BHM

Yes they are few & far between. A local Ford franchise with a couple of branches trades out locally - however, dealing at the lower end of the market and being in town, rather than country, the locals don’t look after their cars. In fact, the locals run their cars into the ground, so I don’t buy locally.

DSG = Droop Snoot Group. At least 40 year Vauxhall’s don’t suffer gearbox problems unlike fine VAG quality automobiles. Skodas seem to have dive bombed in the secondhand market unless it’s a £1295 04 plate diesel estate banger. All of the later stuff seems to attract little or no attention & God help you if you’ve got an Octavia hatchback.

Big brother is ALWAYS watching you on just about every site nowadays.

Do any cars have cables anymore?? Anyhow get them to drive it, if they can’t replicate the fault then it wouldn’t be getting left at my place “Goodbye Mr. Customer”. Tbh probably riding the clutch or buyer’s remorse.

From memory injectors, fuel pump or turbo (I think a sensor?) are possible culprits. Good luck - it’s possibly scrap.

The days of “resale red” seem long gone. More like 90 day red nowadays. You can shove small cars up your arse, my days are done with them & their horrible greedy buyers. 7 seaters & mid range 4x4s, especially high mileage (so it looks like a lot of flash for not much cash) are good news. I’ve also had a couple of cabriolets that the phone nearly melted over. Historically I only have any success with cabbies in winter, I reckon the summer punters think they’re being ripped off.

I’m interested in the concept of consultancy services. How do Lawgistics save you money? Do you regularly have cases to fight or are you valuing their advice?

You sound like a conspiracy theorist. It’s a large international bank.

Expecting innocent Joe Public to sign some alleged “catch all” form sold by a motor trade consultancy & think you’re going to walk away from your obligations is kidding yourself. Most of us get out of any claims simply because it’s too much hassle for the punter. I suspect if you stand in front of a judge as a gentleman of the motor trade being brought to book by Joe Public, then waving a PDI form that you, or a third party on your behalf, has completed to say your car was tickety boo will count for little. Be upfront, talk straight, don’t promise the earth, don’t let chancers take the piss, deal firmly but fairly, avoid fault prone models of cars, advertise honestly & fully mechanical prepare your stock and you won’t go far wrong.

I suspect long term that won’t cut any ice and you’re almost inviting future claims. Remember the onus would be on you to defend & it would be a struggle to put up a robust defence when your “admin charge” applies to cc transactions. In my opinion it’s not rocket science. If you don’t want to pay the fees only take other payments. There’s no point whinging & trying to wriggle around it. If you don’t want to pay then don’t take ccs, if you see a benefit in accepting ccs then pay.

Andy, I think you’re looking for the phrase CHAMPAGNE TASTE, LEMONADE MONEY!! I’m not sure what luxury car you’re referring too in Jaguar’s back catalogue. Surely not a tarted-up old Mondeo or crusty cilled S-Types

Haha, funnily enough it’s not distance sales that I get the occasional bother from - it’s local chancers who think they’ll ‘pop in’ with a complaint usually asking for a few quid at the same time. I’d take punters three hours away every day of the week over locals. I like the easy life so everything is driven a minimum of 40 miles by me prior to advertising. It’s not foolproof and obviously faults can occur anytime but I only get a few comebacks per year and actually put my hand in my pocket only once, or perhaps twice per year. PS ARFUR, get used to comebacks, now you’re flogging your wares from a unit punters expect more for some strange reason. It goes with the territory I’m afraid.

PayPal can be a good way to take card payments if you’ve not got card facilities, it’s instantaneous & I think the fee is something like 3.5% for an occasional user. I don’t know anything about 45 day clawbacks - as far as I’m aware PayPal transactions are either a cash transfer OR with regards to purchases proof of receipt ends all discussion irrespective of whether or not the purchaser is happy. As always, cash is king.

I’ve used Movex a few times - as they’re just a middleman the service can vary significantly. The fellas I’ve met have been as miserable as sin, I guess Movex’s fee takes the fun out of the job anyvan.com can work out cheap if you’re flexible on dates, everything is transported & the service is allegedly good. Nowt beats using a known man, or yourself, though.

