BHM

+ do not conduct business by text messages and don’t be afraid to sack off difficult and/or undesirable punters - knowing who not to sell to is half of this job I reckon.

Absolutely. When I offered warranties that’s exactly what used to happen so I dropped them years ago. That was basically my point of view.

Are you really prepared to recommend another business on the back of yours? I’d suggest you need to know & trust them implicitly & obviously getting paid handsomely for the inevitable cries of “The garage won’t fix xxxx & xxxx on that plan you sold me 12 months ago” that you’ll have to deal with.

Car washes/valeting centres work in the cash-only black economy. Young staff at £60pw (I overheard a conversation & was staggered but these folk are claiming from the DSS or whatever it’s called nowadays) or immigrants being paid a pittance by the big man. It’s a totally horrible industry & I genuinely feel sorry for anyone working in it. My cars (my better ones that is) come back almost like new after a valet - due to the man hours it OBVIOUSLY can only be done on abusive pay levels.

Quote of the week. My longest in stock is 15 months which recently left me - a 2.4 petrol 2wd Antara. At least I still got £500 gross from it. The funny thing was, the week the Antara sold I sold a total of 3 cars, all 3 had been sticky (15m, 4m & 3m) so if I hadn’t owned them the way I look at it (rightly or wrongly) is that the £2500ish I got that week would of been sweet f.a. - At least that’s how I justify my pisspoor buying!

I very much doubt it & I can’t see the youth of tomorrow lusting after a five year old Corsa of the new vintage. Absolutely. New Corsa, Astra, Insignia, Grandland, Crossland - I ask myself who in their right mind, with £xxxxx to spend finds any of them at the top of their list. To my eyes their offerings are about as appealing as a bowl of cold spew. I do see plenty of them horrid Mokkas but I think they can only shift them via the Motability scheme.

Absolutely agree. Unless you are short of money or space there’s no need to bomb every sticky car out at a loss. Mind you, I’ve never had one get to anywhere like 2 years

Aren’t the new car sales side of main dealers not heading to becoming an anachronism? Apart from test drives, what do they offer that can’t be achieved by a punter logging in online and using their bank details (or more likely, completing the finance questionnaire) to order their car direct from the manufacturer, ESPECIALLY with the more bread n butter manufacturers. Admittedly the introduction of scabby old p/xs muddies the waters but that can be overcome. Times are a changing.

I think you’re over-analysing CRW’s comments. My guess is he looks at his (minimal) advertising costs simply as an overhead rather than breaking it down per car per month. Rather like myself tbh. The way I think of it is I fork out the pitiful sum of just over £220pm (+VAT) on advertising whether I advertise zero cars or turn over 60 (impossible but you get my drift). The advertising cost doesn’t change. Different strokes I guess. The last thing I’d want to do is mentally apportion more money to a sticky car that’s been sat in the corner for 6 months laughing at me.

Are they their own engines? It makes me think of a few years ago a young lad in the pub chuffed to bits with his brand new Chinese scooter - I think it was just over a grand retail, they must of cost tuppence to make. “Them Hondas are 4 times the price, you know. They’re taking the piss” was his greedy warcry. I was surprised to hear he actually intended to use it for commuting good distances. Well, that was his plan anyway. The engines in these things were barely good for 1000 miles. When the engines weren’t eating themselves some mechanical or electrical malady reared its head. Total & utter cheap spew.

I’m not sure who’s summed it up the best, Trade Vet or David Horgan, although a special mention must be made for TVs post

How many do MG sell per year? About 4 dozen? I very very rarely see one & even if I pass MG showrooms half of them are filled with more traditional fare. A distant neighbour does own one, however they’re less car-savvy & brand aware than me which is saying something.

In the public forum. Really?

So so true. You’d have to be absolutely fucking desperate, or stupid, to contemplate dealing with someone who is already thinking of bouncing the car back before they’ve even bought it.

What on earth is wrong with just telling a punter like them to ‘Fuck off’?

For the last day or two when viewing catalogues on my phone it often reverts back to page 1.

As others have said move into another market! Unless you specialise in such cars, from what I see at the block, it’s impossible to even try to make a proper wage on such items. After saying that I’m sure plenty make their money on newer small cars with finance etc. but the sub £3K small car market nowadays is dominated by the Gumtree/FB lads working for £2-400 a bonnet, sold ‘as-is’ off the back of a succession of £20 PAYG phones.

Tbh do views make a difference anyway? Advertise something perceived as sporty, aspirational or just downright cheap & I guarantee you’ll get bags of views. The majority of viewers are just that, viewers. Not buyers, not in any sense of the word. They’re either not in a financial position to buy, not mentally at the end of their purchase ‘journey’ & many are just viewers practicing their hobby of looking at cars. Those that get over-excited sometimes ask the “Last price?” question massaging their egos in the deluded belief they may make the purchase. They’re kidding themselves.

That must be the understatement of the year.

R-Soles surely?

For God’s sake please don’t expect to turn over 4 out of 7 every week, because you won’t. I can have 20 & can sell sweet f.a. in a week. Also out of about 20 I can have in 7 waiting (from the block, valeters, MOT, specialist, mechanic etc. etc.). My guess is you’ve yet to be caught by a couple of shitters & had a few four figure financial hits - when you do (and you will!) & still want to do this then you know you’re cut out for the job. You sound like you’ve put some thought into this and you’re starting from a similar point to me about 15 years ago. My advice to anyone thinking of packing up a job would be to get a couple of years really learning this job (auction trends & the general public are the main points) and make sure you can at least earn a wage. I was fortunate in that I’d accrued a pot of money & didn’t have much of a mortgage. I don’t know your personal circumstances (and they’re none of my business) but how much money you have in the bank, family commitments & how much, if any, debt you carry would influence my decision because I’d hate to see someone new to any business struggle & end up homeless. After saying all that I wouldn’t go back to being a PAYE man & there is money to be made if you’re prepared to work. One final thing, don’t believe all of the Billy Bullshitters you’re going to meet in this game. Good luck!

The early 2 litres has a reputation & although I’ve not had many I’ve never had a problem with them - my guess is any with chain / pump problems have all by now either been dealt with or been thrown in the bin. Is it me or am I wrong in seeing nothing wrong with moving on a p/x to a nice old guy at cost but making it absolutely clear what the score is? Personally I’d also rag it for an 80 mile round trip to the block to make sure but what on earth is all this talk of Yarises? What sort of wanked-out old Yaris are you going to buy for 14yr old A3 TRADE MONEY? Answer; An end-of-lifer with whining bearings & an underside looking like it was dragged up from a seabed - they’re rotboxes.

I enter all of my cars onto the MID. Tbh though it wouldn’t matter as road tax is the DVLA’s concern, not the Police’s and vice versa for insurance. Although I guess both the Police & DVLA could access the ANPR records for their own purposes?

About three weeks ago I received letter S46 from the DVLA regarding an untaxed car. I completed the rear of this, ‘Your Statement’, advising them of my trade plate no. & that the trade plates were in the window. I was ‘let off’ when I received what looks like a standard letter, 29TPNFA, saying they confirmed I was in possession of a valid trade licence but also advised me to familiarise myself ‘with the correct use of your trade licence’ etc. etc. It’ll be interesting to see whether or not trade plate holders/users are automatically let off as the same day I received the letter letting me off, I received another S46 for another car. The thing is, letter 29TPNFA refers me to www.gov.uk/trade-licence-plates & unless I’m mistaken, I cannot see any reference whatsoever to how trade plates should be used.

‘Champagne taste, lemonade money’ I suspect.