trade vet

I think we should be grateful to Law Jaw for providing us with clear and definitive information rubber stamped by the Office of Product Safety and Standards with regard to Click and Collect.This is a big help for those running pitches.Yesterday I was at my old pitch where people are constantly turning up unannounced wanting to view stock and the time taken explaining the rules to them is very frustrating.Some clear signage referring to The Office of Product Safety and the £100 deposit rule should deter the time wasters and also any random Trading Standards Officers.

I can think back to one or two testing stations that if a trader shopped them to VOSA you might end up in a wheel chair ! I and probably a few others on here would be interested to know how the court case against the punter proceeded.Good result.

Just watched it,incredible but that was the 60’s when nobody retailed high mileage stuff ! and there were MOT stations where you didn’t need to take the car.Memories as a 15 year old are flooding back,it really was unbelievable.

Good listening for those thinking about setting up a pitch.

Appologies for harking back etc.Long,long ago as gofer/ salesboy/cleaner I can recall we had a Cover Note book.We would insist to punters on handover to take a free 30 day cover note and it was then up to them to decide if they wanted to pay for annual cover when the broker got in touch.Most of them did because the insurance was very cheap and the broker would then come to the pitch and give us commission in cash.Not knowing any better,we all thought this was very good.However the insurance company Fire Auto and Marine turned out to be a complete fraud run by Emile Savundra who was a professional swindler who had previous convictions in several countries.When it collapsed about 500,000 policy holders were effected.

£30 on Amazon ? The BBC documentary features his colleagues and an interview with De Lorean and includes great old footage from Jim Clark days.It will be quite accurate I think,most of the contributors liked him even though he was ‘double dodgy’ , they just regarded him as a flawed genius.

Link ? Posting on here and sending emails on my iPad is about the extent of my digital knowledge,I will try and get my daughter to do it.The BBC documentary is called The Secret Life of Colin Chapman and there might be one or two more mini docs about him on YouTube.

Watched a good BBC documentary about him on YouTube channel last night.What a character,his finance guy got 4 years and the judge said if Chapman had still been alive,he would have got 10 years.I had forgot that the Europa Breadvans were Renault powered ( usually with limited power ) crap cars but good earners.Elan’s were good,but expensive and way over book to buy and I might have only had a couple of them.The Breadvans were far more lucrative.

It was reported that when Hertz declared bankruptcy in the summer caused by the pandemic,they had 700,000 cars lying idle and on lease.I was told just yesterday that there are not many cars availible at airports if you want to hire one.I would imagine that until they sort the leases out,they cannot sell them ?

I don’t think you can blame Mrs T.It was a Labour government who believed that De Lorean had 30000 orders for his car before the factory was even built.As for Colin Chapman he appears to have died in mysterious circumstances after millions of the De Lorean Motor Co’s money paid to Lotus was traced by the FBI.Chapman and De Lorean both brilliant engineers but it appears like a partnership made in hell. BTW just been watching Brightwells on line classic auction and although I know little,future classics like SL ‘s appear to be very good value but the bidding has not finished.

Was Chapman not dead dodgy.Did him and De Lorean not siphon off millions of government money to Switzerland instead of using it to build Deloreans in Belfast.As I recall even Lotus Cortinas were shite back then.My idea of a good car is based on profit.I remember being given advice as a 15 year old when working on a pitch ‘ we are only here to sell them son,not effing fall in love with them ‘, advice I have followed to this day.

I used to also love Lotus Europa’s (also known as breadvans ).When we started a pitch in 73 we sold a lot of them.They usually had cracked cylinder heads so they were cheap.The thing was we never fixed them and sold them ‘as is ‘ declaring engine problems.The type of punters who bought them didn’t mind because they never drove them but just wanted to own one and talk about them.When we worked that out,we did exceptionally well with them.....one of the best shite cars I can remember.

