trade vet

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Posts posted by trade vet

  1. Posted

    So what you have got to do is......get your valeter to double up as your data protection officer.You will be able to buy some creditation online.Then if you want to complain about some sub prime chucky duffer on this forum,you get the valeter to sign it off first.

  2. Posted

    I am sorry,the bottom line is,you cannot be a successfull broker if you are not an ex dealer.You need to talk the language for a start,that takes years.You have to be able to get a better deal on swappers,finance,warranty and have contacts for better value aftercare/servicing etc.For doing that you should be able to charge a flat fee as you will get FA from the retailer as net margins are too low.You may be better off doing something else.

     

    • Like 1

  3. Posted

    29 minutes ago, ///AUTOKRAFT said:

    I am not VAT registered as yet. Moving to a new premises later in the year and will be VAT registered.

    Can I not enquire about this from the VAT man?

    They will also take a while and then just refer you back to BCA.ALD are a leasing company,so if it was direct from them,it probably was subject to VAT.

  4. Posted

    25 minutes ago, ///AUTOKRAFT said:

    It was bought online at a BCA van sale. Initially it was listed as no VAT which changed to plus VAT.

    I called prior to the auction and was told they are trying to establish the VAT position but have been advised by the vendor to sell it +VAT. I called after I won the auction and was told they are still trying to find find out from the vendor (ALD AUTOMOTIVE)

    To answer the question at the point of the hammer going down the vehicle was listed a +VAT.

    I have a strong feeling that VAT should not have been added.

    No response to any of my emails from BCA.

    When the trade have a problem with BCA ,it takes weeks to sort out.I would just claim the VAT back and when you resell it,don't charge VAT.Just enter the total price in your stock book.If the VAT inspector picks it up ( which is doubtful) you have a defence,you did make enquiries etc.

  5. Posted

    23 minutes ago, ///AUTOKRAFT said:

    Hi Guys, Just joined.

    Just bought an old Volkswagen T4 Caravelle from BCA and it was being sold with VAT as per the vendors advice. I was told over the phone that their is a good chance that VAT is not applicable and they are trying to establish the position.

    I contacted them by email once I won the vehicle and my emails were ignored and eventually I was told that if no VAT was to be added they will cancel the sale and re-enter the vehicle.

    I now have the vehicle here and have emailed to get written confirmation of the VAT position from BCA and I am just being ignored. Any idea what I should do?

    I have bought many VW Caravelles usually T5s and they dont usually have VAT.

    Was it sold hammer down plus VAT  like a commercial vehicle ?

  11. Posted

    1 hour ago, justina3 said:

    Why would a simple "sorry we do not offer finance" put you at risk of a bad review ? i have told loads of people we do not offer finance never had an issue

    maybe if finance companies didnt act silly regarding retarded customers trying to reject cars more small dealers would sign up.

     

    Unfortunately,the best finance companies don't want small dealers.They want volume prime business with a low application rejection rate.

  12. Posted

    Like the others,I wish you well.However,I hope you have the VAT position clarified just incase it is a grey area.Is there a difference between buying,renovating and selling an old camper van/motor home/caravette ( as they were then called) and buying a van,converting it to a camper van and selling it.The last thing you want is a VAT inspector to make some dubious assessment in 3 years time which ruins your business.I recall one young inspector trying unsuccessfully to assess us for VAT on road tax because applying for,paying and collecting road tax on behalf of a customer was a service ! which was nonsense........Good Luck !

  14. Posted

    1 hour ago, tradex said:

    Some points I thought of..

    1/ I can't see them working in my house, the wife's phone is always flat and she first owned a phone in 1995, still can't be trusted to charge it up at night:P

    2/ Without saying too much of my previous job in automotive OE RnD (ohh lots of buzz letters there) when the EPA had some EV's on trial from GM (even more!) one of the biggest gripes wasn't range, but all things parking, yes really.

    You wouldn't believe how lazy people are, they will drive around for 5 mins to get a parking sport nearer the supermarket entrance/cashpoint/'offy/cinema etc....it's just human nature. Now with a EV you have to put the car in the same place for charging and it may not be uber convenient...sounds crazy I know.

    3/ Have the insurance companies now got to grips with home charging points on high amp' bettery installations? Most US companies were very nervous (means cost) so most home owners weren't informing their insurance provider...this was a few years back now, so could be old news.

    4/ How much does it cost in electricity to charge the battery from empty to full to use a petrol phrase on a leaf?

    overnight price and peak price

    I think the figure of £3 is/was used for the overnight rate....be interesting to see how that compares with fossil fuel as it would charge regardless if used or not even on trickle.

