James01

How is everyone finding this month? We have been really quiet. We have had a run of "thanks I'll let you know" punters last couple of weeks to never be seen again. It was the same last year and went mad the last 10 days, so here is me hoping for the same!!

The only bad review we have is from a lovely chap whom we refused to let test drive a freelander we had. It was one of those cars that for whatever reason the phone was off the hook on it and had we had two appointments lined up on it that afternoon. The chap turns up unannounced with kids in toe and says he is interested in the car but wants to have a go in it to "see what it is like". I ask the gentleman if he likes how the car drives if he is in a position to purchase the car today. "Well I dont know till I've driven it mate". "I appreciate that sir but if you do like it are you looking to make a purchase today?" "Well it's the first one I've seen so I just want to drive it and then make a decision next week" "Without being rude sir I have 2 appointments on the car this afternoon so unless you are ready to purchase it today there is no point in driving it as it will not be available for sale next week". "So you expect someone to buy a car without driving it". "Not at all sir. We ask that if you do get to the stage of test driving it you are ready to purchase the car if it drives without fault". "Well I don't know until I've driven it". This went on for about 10 minutes as it was clear he was just out for a spin in it. In the end he stormed off claiming he was going to buy a car elsewhere and left us a 1star review for wasting his time! The car was sold to the first appointment a typical horse lady which is a whole other drama!

We have always found the customers who get angry and offended when we refuse to allow them a test drive are those who have no intention of buying. They just want to test a particular model probably before they make a 60 mile trip to buy one £250 cheaper elsewhere. These sorts really annoy me as they are happy to waste your time but god forbid you refuse to let them go down the road and have made them waste a 5 minute trip out from home! Genuine customers who are out to buy do not get on their high horse when you ask if they are prepared to purchase the car if the car drives without fault as it is a fair question.

We are based in the south east. The site we had was £5250 rent a month and £800 rates. Could fit probably 35 cars on site and 7 in showroom.

I have just moved from a large expensive roadside site to a large industrial unit in the last couple of months. I honestly can say I do not know why I didn't do it sooner. Overheads have reduced by over half, viewings appointment only so no sitting in a showroom looking out of the window on quiet days, no staff, cars stay clean and the customers who do come down 9/10 buy. For me it's been a great move as I did not do a not do a lot of passing trade. That said I do not sell much under £10k so one would not expect to sell many cars of that value via passing trade. It says a lot that some lovely car sites that would have been snapped up in our area a few years ago have stayed empty due to the rental of them and lack of return they bring now.

Thanks for the advice, still trying to get my head around shutter speeds, ISO etc!

I have been shooting in aperture mode as I really like the look of a blurred background. I think my biggest problem has been finding somewhere with good light without being in direct sunlight.

I always show a clean engine bay. I agree customers are worried about engines so showing a clean engine bay not covered in muck and leaves gives the impression that the car has been well maintained to a punter. Not trying to hijack the thread but I have just purchased a DSLR camera and am really struggling to get the lighting right on the photos.They all seem very dim compared to say if I take one on my phone. Do you guys who use one have any tips or 'must do's'?

How is everyone else finding this week? Still dead here, hopefully next week it kicks into life for us!

Yes it does so I guess it is fair price but will probably get another quote can't do any harm. We had to make a claim last year when some lovely gents hopped our fence and stole a set of wheels of an Audi A4 and in the process wrote the car off by attempting to crowbar open the drivers door and then the boot to get to the locking wheel nut, eventually giving up and sticking a brick threw the passenger window! Completely destroyed the car and left it on bricks for a set of wheels one can pick up on ebay for £300! The worst part is that the police didn't even bother to come out to look at the scene even though they left their snap on ratchet kit behind!

Funny i was just about to start the same topic. I have been quoted by our current broker but it seems quite expensive to me, we are being quoted £3750 for the year with £300k worth of stock covered. Has anybody got a similar level of cover to compare with?

Hi, we had one of these a while ago the warning message flashes up after so many thousand pushes on the brake pedal. We got a guy to come round and reprogramme it rather than a very expensive replacement of the abs unit. Of the top of my head was a couple hundred quid but there are plenty of people who can do it. Silly design I must say.

How has everyone found this month? We are painfully quiet will be one of our worst ever months trading! Don't seem to be getting a look at anything over £10k.

