trade vet

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 !

I would say forget CAP,it is way out.Prices will continue to rise for desirable stock.It is not just cars,most things are rising in price,even in Primark. It was pointed out the other day that a new poverty model Clio now costs £12500 and a poverty model Focus £20000 !.Last autumn,I thought most stock was cheaper in value than at any time that I could remember.Last week I was watching some heavy late stuff with highish miles going through Brum or somewhere.They were very cheap considering the current new price but were making over Cap clean which made no sense.So decent 10 year old Fiestas doing £2000 is probably about right ?.......anyone disagree.

I imagine you will have some good stories about traders excuses.......slow or non paying,confusing invoices and trying to chip your prices etc

That sort for thing starts me off....”so what do you do”....”I work for the NHS”......so tell me about ambulance response times and what chances do I have if I have a heart attack on a weekend rather than midweek etc......and can your husband not help. Nice one.....keep us posted.

We got done by Trading Standards years ago for a similar sort of thing.These guys would come onto the pitch with clipboards to check your stock.We had an old Fiesta just come in with no docs and showing 5k,it was not priced up.I said while you are checking out our stock,would you mind checking out this Fiesta aswell and they agreed.A few months later these guys come back and I was cautioned because the old Fiesta had not been showing a mileage disclaimer.We had sold the Fiesta by then so I provided the details.We go to court and the council prosecution produce their star witness who was a smartly dressed ex miner probably in his 70’s.He was asked why he bought the Fiesta etc.He said,it was cheap and it was the best car he ever had ! not what they wanted to hear.......Still got fined £65 on the disclaimer issue.

I see what you mean,Blackbushe have stuff in the Trade no reserve section ,which would probably be in the premium section up north and Scotland......typical for Blackbushe. Regarding how many entries returned a profit.....Well ,I have just looked at recent BCA financial results and they have now expanded WBAC into several European countries but in a different name,that tells you the story.Looking further and buried in their 2016 results ,I found WBAC is stated to have contributed over £17m profit.In their latest interim results,WBAC was stated as being up 20% on the previous year,so no wonder they can afford to spend £15m on advertising.

In the 6 months to Oct 17 BCA sold 107,000 WBAC vehicles,up 20% on the previous 6 months.As most of these would be bought by the trade,I think this underlines the fact that they must be a good source of stock for many dealers........Can you imagine how many of these WBAC have’ nicked’,I imagine ,it must be a large proportion.

Well guys,I beg to differ.......I have bought about 5 recently,paid mental money but they have gone.Only one issue,a service history had been doctored ( 3 recent stamps from a franchised dealer which cased trading 20 years ago !)We had been charged £27 for an Assured Inspection Report and the service history was material to the description.The mileage was right but we established through social media and streetview that the one lady owner with a mint semi,touring caravan,immaculate garden and painted front step had a motor trade related partner ! The mind boggles.Anyway after the usual BCA company policy run around,they have just agreed to settle our claim............So yes,there are some gems in there,but I think you have to be present at the sale,I would not buy them online.....too risky!

Everyone is frightened of VOSA,except the guy we know.Word had reached him that the VOSA guys were in the area using a 90k Beetle to get MOTs .The Beetle however,was mint and it appeared to have been clocked ( up over ).The Beetle gets booked in and our guy who has this downtown testing station must have looked like a soft target for them.How wrong they were,this guy who wears overalls ,develops and rents private and commercial property,plays the stock market runs marathons etc. Get the picture.So he takes charge and does the MOT,exaggerating everything by the book before passing it......Sometime later,he is in his office ( it is a shed)with some customers and 2 guys from VOSA walk in and announce who they are and ignore his customers and start to pick fault.What did he do,he threw out.When he told me,I just said oh dear,that is not good.He said,I know the regulations backwards.To cut the story short,with the help of his sister who is a barrister,I think he got paid damages.

It may be optional at the moment......but for how long ?

Rumour has it that Santander might be launching something similar.......I would not be surprised if Black Horse do the same,how much is it....£2 per week per car or something ,potentially a good earner for finance companies......that’s what it is all about,it’s not about helping their supporting dealers !

I would say nowt....otherwise you will attract headbangers.

I think there is VAT on consultation fees...! £400 deposit.I remember selling a Passat estate to this guy who had been a refugee from the Balkans war.A proper guy,he was an engineer and had reestablished himself over here,he went straight through on no deposit low rate prime finance.Anyway he says,here is the £400 ?,I say what is that for.He says,I know the system here you have to pay £400 to set the deal up! He says,I ordered a car from down the road and I paid them £400,but they could not get the car for me.So what happened to the £400...they kept it,they said that is normal.So I sent him back to the dealer to get his £400 Back and to tell them he was going straight to Trading Standards.I think he got it all back........

Yeah..breach of contract must have cost him £600- £700,was he a Scotsman.Never kept a deposit anywhere near that before.In the north east if I did that,there would be a contract out on me...! AD I hope you declared the VAT on the £400,......I would have tried to record it as some sort of donation or something.....and failed !

I do agree,it must be over 10 years since I took a car out to show a punter.I think you have to qualify all punters under the age of 40 these days to make sure they are buying a car which should be suitable.Not only do they not have any spare money or savings, they often have no common sense !

One Saturday afternoon this guy rings up,this is before internet and in AT mag days.He says would I mind bringing that Saab out to show him,I say,sorry not really it’s 3pm and we finish at 5 and I’m in 7 days a week.He says ,I am a hill farmer and cannot get in until Wednesday and it will be gone by then.He then says by the way ‘you are a part timer’ which struck a chord with me.He says I want it for my daughter,if it is OK I will definateley buy it.He is 40 miles away,but I take it to show him anyway at his farmhouse.He thanked me for bringing it out,walks round it and says something like ‘just the job’,come in for a cup of tea.He would not have a run in it because it had to be OK.I think he gave me £200 and he came down to the pitch a few days later to collect it.....That is the sort of thing I am referring to and I can recall better cases than that.

You did well Dean,it might have turned out like that movie Point Blank when Lee Marvin goes on a dem....

I am amazed that you guys have not had experience where you have been able to QUALIFY good punters on the phone who for some good reason have been unable to come in and you have gone to them and they have been delighted.I can not remember going out to a punter and not doing a deal,I agree it only happens on rare occasions.

You have to find out why,otherwise you don’t bother.

When a punter says,I have the money,it is what I want,if you could bring it out please and I like it,I will buy it.....if it is not to far away,what do you do.If they sound reasonable,in my book,you surely can’t say,you must pay for it first,then I will come out.