trade vet

I doubt they will get 25000 dealers to spend an average of $200 or £160 per week here like they have in the US. I think that is right,I recall asking them how we would benefit by them disclosing how many days our car had been on advertised their site.I got some bullshit reply which made no sense to me.

It's a void deal ! The punter can hand it back and the dealer will have to cough up,I think there is going to be a lot of that.

That's wonderful Arfur....of course I am guilty as well. BCA manager pulls me to one side,he says we have a problem can you bid on this Sierra ,Cavalier or something,don't worry you won't buy it.Anyway,I am in front of the rostrum chatting bullshit to the guys,the way you do.The car comes through,so I start making animated bids and the auctioneer says at least twice 'are you sure' etc which I ignore.He then boshes it out to me.......you are right,I bought the wrong car and I had to stand on.

I remember them.Mind you there were a lot of traders who had ' guide covers ' because it disguised the fact they nicked their guides from a main dealer whose name was stamped on the outside of the back page.

Hi Guys Just keep slagging off Merc manuals,more the better for us.It has never been a better time for a punter to trade up to a late plate Merc to impress the neighbours.Horses for courses etc,our guys usually have about half a dozen late Merc manuals in stock at most times.Alternativeley as long as I can remember,southern traders have come up north to buy all sorts of autos which do not sell at all up here !

Looks a straight one,it would walk out at £6999 from a pitch up north.However with the Budget coming up and with a lot of negative diesel stuff in the media you may have to sit on it for a while or until you can do swappers,warranties and finance etc. from your own website.

It's early 90s since I last subscribed,but out of interest I searched Glasses and it appears its inventor William Glass was an amazing guy .He invented all sorts of stuff ,it is worth looking up.However,he would probably ' turn in his grave' if he knew that the present owners of Glassses were producing these monthly market reports for the trade with crap information .You just wonder if Glasses got some fee from Dacia to promote them as the fastest selling range in the UK ?

I can believe that,especially if they are part of a PLC.Have you noticed,when these guys announce their latest results,they prefer to emphasise an increase in sales T/O dressed up as good news, rather than the bottom line which has often got worse.Investors and market anylists can then take the view that if sales are increasing,profit increases will naturally follow. Then both the share price and the share options of the directors are protected but they will have to repeat the charade next time round.Next year they will probably bullshit that their results ( which might be bad) are perfectly acceptable having factored in the effects of Brexit etc........

Nice one !

That's right,past glories !,I recall being camped at main dealers from 11.30 pm for the midnight handovers in order to get the swappers!.....apologies again to the new millennial traders.

It's the £500 repayment plan I was concerned about not the renovation charge.Anyone heard of this happening .

One of our guys heard this outside the school gate,So it may not be true.Punter hands back her PCP and is asked to pay £1000 for stonechips etc.I understand that is now a normal occurrence.She negotiates this down to £500,but of course she has not got £500 ( must be maxed out).So to enable her to get another PCP car,a separate payment plan is set up to repay the £500 over 5 years !!!! and the punter is happy.So much for responsible lending,surely this cannot be true.

Hi there, Did your friend not take the job based on the 'on target earnings potential '.The dealership knows of course he has no chance of achieving these targets.Vauhall dealers are really struggling,surely your friend new that.

Why would any experienced motor dealer want to be seen promoting this Ali G guy and his co director and their AutoVola website and give approval for 1000 dealers to acquire a 20% stake.Some people might have checked out Ali G first and his claims to being a successfull businessman.AutoVola now looks insolvent and the co director has departed.Then there was MotortradeMe and there could be others ,you have to wonder whether IMDA will go the same way......As they say on Dragens Den, I'm Out !

Hi RH Thank you,Just viewed the Autovolo stuff and have had to take a spoonful of gorilla glue as I think I am about to blow a head gasket.I will reply later today when I have settled down.

FAO of Ben at Glasses I think it is fair to say that the feedback you are getting about Dacia may be at odds with your market report.

If you MOT'd it ,you should know how many miles she has done.I am unsure of the relevance of Manchester to Herts etc,did you deliver it to her ? Cheap Polo's always sell,just make a recorded time related offer to rescind the contract with a full refund less the HMRC usage charge (45p per mile ) and you will learn from the experience.If she refuses,she is on her own from then as I understand ,as it is a cheapie.

So according to this survey,we have to rush out and buy Dacia's.I can honestly say I have never had a punter ask for a Dacia.I would be interested to know,if there is anyone on here who is 'knocking ' out Dacias or even retailed one last month.There is only 1500 in total on AT .The last one we took in must have been late 80's when most of the trade would not touch them.Am I missing something here !

Sounds promising,open pitches are all about presentation,colour and kerbside appeal.Stock must be washed and leathered every day by 10 am,looking mint and be attractively priced up at all times.I learned this long ago when our pitch was competing with 12 others in the same street ! There is no time to sit in the office,there is always something to do out on the pitch among the stock which needs improving.Do that and you should get at least 2 walk ins per week,so you may not need to put all of your stock on the dreaded Auto Trader.

I do agree,I could be watching Match of the Day on a Saturday night and my wife would come in to the room brandishing an invoice and stockbook wanting to know why we had lost £300 on some Mondeo we had in stock for 3 months.

Hi there Is this pitch in a good location,can you describe whether or not it is on a main road,visible to passers by ,how many car frontage etc.As for warranties,we have done our own for 20 years.Just lift the clauses from other warranty books and tailor them to your business.However,if I was doing it again,I would emphasise it as a 'power train ' warranty,although you cannot use the word warranty ( unless you are underwritten by Lloyds etc.).You could call it Power Train Mechanical Agreement,throw it in and it will pay dividends over time,you just pay £100 per car into a ring fenced account and the claims should not hurt ! As for advertising,that depends on the description of your pitch.

Hi Guys Take note of what Arfur says,one day,I actually stumbled onto his website and I have to say,it is brilliant and he is way ahead of the game.By the way,I do not know Arfur,I am from the other end of the country.

I had never heard of The Motor Ombudsman.However it appears to be a private company and funded as a subsidiary of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and probably used for damage limitation in relation to recalls.A bit like the Press Complaints Commission which is funded by the newspaper industry.I cannot see why independent garages would be a member.If you look at their published accounts there is a lot of bullshit non financial numbers mentioned.....I may be wrong,but that is how it appears to me !

While I wish IMDA the best of luck,I think you should have volunteered the information regarding the Motortrademe connection.If you were pitching on Dragens Den,you would have been shot down ! As for the statement 'not for profit ',what does that mean,someone will profit or why are the subs £250 from the outset.Lets say you achieve 300 members,you may need to hire a full time chairman plus expenses and probably a part time secretary.There is nothing wrong with that,however it did cross my mind,if IMDA does prove to be successfull,the chairmans job may be better than actually running a pitch ! A good benchmark could be the 1500 member Texas Independent Autodealers Association ( $450 subs ), however it has taken them from 1946 to get to where they are now ! .....So good luck guys.

Could you not share this pitch,that would make it very cheap and you could invest less in stock.I was thinking of someone who might sell vans for instance.Another thing you could do,is check out the demographics for the catchment area.Councils hold all sorts of information like average incomes,employment,home ownership,crime,traffic flow and plenty of other stuff that might help.It could be available on line.Where is this pitch or what is and how far is the nearest big town,someone on here may know a bit more about the area.