BHM

Too right, better to take the hit now rather than plough on with it, find other problems, then find it sits like an unloved orphan for 6 months & every day you look at its ugly face thinking "why didn't I take the hit in the first place?"!! Been there, seen it, done it. Got the effing T-shirt.

Oh, and don't forget that "lovely" Mondeo diesel engine.

They must be getting bought by people who've never had to MOT one. 06 & 07 plates with holes in the sills so big you can get your fist in - as a former girlfriend used to say. To be honest I'd of thought 11-14 yr old Jags would be making a few hundred quid but I guess not by your opening post.

True, but it only bothers you if you look for it online. I'm not at all interested in the opinions & rantings of the general public hence I'm not on Facebook, Twitter etc. They can write what they like about me & as there's a population of about 63 million in the UK my attitude is if a few are put off so what? Yours sincerely, Mr. Miserable Good point which I should of though of Therefore if the customer is trying to claim for something the car doesn't have perhaps they're yet another chancer extracting the urine.

No

At lot of this depends upon how long they've had the cars. Assuming that they're recent sales then I'd remind you of your right to see for yourself that a fault exists. If they've already had work executed or are refusing to let you inspect the car then they're on their own. Also, remember that customers aren't entitled to new for old replacements - if cleaning doesn't sort the Golf throttle body you may choose to use secondhand parts or ask them for a contribution to the new part. I used to get one or two complaints every year who I'd brush off, however it's now every month & they always expect the earth even on old bangers. To be honest I normally take a hard line & tell them to go to Trading Standards/Small Claims Court/Solicitor/Police/Watchdog (or whatever rubbish they're spouting) and it normally stops them dead in their tracks. Last month's complaint was a man who'd submitted his car for MOT because he'd owned it for just over 11 months. He alleged his car (a 10yr old CRV that last year I'd serviced & put on 4 tyres and discs & pads all round) had failed the MOT miserably on brakes, tyres, suspension & the Honda dealer wanted over £1000 to put right. If I didn't send him the money he's report me to TS - I told him I didn't believe him & to report me, to which I got the usual whining & his scrubber wife shouting in the background. After the call I checked the MOT database, 0 advisory & 1 failure - a droplink! That's customers for you.

If it's just an old nail trade-in satin black over it - job sorted in 30 seconds. Failing that, if it's just water based emulsion try using water & a scrubbing brush. As for gloss, thinners might remove it if it's water based but if it's oil based I suspect you're about bollocksed unless you fancy picking away at it piece by piece.

The last thing I want is 5-8yr German problems. Even after fixing them they're never good enough for the greedy credit-card-maxed-to-the-hilt punters they attract.

Try cutting your cloth to suit, if you can't afford your stock then you either need to; 1) source better priced cars (I know, virtually impossible!) 2) purchase cheaper vehicles. 3) close the doors & pack the job in. You certainly shouldn't compare yourself with many of your peers, unfortunately many in this game are kidding themselves & are up to their neck in debt, paying too much rent for crap premises & pretending to be the big man driving around in a newish Mercedes or BMW financed up to the hilt - no different to a mug punter in all honesty.

Crap at around the £1K mark, once you're much above £2-2.5K you'll struggle selling from the door. Forget the £5-700 shite, it's not worth the hassle & the punters are, 75% of the time, scum.

Head them off politely with a concise but firm letter clearly outlining the reasons why. Let them drag it out with their usual couple of whinging phone calls & then their letter threatening Trading Standards/Solicitor/Small Claims/Police/Watchdog etc. etc. but wait to see whether or not they do actually instigate formal proceedings. 99 times out of a hundred they don't & if your original letter puts the "seed of doubt" into their minds then hopefully they'll just disappear. Finally, I don't know what you sell but I find life much easier since sacking off most VAG products. Horrible fault-prone things that attract the "Champagne taste, lemonade money" brigade.

I believe it's good enough if you're selling absolute dross but the general consensus seems to be the that there are even more pond life numpties looking on Gumtree than eBay, which is saying something! Although to be fair that's the problem with internet & mobile phones nowadays - the cretins will do anything other than pick-up the phone. As always don't even waste your time replying to someone who you identify as an idiot by their substandard grammar, punctuation & lack of manners. Anyhow, back on track. My attitude is that it's worth a go for the free month or two & see if it works for you. Personally it wasn't but hey ho!