand is that you have been working as an employee at various franchise dealers,doing blazer and crimplene trouser clad jobs selling cars for 20 years.In the meantime,your family own a long established and probably well known small community petrol station and workshop business with additional space for 10 cars.Why have you been wasting your time working elsewhere,you should have been operating on your own 10 years ago.What an opportunity,established business,probably little or no rent or business rates to pay,you must be thousands out of pocket.There is plenty of work to do looking after and prepping 10 cars for sale.I would say get on with it and if you are any good,you will do at least 2 per week.....if not,you may have ‘main dealeritus’ which could prevent you from doing things like buying,valuing swappers and doing your own valeting. So Good Luck and don’t be afraid to ask us guys when problems arise.

We had this Trading Standards guy who used to come in on spec and was very polite but he was always looking to ‘do you’ on some minor issue.This went on for many years,the last time I recall he arrived at midday on Christmas Eve and made a big thing about the size of our typical APR example on our advertising,I think it was 2cms too small.I think he must have retired now.

Nice one AD......Send Trading Standards a polite email and invite them,you could suggest meeting them on any Friday at 4pm.They would have to reply.If they turn up in the meantime just refer them to your email and say nothing.....You can imagine I have always got on well with these guys !

This Dealer Auction merger stuff could just be a smokescreen. Cox/Manheim own Autotrader in the US.Autotrader UK are hugely profitable and a household name.Autotrader shares have been rising steadily since May.This could be the forunner to a takeover bid if this merger is allowed.Manheim have been outplayed by BCA and could be rebranded i.e.Auto Trader Auction Group and do extra sales for private punters.They could also do stuff like Auto Trader Buy Your Car etc .BCA bought nearly 300,000 cars through WBAC in the last year making big profits.BCA will be following this with interest,they could also bid for Auto Trader.........Course I might be talking crap,maybe the Cox Head of External Relations can advise us of the ‘ synergies’ in this merger.

£60k Crap income etc down your way ! Who would want to live down there.I can honestly say I have never needed our company to pay me anywhere near that to get a descent standard of living.We must be very lucky living up north.We did have a mansion block flat down there and I recall the committee were getting quotes for painting the window frames on 90 flats.They were seriously considering quotes of £400 to £600 grand.So when I said,just get a Geordie painting firm to come down and put them in a B&B and they will do the job for 50 grand,they thought I was taking the piss.

Modern classics,niche market,good margins.If you can find the right stock you sound like you know what you are doing,worth a go.

Hi JGW Forget retailing,you can’t start up in this job with little experience and a shortage of funds. However,from what you say,it appears you can buy.I know an ex BCA guy who set up as an auction buyer for account holders on a commission basis.He thought it would be part time,but he has been inundated because he charges less than the BCA online buyers fee !

I often hear of traders being insured by Tradewise and I have often wondered who Tradwise are or who owns them.From what I can see they are mainly Road Risk Only insurers.You would expect insurance companies to be large asset backed corporations,however unless I am mistaken this does not appear to apply to Tradewise,it must be very basic cover.......I will stick with Aviva or Norwich Union as it was previously called and pay the extra premium.

Taking action.....sometimes you do and the punter thinks you are a hero,when in fact you may be ripping them off. Another long winded story from long ago.I had sold something called a Austin 1800 to an elderly couple.A few days later they ring and describe their terrible mistake and don’t know what to do.They had parked it somehow in their garage but were unable to get it out as their rear lane was too narrow......So I tell them,don’t worry forget that car and come over,I would do them a smaller car at no extra cost and we will be able to manoeuvre theirs out of the garage using trolley jacks.They arrive and it’s a big pitch and I am walking up and down with them looking at the stock.They spot a Austin 1300 they liked but I had to bullshit them off it because that would mean money back for them.I then passed a message to tell someone to go to the opposite end of the pitch where there was another older Austin 1300 and to change the price stickers and increase it by a third.So I then tell them of a far better Austin 1300 which I had forgotten about and that they could have it now for no extra cost.That is what happened except when we went over for their Austin 1800,we quite easily got it out of their garage.....The punters were so gratefull for helping them out !