    Your range I guess must be lower than the max' range in theory, as you need to anticipate traffic congestion et al and not wanting to get close to the max range so one would tend to go short.

    A lady in my village owns one so I should really ask her how she is getting on with it, she bought a Clio for her daughter from us.

    I believe the Class Action on the Leaf range has now been settled and they paid out?

    That's excellent,the bottom line is they are not yet punter friendly.Does anyone no anybody who has retailed one yet.I see the successfull California class action was based on misleading performance claims not being based on worldwide climatic conditions which you probably don't get in Makemland...er sorry...Sunderland !

  15. Posted

    52 minutes ago, Mistermuttley said:

    Yes the styling looks like a dogs dinner, and yes the range is admittedly poor. But the rest of the car is great. Have you driven any electric car yet?  Don't care about street cred or the neighbours, people that buy bmw's and audi's do. Happy the punters buy them though as that keeps everyone in business. Bought used for £7500 and its probably worth about 6k now. running costs are nothing as is the fuel. Yes their are lots of costs with lithium mining etc , but then look at the costs and complexity of petrol/diesel drivetrains. The energy required to refine and ship crude oil around the world and then burn it up is immense. With lithium batteries they can be recycled at the end of their useful life. With a battery car you just keep charging the 'tank'. Not all but some of the electric will be renewable and that amount is increasing year on year. 

    Hi,I am pleased you have bought a cheap one.No,I have not driven,bought or sold one,we would not know how to fix one.As to no running costs,I thought you had either  to lease the batteries for £100 per month or buy them for £5000.What happens to EV's if Tesla implodes.Tesla has a stock market value more than Ford .They are expensive,have huge sales and even after creative accounting,they still do not make a profit.They have 500 thousand orders for Tesla 3 and $670m in 3 week returnable deposits.However,they are taking 1800 deposits per day but punters cancelling orders are apparently waiting over 3 months........Shades of Bernie Madoff

    • Like 1

  16. Posted

    5 hours ago, Mistermuttley said:

    Iv'e got a Nissan Leaf and to be fair the range is woeful. But everything else about the car is amazing, 1 gear, limo quietness and loaded with spec. The only thing stopping electric cars from taking over is the range of them and the cost. Range is going up as the new Zoe has around 180-200 miles range now.The Model 3 will have well over 200 miles range in its cheapest form which is priced on par with an equivalent BMW (elon musk has said the 3 series was always his target car to compare to).

    The cost of them though , for what they are currently though is just too expensive and this is deliberate on Nissan ,renault,bmw's etc part because they don't really want to sell them in volume as it would cannibalize sales of their real money generators, the petrol/diesel models. I honestly think once manufacturers really start to compete with each other on their electric cars including price then we will see a quick shift over to electric cars.

    There is a vast amount of lithium in the ground and supply of this wont be a problem. The electric power to feed all the cars though might be. Hopefully we will move to solar with battery storage in homes which would ease the Grid supply but without government initiative/support that may never happen.

    Im not an eco warrior and loved my civic type r before the nissan but after driving both i can see where the future is.

    So Nissan Leaf is the future....I thought they were only bought by PC left wing councils or by those companies that do business with the public sector as a PR tool and for the tax breaks as the cars are crap. So,from what you say,you appear to have invested £30k in a car that will be worth £10k in 3 years,does not go very far,has no street cred and will not impress your neighbours.Most of the punters in the real world would far rather buy a 90k 3 year old diesel BMW sport or Audi S line for £10k and be proud to be seen.Also,the energy needed to mine the lithium,transport it,manufacture the batteries and to recharge them etc makes no sense to me as being eco friendly !

  17. Posted

    5 hours ago, jimreidvehicle said:

    We have been closed Sundays for 2 years now and it is so great for staff moral and communications within the business too.

    We analysed the deals done on a Sunday over a 6 months period before coming to conclusion that most Sunday sales came from people who we either dealt with on the Saturday and they came into confirm or we had been dealing with during the week. Now being closed Sundays ensures that the deals are done on Saturday or the Monday which is amusing, it has also made Fridays really busy for retail customers too, which even I don't fully understand.

    Analyise it yourself and see where everyone is coming from, poll your FB followers then make a decision from there.

    no worries about the young guys driving in after a heavy night on Saturday. 

    Enjoy your Sunday we are off to a Family event this afternoon which is something I had missed out on for over 20years, you can't turn back the clock but you can shape the future!

    all the best, Jim 

     

    I think I can understand why pitches should not open on Sundays in Aberdeenshire.I have just looked at the religion demographics for the area !

