trade vet

Back in November I was at BCA and I watched a trader I know from Harrogate buy ( on a hunch )an 03 75 Ambassador diesel Auto estate with leather about 70k unwarranted,no reserve etc,but it looked fairly original.I think he paid £400 hammer down for it.I recall saying let me know how you get on with that......He did ,it was right mileage ,2 owners......and I think he got £2500 for it !

I think you have to take care how you now describe ex lease stuff. Our guys might now use the phrase ‘one former keeper’,Arval leasing company etc. rather than ‘one owner ex company car ‘which we have used for years which could now be construed as having one driver since new.

Yes ! , better still buy a few shares ,we could call ourselves BCA shareholders action group.We could charge traders a set fee per complaint,can you imagine ..........

Just picked up another 2000 at 187p.....May help in arguments with them about misdescriptions etc...We currently have two cases to talk to them about,left messages Friday but no response yet....as they do.Will keep you informed !

Hi Rich I would tread very carefully.The Dennis Buyacar ltd last set of accounts show a deficit of £1m on the previous year ! It appears to be run by accountants,that does not make sense. I hope you have not entered into some unfair contract written in legalese wherebye when you pull out,they will be able sue you.....sorry but being in this job all these years makes me think this way !

Thank you Umesh,that will be it............It will be interesting to see what happens in the long term,if this class action succeeds and the claim chasers get involved etc.....what a potential liability !

Does anyone know why Motorpoint share price is up 10% in the last week.It is interesting when you consider they sell ex daily rental cars and the recent court rulings and class action on behalf of punters who have bought ex hire cars,I would have thought they were a sell.

Good news for Kwik Fit fitters !

BCA are doing record business,so I have just picked up 3000 shares at 191.5p,if they drop to 187p,I will do the same again.

Jimbo You have to understand that it is difficult to sell cars privately.Sellers get fed up quite easily.I would just tell them who you are and compliment them on their car and explain you cannot pay them the asking price.Tell them to call you back if they don’t have any luck and if they agree to a price,you will pay them quickly and they will never see you again.....Don’t low ball them from the outset,that is a bad move....It worked for me,but I have to admit,it was some time ago.

Alfasud........now they were crap !

From what you say,there is no need for you to buy from auctions.If you are only buying one or two per week,if you put the effort in you can pick them up from private sellers.Ebay,Gumtree,AT or local newspapers,just speak to the sellers and you will be able to establish who are genuine,you should be able to buy 10% of the cars you go to look at.

What price range are you in,have you got a pitch or premises,sounds like you only need 3 or 4 each week.What area are you in.

Hi Jimbo I think for the guys to respond,you need to provide more info.How many do you need to buy per week,what do you sell,do you just buy on price etc.You need to learn how to bid first,because there are some good auctioneers out there . There is so much you need to know,the things that go on.For example when I am bidding against an amateur ( which could be you )and I know the auctioneer is going to help them along.I have sometimes just gone and stood next to them, bid quickly and told them to hurry up and bid which confuses them and you get a quicker knockdown.I could go on and on.

Just been discussing these prices to Cap etc.Our guy has an interesting theory.Who benefits from these ‘way over ‘ book results.What is it to stop the bigger auction groups from reporting misleading results to Cap/Glasses.We mainly use BCA and they must appear to be heroes to their major vendors for achieving what must be ‘way over ‘ reserve results time and again.Surely Cap cannot be so inept to get their valuations so wrong month on month without receiving misinformation

That makes my 57 14k poverty model Fiesta out of BCA last week cheap at hammer down £1975 !

Robins and Day were fined because of the way they described the car .From now on the ‘big guys’,can no longer describe these 6 month old ex hire cars as one owner,one company owner or give an impression that it has only had one main user as opposed to multiple users.They must now make it clear,that they are selling an ex hire car.I would imagine the first keepers name on the doc can no longer be recorded as an abbreviation disguising the name of the hire company.Disguising ex hire cars has gone on for years,I can recall buying late model Montegos ( remember them) ex hire cars and they were recorded as being owned by British Aerospace.Austin Rover was owned by British Aerospace and you could describe them as ex management cars .While most of us on here don’t sell nearly new ex hire stuff,this ruling could be good news for us because the ‘big guys’ like Motorpoint could lose a lot of business.

I think what has happened is that main dealers have been offering 6 month old 8k ex rental stuff as manufacturer approved ,one owner etc and charging top money which has caused the problem.While the likes of Motorpoint who sell them cheap could be badly effected as by rights they may now have to describe most of their stock as ex daily rental cars.On the other hand,late rental cars could now get a lot cheaper with lower monthly payments attracting punters who normaly buy 3/4 year old stuff ! It will be interesting to see what happens.

I see there has been another case today,this time Robins and Day where they have been fined £5k for misdescribing an ex hire car to a punter as being one owner.If anyone has any Motorpoint shares,it might be a good idea to sell them. It could be good news for the rest of us if it is highlited in the media ,punters could be turned off nearly new stuff.......Any comments !

I know a family who ran a car and van hire business for over 50 years.They were always busy with a big customer base.Three years ago they closed down and sold up.I think it was the insurance that did it.....

Hi Tradex I have just scanned a few pitches in the Norwich area on Companies House and they all seem to be thriving and make good net profits....Amazing.

I agree,it’s like the budget airlines where the profit is in what they make on the trolley and cinemas with the drinks and the pop corn.

I am not sure why you guys are giving Arslan a hard time.He has already said he is a student and doing one per month.He is declaring himself as trade on AT.He is just looking for advice like all the others.He appears to me to be quite enterprising for a young guy.There is no need for him to register for VAT or as a company at the moment.....Anybody agree !

It must have been a huge relief after 2 years. I would imagine they gave you the runaround ,you did very well.

Apologies Met,to northerners,the term ‘Del Boys’ refers to people who reside in London or the surrounding area and speak with a London accent.Punters still come up,the last one I can recall,came for a very cheap high spec galactic mileage Volvo S80 Auto because it was black.I think he had some sort of limo business.The ones who come up for the first time having looked around,usually comment on how lucky we are to live here.I could never understand this,until I got involved with a pitch in South London ! As for us coming down to London,we are a good example,we have been buying down there for 25 years.