TRADE SURVIVOR

Doing his best did not mean that I thought he and his cabinet had it right yes, there are shortcomings and failings that will come out in a later public enquiry, Which is inevitable. As will be the case for many countries whose governments struggled to deal with this terrible contagion. Regarding the Cobra meetings do you think Boris was chilling in Costa with a flat white? Think not. Weekend breaks? Maybe he was still working? Perhaps you are privy to what goes on in the prime ministers life and have more knowledge than I. As for India which sadly will probably turn out to catastrophic loss of life for some time to come I think your numbers my be off as the true figures are unreported. 1,366 billion souls in India compared to around 66 million in the UK not sure the death ratio you suggest adds up (ratio and death is an uncomfortable subject as we are talking about people and family's here) . Covid vaccine seems to have been a success in our country so far. Our government ordered millions of doses of vaccine for which they should be credited for and of course this vaccine is being administered by our fantastic NHS along with volunteers who continue to do so. I for one support a further increase in pay for our NHS. In order to do this we will all have to pay more into the pot, nothing comes for free whatever government we have!

Really? Once again I have learned something, not. Reduce my prices .No Sell a car for what the customer demands No. So pleased we don't have your customer experience fella, Thankfully our customers appreciate the value of well prepared cars and good service for which they are happily willing to pay.

I defer to your greater knowledge of my customer base I learn something every day despite being in the motor trade since I was washing cars at 13 years of age I'm now in late 60's so thank you for your advice. My support of trade Vet's post was to endorse the importance of a good local reputation, solely online is some years away yet . Your council is valued however, I think on balance we shall carry on with our current business model. During this last lockdown as a small independent we sold 150 cars all online and compliant with distance selling rules. Since 5 weeks back we have had excellent footfall onsite and sold plenty of cars thank you, my last three sales onsite were today so I'm as good as those last sales and looking forward to test drives booked by physical and online customers tomorrow and completion of more sales. Thankfully our workshop is busy with loyal and many new recommended customers who are happy to pay for good honest service.

We do have a similar model due in madam although it will be £17995 and unfortunately your Seat will still only be worth £100. So many people think there are plenty of nice cars with good spec out there in this climate and dealers are desperate. Wrong! There is a new car supply hiatus which may last for quite some time, therefore good quality used cars are in short supply. Seeing disappointed customers on a daily basis as they did not believe that we had other interested parties on the car they were interested in.

Exactly the same my user name has never changed.

Totally agree, Local reputation really counts and is paramount. We are fortunate to have a base of loyal customers who will never go elsewhere even to save a few quid, they buy from us based on long standing relationships and trust. In particular when they have had a problem with a vehicle and we step up to resolve the issue whatever it takes. No matter how many overproduced flashy ads are on tv or online. A hard earned reputation built on trust over many years through dealing with integrity pays its dividend, pleased to say many of our customers also drag their millennial offspring to ourselves for their first car. Cazwhooever will never get those customers.

I have been a member of the forum for some years however, having taken a break from posting for some time it seems I'm relegated to newbie status, no worries see you in the lounge soon TV

Autotrader debate again, we tracked our leads as well as we possibly could from prospects upshot was multiple sites and google, used to spend £50,000 a year with Autotrader quit two years ago and never looked back! Only way to solve Trader monopoly is for trade to migrate on mass to one of the other offerings, sadly don’t think that will ever happen as we talk about standing together but do not have the conviction. Shame could all save a fortune and silence the corporate vampire

Hi TV, will see what I can do. May upset a few folks as I can be a contentious old chap who is not concerned about chucking the odd grenade now and again to stimulate a debate

We used to spend a similar amount David prior to the online team. Never a problem we would sort any issues satisfactorily with the people we had a great relationship onsite at BCA. Online arrived and the "team" wanting to deal us on undisclosed damage. Suffice to say we have not bought from BCA for around ten years, they are still there as are we. Really good to hear that your daughter is so on it. It's a fight that I'm too old for

On the plus side his government has chucked a few quid into the pot for us car dealers, for which we as a business are very much appreciative. Nothing surprises me in terms of so called sleaze or errors made by politicians of all parties, Tony Blair took our young men and women into a war they did not want, and he is doing just fine now. Unlike many of those brave young people who have life changing injuries as a result . This so called claim against Bozza is small beer in comparison to errors that politicians in office make. Leave the guy alone he is doing a half decent job in extreme circumstances, what sane person would want his job right now.

I have not read the thread of replies to your question therefore I may be repeating what other members have said. Say this was you buying the car for you to transport your family around safely? It should be serviced and MOT tested as a duty of care to the customer, regardless this an older car it should be safe and serviceable to the best of our knowledge. Exceed the customers expectations within reasonable parameters and that customer could become a customer for life.

We are calling all our customers who bought in November and offering money back if they wish to sell

Similar to David steady away and ignoring the comics, putting prices up virtually between cups of tea. Discount is not a word we recognise. only regret is not filling a field full of stock when prices were on the deck, hey ho

Nice one Autotrader your latest price increase made us focus on our business costs particularly our spend on A/T net result we shaved £1500 off our monthly spend with A/T without any reduction in sales for May. We shall see how it goes and consider reducing our spend with them further. In the meantime we shall be advising members of the public via our garage facebook page to select lowest price first when using A/T. After all A/T are keen to preach transparency to dealers for the consumer, therefore its a two way street, sponsored ads first is not necessarily the best deal for the consumer.