Their funding is now up to £500m ? The big Venture Capital guys are queuing up to invest.I find it extraordinarily,last week they bought a big group of prep and storage centre sites that employ 500.In year 1 they employed 49 people lost £18.5m and the wage bill was £6m.Where is it all going to end.I think if they used Prince Charles,Ant and Dec,Greta Thunburg,Sir David Attenburgh and The Archbishop of Canterbury to advertise,it would not help them.....but what do I know ?

You are very fortunate.Stick to what you are doing,don’t change your stock,keep your day job etc .Sounds ideal.

Cazoo are new and they had £33m in year 1.Which was £9m @ 3.75 over base and 1.75 over for the rest which cost them £460k.They probably get preferential terms.Never had a stock loan but I think they are repayable on demand ( that means any time ,any reason and they can please themselves like an overdraft )secured against the stock with your personal guarantee.It may not be such a big risk for Cazoo but I think smaller guys could potentially lose their house if the lender decides to pull the plug.However I have no idea whether dealers have a better alternative.

Thank you Rory,you are right it is a lot easier being a landlord,no stock,no staff etc.However would you believe ,I do miss the day to day aggravation and problem solving.I do still hear about it,like the price of paintwork,parts and the constant negotiating with auctions claiming for mis descriptions to mention but a few.

The next thing will be that these master techs will be employing agents like footballers.In my experience it’s usually been the case that your typical RR Sport driving with cherished number,perma tanned,Rolex wearing big talking flash dealers you see at the block are often ‘living a lie’ .How often do their annual accounts show they have not got a ‘pot to piss in’ and they are drowning in debt.I have lost count of the number of guys I have seen over over many years who have come and gone.....Nothing changes.

Tom,you have ‘ hit the nail on the head ‘ regarding dealers accounts.The theory of operating your own workshop is good but in reality finding a proficient all rounder tech is not easy ( especially if you are doing Kraut stuff ) and if you get one it could cost you £50k or more to employ.Then getting all the right diagnostic stuff and the expense etc.Worth trying though because ‘ cost of sales ‘ is not going to come down.I would imagine your current cost of sales could be £1500 per car.

? For those who don’t know,most established businesses trading accounts are availible for all to see in the public domain.You don’t ask to see people’s records.BTW Rory your boss looks a switched on guy,I have to say you kept him quiet !

Hi Tom If it is going well and you are getting ahead and you are happy,then don’t change it.The grass may not be greener by moving premises,having more stock etc.I think you should stick to what you are doing for a few years and don’t make the mistake of being influenced by other dealers unless you have seen their latest set of accounts. Your photies look punter friendly to me.You could always display your CV ( with a little embellishment ) as it is probably interesting and punters will like that .Good luck.

Be careful with whoever you choose,don’t let them lock you in to some 12 months notice contract and make sure you have direct access to a rep when problems arise.Read the small print word for word.....protect the downside or you can be stitched up.

You are right about ‘ soft targets ‘ only.Once tried to start a topic about ‘ Trade characters we have met ‘ and got no response.

Hi Guys,I am OK and Thankyou for asking.I do still follow the Forum but have stopped posting.There were objections from one or two because I am no longer trading,have deregistered from VAT and apparently I am too old. However being a pitch landlord,I am still in touch with the daily challenges of the job.I do hope Casper is well.

That’s a new one.We never showed punters the reg doc,they were kept in a safe.We would show them the history and a copy of the doc which we kept handy.You could always blank out half the ref on the copy.If they are unhappy with that you will know there is a ‘ rabbit off ‘.

Can you prove how many miles your wife usually does.For example my wife averages about 3k, year in year out so there would be no advantage applying a ‘haircut’.Can you not find out from Merc Dealer who leased the car from new,it could have been an airport taxi.Plenty of them go through Blackbushe for instance.You have to contact BCA for an explanation and show them the Merc report.The buyers fees indemnify you with mileage discrepancies and taxi use so don’t give up.