trade vet

Do you think we could tell them what went on.....they would not believe us.

Started washing cars on an open pitch age 15,in a street where there were a dozen more open pitches.They had to be done by 10,I had to paint the black back on the tin no plates.No window stickers,I used to price them up with descriptions writing backwards in whitewash on the inside of the w/screens.Then I would be taking off wheels,rubbing down the rims and hand painting them alliminium/ silver .The people I worked with were horrible.You were working outside all day in all weathers in a rough part of town.I was educated ‘on the street’,by the time I was 20,I was buying,selling,valeting by day and doorstepping at night.

Hi Marc I think you will be OK at this job.I would say cultivate your NHS contact,that could be valuable.Keep it to yourself and try and buy anything they offer you.What you don’t want for yourself you can trade or auction ( but not in your area or you will lose your contact).You can always describe stuff to the guys on here......Good Luck

‘Romanian Chap’,where we come from that might be described as a ‘oxymoron’. Must be the South North divide. Wheel arch mouldings,coach line and trim rings . No vinyl roof !

It’s always a good feeling when a swapper turns out far better than you thought especially when it was described as not the best by your sales guy.You go to move it and before you start it you know by the signals that it is OK because as you switch it on the radio is on Radio 4 and sure enough it is half full.You have already decided to retail it before you have fired it up.....I also like it when you have something desirable and you demand that any buyer must have a lump on chucky and a good swapper in ‘right’.

Can you imagine the ‘headbanger’ who will buy that ?

Good news is that Alfa’s are good sellers,the bad news is they have great ‘bounceback’ ability probably because they are ‘shite’ and the type of punters they attract......Good Luck

Hi Marc Welcome,....However,to prevent another Benjithon could you provide the guys with some basic info to get the picture.Which area do you operate from,are you a home trader (doorstepper),how many have you sold this year,how much are you investing,what was your previous occupation,where do you intend to source your stock and what do you prefer to sell etc

I would be suspicious.1500 miles,3 months and talk of taxi’s etc,check the name and address on the doc is the same on your invoice.Check with the local authorities near where they live to see if it has been regd as a taxi.....keep us informed !

Consumer debt.....I have just had a deal explained to me where a punter was refinanced having had several thousand pounds negative equity on a small car which they had bought new.....My wife also tells me people may run their life through their mobile phones.Typically they may order a ‘must have’new frock for £30 ,seen on some celebrity on social media on their £40 per month smart phone to be delivered tomorrow.They go out with friends ,spend £100 and the next day they bin the frock because they cannot wear it again because of their selfie on Instagram or something...I am sure a lot of these people earn good money,no wonder they are insolvent.....Rant over !

I have just looked at a Sterling Cars if that is the business you are referring to and my first impression is they appear to be ‘shysters’.Why would anyone would want to replicate them,looking at their stock ,‘source of funds’ comes to mind and I am not referring to dealer stocking loans.

We have been throwing in our own warranties for 20 years.Not only does it save you money in the short term it has been an outstanding long term investment for us as it definateley generates repeat business.If you have your own workshop,we found it works even better with the increase in service work.The thought of shelling out to warranty companies gives me a headache,although I have to say, if I was a doorstepper doing 2 or 3 per week,I would probably be outsourcing warranties.

It is tough going and it’s not only our job,look at what’s happening in the high street.Consumer debt is through the roof,a lot of people are maxed out because they don’t understand debt......We have been here before,people always need cars.I always found when it got bad,no trade,cheques bouncing ( including your own) solicitors letters,engines blowing,etc and you think it could not get any worse and it often did.You just have to hang in and then you get a break and things pick up and it’s back to normal. Too many people on here let the punters get them down.

I think you could make claim against them based on the ‘excellent exterior’description.A judge may agree with the auction that it was previously well maintained but that the description does not imply that it is now in good mechanical order.If you can prove that the auction had said ‘ you should have been there etc’,that may help your case. I would just park it up and commence the ‘small claims’ process to the letter by email adding consequential costs to your claim.If they still fob you off after sending your final ‘before court proceedings’ letter,I would go ahead and pay the £70/£80 or whatever to the court and take them on...........However most people are not like me !

Sounds good,but what do the annual accounts look like.You know what they say....T/O is vanity,profit is sanity !

No the ‘good times’ finished years ago !

If you sell small cheaper stuff for example there are definateley good buying opportunities in Select section.However I think you must be there to inspect them because there is also some crap.This time last year as an exercise,I bought 4 super low mileage small cars for mental money out of the Select section at Newcastle.They all sold quite quickly with minimum prep.Unfortunateley our guys stopped me from buying more because there was no good swappers or chucky and they prefer doing ex fleet stuff.

Stories,stories.....I liked Tewkesbury,the first time I went there I saw this big guy in the ring who I had seen somewhere.It was Bomber out of Auf Wiedersein Pet,remember him.Bridgewater was good also,got tipped off when it opened that Austin Maestros which were crap and cheap as chips did well into book down there provided they were proper cars.Anyway sent a few down from the north east to try and sure enough they did a fortune because retirees on the south coast loved them.It finished up,I had my own line of Maestros in the sale and the same dealers from Devon and Cornwall used to buy them.Unfortunateley,the word got out and other North East traders started sending down clocked,newly painted up Maestros and killed the job......

I used to love doing Sundays,there would be 2 of us watching the pitch.I always found the punters easier on a Sunday.The best we ever did on a Sunday was 9 ( out of 60),whichever sales guy I was on with did not mind either as they got full commission from my deals plus any chucky company incentives.You would also get Sunday punters returning and buying during the week.There has always been idiot punters,you just have to spot them early and walk away.....If you run a pitch you must open Sundays.

If your solicitor was awhere you run a business from home,it should have been pointed out to you prior to exchange of contracts.

My least favourite auction,you had to be a Yorkie to do well there.They had a good auctioneer,I think he was called Tony North,I was never comfortable bidding there,it was hard to get a knock down.They were usually provisional and you often had no chance........wonder why !

Saw their TV ad.,alarm bells started ringing.Anyone seen it.Apparently they want punters to invest a min.of £13500 to get 11% return and receive £250 per month from leasing out their cars.It turns out to be sub prime chucky operation and makes no sense to me.Some people might say it could be Bernie Madoff inspired !.......Anyone know anything ?

I can think of misunderstandings.A long time ago we used to get high spec ex Bass breweries Rover 600’s out of Mansfield.I think they were £46-£4700 and were good sellers.One Saturday morning we are busy and we get a transporter delivery.Our main salesman says to me ‘how much was that Rover that’s just getting dropped off’.I reply something like ‘it was cheap,just under 4 grand.Later on in the day I find out that when he had asked,he had a punter on it.The idiot sold it for £3950 instead of the usual price £5950.To say I blew a head gasket was an understatement because in those days we did not just press a button to buy stock,we were constantly up and down motorways early mornings or late at night trying to buy stock.....still rankles.

Chris from Flipping Cars.....’.known industry stalwart’...as they might say in the USA ...get out of here !

I think he should be on Springwatch to make it more interesting.The only thing is,if he saw a house sparrow,he might describe it as a Osprey........One thing we now know,he will never make a car dealer.