Mistermuttley

Rapidly going off Manheim. Last month tried to sell me a Qashqai with a sky high clutch and nothing in the inspection report on it. Did eventually take it back though. Secondly bought a Juke yesterday and received an e-mail saying 'successful bid confirmation - congratulations you have successfully bid on the following vehicle...' Ring them this morning to pay for it, and they tell me it has gone to someone else! Ask how that is possible and they said because i bid on the third and final offer it didn't register my bid....So the person that bid before me got it even though on simulcast it said I had won. Funny how they still sent me an email saying I had won it then. There are becoming many reasons for me to sack Manheim off now and I think I will try some of the smaller auction houses like Wilson's in Telford. They can't be any worse.

As a doorstepper like you I also do the same checks, normally while the car is up while doing the oil change. Everyone has different standards and we have to accept that what others think is fine is not to others. Regardless, as said a full Mot does give you and the consumer protection/confidence in the car and can help if the car throws up an issue post sale.

All good points. Especially re the court! Good to hear other peoples views on pdi's n Mot's.

My PDI is obviously more basic than yours, as I deal with 1k to 4k motors generally, any prep costs soon take whatever profit you have in it away. My Pdi . For me it covers what I need it to. I agree re the Mot ,but after the garage I use think I am a bit over the top getting a new Mot when it has say 9+ months I am deciding not to bother with them. If anything goes wrong then its on me. The customers get 3 months warranty anyway so it will just be a financial learning curve for me at that point!

U need ramps for a pdi?! Yes we are all different!

I put a fresh Mot on 'nearly' every car i sell ,but if it has say 9 months+ I am now not bothering. Just giving it a test drive and doing the checks mot would, lights etc. A Pdi covers most safety aspects for a car, so am I in the minority for doing this? The reason i don't do an Mot for car with 9+ months is my garage asking me why I am bothering to get one done!

https://simplyinsurance.co.uk/ Great price for me. Saved a lot compared to what last years company gave me as a renewal price. Rang a few and these were the cheapest.

Have a Fiat 500 on Facebook at £2650, an idiot popped up with 'can do £1600' so I just replied back 'I can't' !. Guy just gave a thumbs up as a reply. I like Facebook and it is cheap and free to advertise there. Do very well there with the advertising budget! Cars that do well though are normally best priced below 3K, just put them on there. Hopefully it will do well for you, there's no reason not to try it.

Same with Manheim always seem to win a proxy bid right at the top of my limit. Call me conspiracy theorist but I'm sure they know peoples top proxy bids. And this was happening before Covid times.

There is no magic bullet. If I am after cars from places other than the auctions due to high auction prices, I will look on Ebay, Gumtree and Facebook. But you have to look at loads to see anything worth buying and making a profit on. And when you do see something worthwhile it pays to ask questions before you even think of travelling to view. Such as any bodywork issues/mechanical issues, v5 in your name, service history etc etc. And always Hpi it as at least half the cars on Gumtree are on the hpi register with no mention of a crash. Can take a long time to find something worthwhile making a call on. Good luck!

Yep, i think its a good quirky selling point to them. Took pictures with both doors of each side open. Most traders don't seem to bother. See my soon to be released 'confessions of a car dealer'. On finest VHS tape. Discount for forum members!

The funny thing is I used to stick to bread and butter cars, small hatchbacks. But someone on this forum mentioned how that market was so crowded and the car supermarkets have 100's of the same model, so sometimes its better to go for the more oddball cars. Its nice to get the odd oddball car now and even ugly things like a 1007 I had always make a sale. The missus even said re' the Meriva, you won't sell that. Happy to prove her wrong! Its the 1.7cdti engine and on the test she was like oh this is powerful! Then again her last car was a C1. It was a really nice test drive though, i find it really enjoyable when their eyes light up and even though its a run of the mill car, it's special to them. Wish they were all like that!

Yep I did tell her to try her bank first, but i still had a call from the finance company before she approached them. She is all excited now, well it is a Meriva!

Thanks, she has just rang me back. Her bank have ok'd a loan for her now. I think she was just reluctant to ask them as she is self employed. But she is happy now, another one gone!

Just had an elderly lady come to see me about a car. Asked if i did finance and I told her I don't as I only take cash or bank transfer. Suggested she approach her bank as she should get better rates there....Think she may struggle with the bank as a car finance provider has just rang me on her behalf to buy the car. Only issue is as I am a part time trader I am not vat registered or limited company (fully legit though income to hmrc ,warranties etc). They said they would get back to me! Anyone know if I can arrange to get finance for her by any means? Thanks.

Maybe change the gearbox fluid. Might be a long shot but some auto's work a lot better just by changing the oil. If its that old it may be knackered.