It seems like it is very much down to how you interpret 'service history' then. In our eyes if the customer was unsure they should have asked not assumed. On our part we never tried to mislead or push our luck, I genuinely thought this is the correct terminology if you have some proof that the car has been serviced. It was not even written in the description but the drop down box on autotrader selected. Anyhow I will not be doing it again!

So if we are on the subject, how many people put full service history on an advert when in fact a car may have missed one of the ten services required by a manufacturer for example? Would this not be misrepresentation? Could a customer come back to you 2 months later on it?

I have to disagree with those who have said I have pulled a fast one here. I have in no way mislead the customer. The car has service history, even be it one stamp it is still history that the car has been serviced, therefore has service history. If the customer asked to see it before purchase I would have told them I did not have a fully stamped book which they were never led to believe I had. The car was serviced and MOT'd prior to sale with no issues. If it was a main buying criteria for them they should have checked it before sale not come back to me some weeks later. I guess it is how you interpret 'service history' but if they were unclear they should have asked, not assumed.

Yes we have tried but I have to say all the previous MOT test stations could not confirm either way.

I know stinks of buyers remorse to me! They are also claiming the car has a major fault as when they checked the tracking at their 'reputable local garage' the camber was slightly out! They want to know what I am going to do about this major fault. Bring the car back and i'll pay my tyre center £30 to do a 4 wheel alignment. I mean honestly!

Hi guys, some advice would be really appreciated. Long story short we sold a car to a customer 2 months ago with a lack of service history. The car was serviced locally before it was sold by our garage and in the advert we said the car had 'service history' being the one service that has just been carried out. Not full service history or anything to that effect. We never said to the customer in person it had so either. The customer viewed the car at our premises and never asked to view the paperwork or any history we did or didn't have. They are now claiming we misrepresented the vehicle in our advert as one service does not constitute service history. In my mind service history can refer to 1 or 50 stamps. 1 service indicates it has had a service done and therefore has service history. I also feel if it was so important to them they should have checked it before committing to purchasing the car. Anyone come up against something like this before? Thanks

I started with this amount 7 years ago selling cheap bits around £3000. I couldn't get enough Corsa C SXI's, used to sell like hot cakes. I now have 10 times the value of stock and 10 times the headaches but it can be done with some hard work.

I have to say we are in a very good location but as Arfur said how many people trawl around forecourts now in search of the car they want as oppose to searching on the net? Unfortunately for us not enough to justify the £70K rental we pay per year. It may be the fact we don't sell much under £7-8k so do not fall into the local cheapie bracket that may attract more passing trade.

Over the last 3 months we have sold 5 cars to walk ins, so I would say less than 10% of our sales are through passing trade.

Talking of pitches I posted a few months ago that we were considering giving up our roadside pitch for an industrial unit type set up. We have now decided to do so after being here for around 5 years. I do not know about everyone else opinions but I just cannot see that they have the same benefit that they used to at the price that one has to pay to rent them. Has anybody else done a similar move and how do you find things? I must say I am most looking forward not having to be sat in a showroom staring out the window waiting for a customer to come in 6 days a week.

Hi Guys, appreciate the feedback. We have a driver but due to 2 of us being here have never required any more staff than that as we sell each others cars when either of us are away from the site. I agree I do not know anyone in the trade whom i would trust enough to share a site with at this moment. I would say that we get around 3-4 cars via passing trade each month, no more. Most of our customers do come via the internet and via autotrader it pains me to say. With things a bit quieter than they have and buying stock an ever ending issue, minimising overheads just seems a sensible way to go hence my main question of how well people do from 'behind a hedge'.

Hi guys, long time browser but this is my first post. A bit of background I have been in the trade about 12 years and have a love hate relationship with it like most! I was after some advice, I am currently and have mostly traded from a large road side site with another trader which has always worked well. Unfortunately he is moving abroad which leaves me in a bit of a situation. I can take the site on myself but this leaves me with rather large overheads as we have always halved everything and having to take on a salesman which I am not really to keen on. The other alternative is to move to an industrial premises and work as a one man band (which I have done in the past) and work mainly by appointment. With the power of the internet now I am not sure a road side site is really needed. My main questions are has anyone taken this step or work from such a premises and how do you get on? Also can you sell cars from an industrial premises aka a small warehouse with yard? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again.