trade vet

We need more proof,more people to confirm their deal with AT.It appears to me they are are abusing their dominant market position by operating what appears to be a random pricing structure.Traders need to complain to the Competition Authority,pass the word to other traders.I will be although I have no idea whether the CA will be interested,but I will try and persuade them.

Our guys pay £3000+vat for 48 cars p/m.....Autotrader could be operating illegally,this appears to be anti competitive practice and price discrimination,they are a public company.We need more people to post their AT deal on here.Arthur should be congratulated.

Hi Arthur ‘Our guys’,they took over our business or in corporate bullshit terms ‘management buyout’.After 50 years in the job,I am now just a periferal,but I still get involved with the daily problems.I think they cough up over £3k per month for 50,I will find out and get back.

You can just imagine banks using termination as an excuse to pull the rug from under those long standing smaller dealerships who just might be sitting on valuable development sites....

I have just spoke to our guys and been told £1600 for 45 cars on AT is impossible.So Arthur would it be possible for you to post your AT invoice on here ( with your pitch name ,acc no.blanked out ) then game on !

Oh dear ! You may have started something here Arthur.I will check what other guys pay.

To give you an idea about how popular online buying is now.About 2 months ago BCA Newcastle introduced a Leaseplan and UKCG premium sale on a new day.So I go along and stuff is doing a fortune but there a very few people there compared with a normal sale day.The next day I was back and asked one of the BCA office guys,how did you do.He told me that it had been a record day for the site and there had been about 120 different online bidders.

Famous quote from the guy who founded Macy’s 100 years ago.’Half the money we spend on advertising is wasted,the trouble is we do not know which half ‘. Keep us posted Arthur about this and anything else,your experiences are needed !

If anyone is daft enough to pocket undeclared cash and a VAT officer asks you about it,you are being accused of a criminal offence.As I understand it under the PACE regs you can answer ‘no comment’ from then on to anything being asked.We had a retired customs officer working for us and I think he said they had more powers than the police.

I tell them that my ‘stay out ‘fee is £500......that usually gets rid of them....I particularly remember bidding for a Nissan Navara at Manheim Washington and it was just me and a trader standing next to me bidding.I said to him ‘it is on sale stop bidding and I will pay you £500.’He did,it was for nowt,I was pleased to pay him.I remember this because we quickly retailed it for good profit plus huge chucky commission which you did get ....back in 2002.

Hi Met I understand that but what I am talking about is when you are standing in the ring and you see something that is clearly a blatant catalogue error.The auctioneer usually welcomes your intervention,otherwise they will just get aggravation from an online buyer.

I would forget about buying on line in that case.....too risky. I am surprised you did not point out the Zafira to the auctioneer,I would,it’s not fair to online buyers who have to pay extra.

Justin must be a nice guy,I would probably cancel their warranty because of improper use and tell them you are not running a lending library !

This is what I would do ( usually wrongly )because I would be so annoyed.Wait for them to come in and then tell them,’I am sorry but having taken advice,I have just received instructions that because you are taking further action,we are withdrawing our offer of a full refund.Please get your lawyer to contact our solicitor,here is their address.This is now out of my hands,I would suggest you do not use the car until this matter has been resolved and confirm by reg’d post.

Hi Mark We buy lateish fleet stuff and have found on line auction buying to be the best thing that has happened in the last 15 years.Once you get to know the differing BCA site grading,you can buy with confidence.If you put in the time and research and target say 50 per day at various auctions around the country,you will probably buy 2 and one of them you might nick.You need to have a reasonable and reliable transport company to lift them,but we have always found that the bonus cars always exceed by far the disappointing ones.......What stuff will you be selling

Hi Auto Jacob I am not sure how it is possible these days to buy cheapies from the block,then retail them and make money.Maybe if you bought in volume and had your own workshop,you would have a better chance.When buyers fees were £50 you could just re block the bad ones and take a hit,but that was long ago.Most of the guys I know who used to do this,no longer bother.If you are making it work,then well done to you.

Mark....if I was going to set up like you,I would look at Arfur’s punter friendly website......and you will see what I mean.

Exactly...I would always get excited about a newly arrived swapper with fuel in,it could be anything,but I would still it use for a day or two.....How many times have I said....’we are hear to sell cars,not fall in love with them’.

These appear to be sprouting up on Tesco car parks across the U.K.While I hope they do well,does anyone know how this can succeed.It appears to be a small private company who are well funded.Their single vehicle paint booths look expensive and I doubt Tesco will be charging cheap rent.If their painters are any good how much will they cost and where will they find them.There must be more to it,they must have a USP,I am just interested to know.

Arfur is spot on...,unfortunately Karlos you are probably negligent in this instance.You will just have to do the best you can...I know,it’s not fair..!

I would ask for a clear photograph of the damage.I would also ask for a description of the exact route taken when he left your premises so you can check with CCTV nearbye......We had a case where a punter had collected a Puegeot and he brought it back the same day with slight damage.We said it was impossible that we had been responsible so we offered to show him CCTV at the time it was collected.......What did it show,our valeter causing the damage with another car 2 mins before he drove off !

I don’t think there can be many cases where used car dealers have successfully defended themselves in the small claims court.I have had worse than that.

I imagine WAV punters prefer to use specialist dealers.I have never sold them but I marvel at the net profits even smallish WAV pitches make.£200k is not unusual and those who do their own conversions do far more.There is one in our area,they are not that big,they net £1m.I wonder what their ratio of good to bad punters is !

Surely it’s all about what you are good at and makes money.I know people who only do small hatchbacks for full money.Likewise there is a local guy and most of his stock are small convertibles under £8k.Someone else who only does A4/A6 Avants.The best one I know only sells ex Police dog vans,he has a big warehouse full of them.If you take a look at those who do wheelchair accessible stuff,you are talking serious profit margins.

I was speaking to a trader whose son works for Evans Halshaw.He said they just do deals, move metal and don’t like to let people walk and it seems to work.Apparently the good deals more than make up for the bad ones,Pendragon are doing well and they plan to open more used outlets.They get away with a lot,I would imagine local council Trading Standards are not going to take them on,Pendragon PLC will have their own legal dept. As for Autoquake,they were not car dealers,just ex college kids with good business degrees .They were able to raise millions from private equity to flog ex lease stuff on line without doing swappers and chucky.I think they lasted 2 years,so did Tesco with a similar idea. The Trade Centre now called Car Giant,it is still owned by the same people and I don’t think we can criticise them,it is the biggest pitch in the world,doing 40000 a year !