I thought it was a bit much those prices. Have had a look on Ebay and i can get a painted VW Fox bumper brand new and shipped for £160. He must be busy enough at these rates to keep charging them. Might take up a smart repair course!

Might move to Manchester then! Thought it was a bit much and i dont mind paying a fair price as I know everyone has to earn,but i will try and get someone else. If you never try and get better prices, over a few cars it adds up.

Well my smart repair guy has announced he has given up the business and is going to do something else (wont say what so is being a bit mysterious). I have tried a couple of others local, but one was ok but expensive and the other was ok on price but quality wasn't as good. So Does anyone know a smart repair guy local to Wolverhampton who is decent on quality and price? Might be asking for a unicorn i know! As an example of the decent but expensive guy,he qouted me £185 to fix some laquer peel in 2 areas on a back bumper,each area about 100mm across. And £165 to repair a scratch about 100mm but with a really slight dent to it. Both on the same car. Am i just tight?!

Just sold one today after a long abstinence. Would not ever want to sell to Family/Friends but my wifes sister came to visit and saw a 2006 Auto CRV I have, and said she wanted it. Said to my wife it was like it was calling to her! It has sat on the drive for 2 weeks while she picked it up as she wanted it to be at the start of the month for tax purposes. Before this it ran faultless. Told me she will pick it up at 4 so after watching random youtubes I decide to put a bit of fuel in for free as she is 'family'. On the way to the garage a nice ABS light decides to glow at me, so get back after trying to get rid of it with a few restarts and it just keeps glowing at me. Back home plug it into my scanner and try to work out the fault and as I do this she turns up early at half past 3 ,so I then have to explain how it has been faultless up to this point whilst wanting to kick said CRV. So while she has a cup of tea I try to find the fault but the scanner (Delphi clone) cannot communicate with the CRV ABS system. So I offer to either let her take the car now and I will sort it soon (brakes were ok) , or she can have a Jazz as a loaner while I sort it. So she says she will just run her own car till i sort it but can she drive it back to her house so she can get used to the Auto as she normally drives a manual. What do you know , ABS light goes out and stays out after several starts. So she takes it and I do say call me if ANYTHING goes wrong (3 months warranty) Everything is crossed!

this a great battery tester.... https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01IOMEHLS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Dead easy to use, and saves me from guessing the condition of a battery. When it tells you to replace the battery its never wrong. I bought it so I can check every car i buy so I dont get 'that call' from the customers. Has gone up on Amazon since i bought it on Amazon from 42 to 48 so not cheap, but this site has them cheaper.... http://www.obd2shop.co.uk/wholesale/foxwell-bt100-12v-car-battery-tester-for-flooded-agm-gel.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjwhJrqBRDZARIsALhp1WQfbk4CQaBBh19DdW8Pw6gqubDywgd9nL1T5Exj3N5KYUwKNRkL3E8aAgCHEALw_wcB youtube has a few reviews if you put in foxwell bt100. The kind of tool that takes any guesswork out.

Mine is old a 2012 model, only done 36k miles though and the 24kwh model. yours is probably the 30kwh model, everything now made or about to be made is generally 40kwh plus. But yes they are surprising!

I wish! about 70 real range but thats all i need. once or twice a year I'll nick the wifes car if I go any distance.

most people with electric cars have somewhere to park their cars and so also somewhere to charge their cars. Nearly every car out or due out which is just battery only (not phev) does around or over 200 miles. The newer ones will only continue improving as the batteries get more energy dense and cheaper due to development. So with what will be a minimum range of 200 miles that should cover most people for nearly every journey they do in a car. Average commute is about 10 miles now so 20 round trip. When you start with a full 'tank' if you have charged at home this distance is nothing. For the majority of people a car that has 200 miles range is fine. The times when you will need to charge other than at home will be few and far between. The new intelligent chargers are now starting to take advantage of when the grid is lightly loaded to then start to charge, or use electricity from the owners solar panels or when the grid has a surplus of wind/solar energy, this will only get more advanced. So when the wind turbines are producing more than is needed at night ,this can go into the car batteries, and when there is a demand greater than usual on the grid, the cars plugged in can assist the grid by putting power into it, this is again at an early stage but it is coming.(Fully charged channel on youtube is great for all this tech news). Typical household electric usage is 13kwh per day. Soon there will be millions of cars with 40kwh+ batteries plugged into houses to balance /assist the grid if needed so rather than hinder the grid ,they may just help to keep the lights on! Super cheap 'fuel' quiet and fast, no gear changes. With VW caught cheating again with their 'clean' V6 diesels it's time to get shot of these with electric cars. It is the future and when it arrives it will be good for all of us. (Yes I am a Leaf owner!)

30kw leaf should be roughly 105 miles ,so 80 is definitely doable