  18. Posted

    This a smoke screen headline before the upcoming  older diesel car  scrappage scheme announcement.In 2040,where is all the lithium for the batteries coming from,we will not be able to generate the power to charge them.Are EVs safe,sitting on top of 300 batteries in a Tesla may be a health issue ! 50% of new cars could be hybrids by then,but think of the loss of tax revenue alone.Diesels,ex lease diesels should get a lot cheaper and if the punters can get a newer and cheaper diesel,they will buy them.In 74,the trade values on cars over 2 litres collapsed because of the quadrupling of oil prices and that no one would finance them.Result,punters could buy a 3 year old Jag or Rover for the price of a Cortina.( Translated today,that is a newer BMW or an Audi for the price of a Focus ! However trade values stabilised after 6 months and things returned to normal.Next 6 months could be good news for traders buying big stuff!

  19. Posted

    23 minutes ago, ik1980 said:

    Thanks for the replies people.

    Its been delivered. Went to mechanics. It starts but sounds shit, doesn't sound to healthy. It does actually drive, but the gearbox jerks and doesn't go up or down in gear well. It might be OK with a fluid and filters change. Its an 07 plate ghia diesel. It has the shite CVT box, it has service history with 80 odd thousand, but to be honest I'm going to sell it as is and take the hit. It cost me £1000 so its not the end of the world. It happens.

    So after all that,it does drive and you have had free delivery ! Someone on here might inform Bedford and you could get a bill for the delivery.

  20. Posted

    24 minutes ago, ik1980 said:

    Thank you for the replies.

    The Operations manager at Bedford said they checked CCTV/camera footage, and the car drove in to the hall, then back out again. I won the auction, the hammer went down, so the car is now mine, sold as seen.

    I definitely won't be paying for storage! Car is being delivered today unfortunately. I can't see any decent argument that I can use.  

    You did not say that you had accepted free delivery.You have no comeback on BCA now  !

  21. Posted

    Hi Ik,we do a lot with BCA,this is what you have got to do.You have a case,it was not a non runner.BCA blanket policy with trade complaints is,respond slowly,pass them on,don't help and they usually go away.I am surprised they have offered free delivery,they will probably now charge storage.Keep sending them emails,then threaten court action.It usually takes about 6 weeks before you will get somewhere.Dont accept the car,they do this all the time.

  22. Posted

    Dave.....as I recall,like the AT mag back in 82?,their website was never free from the outset.We were spending over a grand per week in the mag,I think we may have gone on for £1 per car.There is plenty of room for you in this market and you don't need to charge much when you see AT doing 49% net profit.I have just spotted another site CarsinKent,it has 8000 cars,loads of dealers and I imagine they are making money.I hope you do well and if you do,AT will just buy you out.Good Luck.

    Dave.....as I recall,like the AT mag back in 82?,their website was never free from the outset.We were spending over a grand per week in the mag,I think we may have gone on for £1 per car.There is plenty of room for you in this market and you don't need to charge much when you see AT doing 49% net profit.I have just spotted another site CarsinKent,it has 8000 cars,loads of dealers and I imagine they are making money.I hope you do well and if you do,AT will just buy you out.Good Luck.

  23. Posted

    Hi Dave,might be a bit late,but missed this one yesterday.I am sure we all want you to get up and running and do well.However,I don't think first 3 months free is a good idea.Thousands will want in and thousands could walk- motor trade mentality.Why not first month at intro rate then 2 or 3 months free! Being older,I know little about digital data,apps or imogis etc,but it appears to me that long distance customers need more confidence to make them journey to view at dealers they know nothing about.People don't always believe review sites or the "about us" stuff on websites.I am thinking of something like an Ofsted for car dealers.Dealers have to pay say £200 and you send some responsible person like an ex cop to inspect dealers premises,take photos and make a report.This could  be based on dealer origin,stock presentation,workshop,showroom or display facilities,proprietors or sales managers CV,staff qualifications or length of service etc or anything that will enhance the business.If the dealer likes the report,it can be I included on your website and people can view it by clicking onto Verified Dealer Profile etc.....You did ask for ideas.......I will now wait for the flak !

     

  24. Posted

    Hi James,surely if you have been running this pitch for years and it works,why change.If it is a big pitch,you must have employed staff.In my experience,visible pitches on busy roads with good curb side appeal are always the best.Passing trade alone should generate 3 or 4 deals per week.You won't get that on a trading estate and unless your new pitch is close bye,you may lose a lot of repeat customers.There may be someone on here who may be interested,why not let people on here know what area you operate from.