No, sadly missed when it disappeared a few weeks ago.

Tbh £4000ish family cars want f***ing off, there’s no money in them from the door cos most of the punters can’t afford to buy them so want credit from a shiney showroom. You can fully stock up on your £15K, make a couple of quid on some, lose a couple on others & occasionally ring the bell - especially with a nice trade-in or two. I believe you make your money when you buy. Ultimately you can talk & type as much as you like but there’s only one way to get experience. Anyhow good luck whatever you decide, but for God’s sake don’t expect to make a fortune overnight.

Clearly there’s no grey area - legally you cannot expect a man to drive an unroadworthy car on the road & I’ve wondered about the legalities should a serious accident occur (however unlikely), you being a professional and putting an ‘employee’ in an unroadworthy car. Tbh my concern with these driven services is with the drivers. Let’s be honest, most aren’t going to give a f*** about your car & they won’t be nursing it back listening for strange noises - they’ll aim to get it to you & on to the next job no matter what. Transporter only for me.

No matter what the price point or age, with VAG products you’re always going to be dealing with VAG men with one eye constantly on the bottom line. I think I’d rather gouge out one of my eyes with a spoon than constantly deal with them greedy/fussy/nitpicking/big-talking punters day after day.

They only rent out well as long as the last hirer isn’t a dickhead & hasn’t ripped off the side of one on a campsite gatepost, smashed f*** out of it pissed up coming back from the pub, or just destroying it at a weekend summer camping piss-up. A small hirer with just a couple of vehicles could very easily have his business scuppered at the start of the season by a couple of imbeciles. These stories are secondhand but I remember decades ago a fella chucking in the towel after these sorts of tales. He decided the vehicle rental game was only for the big boys - a few hundred quid deposit doesn’t go far.

An old thread but the title is apt (and I guess it always will be!) Yesterday a customer rolls up unannounced in a car I sold him about a year ago. He had his 17yr old offspring with him “just passed the driving test”. I was shown their phone to look at a car advert on Gumtree. On the way to me apparently they’d realised that the seller was a former school friend of the 17yr old - so they were going to see this 17yr old ‘trader’, advertising as a private on Gumtree on this car that looked very cheap to me. Basically they had called in to see if they could benefit from my experience and use my time free of charge. In other words COULD I GO WITH THEM TO INSPECT A CAR THEY'RE CONSIDERING BUYING FROM ANOTHER TRADER!?!!! I politely declined due to prior arrangements and just told them to buy it as it looked cheap “After all, what’s to worry about if he’s genuine trader and you know each other”.

......and paid you for your time. Free car hire to see what it’s like even though they won’t be buying yours! It makes you wonder what planet these arseholes are on - I wonder if they’d walk into Hertz & ask for a free spin out. Tbh they don’t sound like Honda people, Honda punters are 99% genuine. That’s why when I start getting the “last price” email on a Honda I know I’m wasting my time cos a Honda man wants it right, will pay the going rate and wants to see the merchandise - rather like old school Volvo men from years ago.

It would of been a bigger surprise if the A-class was actually fault free. German engineering at its finest

Haha, you’re right, me thinks a lot of big talkers on here.

Yep, I’d rather have a shitty old Corolla p/x to sell than an Auris. Zero interest cars for some strange reason & both of mine were T-Spirit models so loaded with kit. Bloody Hyundais - I’ve an 2011 i20 diesel that I’ve reduced to peanuts but I still can’t get any interest whatsoever. Not a single call or even a stupid email so that tells me even immigrants don’t want them! I used to make a nice reliable wage out of Tucson’s, Kia Sportages & Cee’ds but they seemed to die a death early last year. Once I’ve waved my i20 goodbye that’ll be me finished with them. God, I hate small cars to sell & I slag-off French shite but at least dross like Pug 207s sell. If I had to rely on a wage from Korea’s finest I’d be starving to death.

Fiestas - good news eh? A matter of opinion, tbh I’d rather have a Dacia at the right money.