NOACROSS

Frustratingly it hasn't worked for us so far and I'm beginning to wonder if it will. It's far too expensive also, and they need to slash the price considerably or it's going to take a fall before it's begun really. Trouble is, they won't have it and the Rep. is very closed off on the subject (except for talking it up). It's a shame as I really like Motonovo and their service and system is faultless in my experience. I'm not sure their approach isn't flawed as they're spending all the dough on TV adverts by the looks, whereas I think CarGurus approach with targeting browsers and banners etc is the future- although I hate their (and AT's) price indicator bollocks. Also, are F&F working hard on the SEM so that the google searchers find them up the rankings? I don't know. I just hope they see sense soon or that it does take off their way. However, I'm getting twitchy about the monthly spend for no obvious reward so far, and will have to cancel before much longer. I'd love to hear that its working for others.

EPV is completely right here Mark. You 'may' well get away with it once, twice or whatever- but no matter what you say in your advert, the customer has all the rights and it will come back to bite you on the arse eventually if you do this. This game IS NOT LIKE THE OLD DAYS ;0) Also, I'm sure if Trading Standards etc. saw the ad, they could well protest your wording too. All unlikely maybe, but 'unlikely' has a habit of occurring in this game I've found.

Amen. Dreadful. Spent 1200 quid at VW and they couldn't stop it leaking...memories! (The rest of Germany's offerings aren't too far behind IMO)

Looks like Gumtree's poor relation to me- and that's saying something! Can't see it being a viable car platform & certainly not in these early days. Do we know how much it is?

WMS / Safe & Sound are OK. However, I think it depends on which Area Manager you get. I've known ours - Pete Jacob for many years and he's great.

Absolutely & best of luck. 'Build it and they will come' ;0) I'd give it much longer than three months though. It's quiet times anyway. I wasn't sure I'd done the right thing until a could compare one year with another- I can now say I definitely have.

Good stuff & I agree completely with your reasons. We did this nearly two years ago and the world didn't end- as I've said numerous times (I mustn't comment too much or we'll start up the Autotrader Discussion War again). Especially when you consider how many sold units go to paying them! We just use the same as you will be, but plus Exchange & Mart too and the odd local press full page advert. You do have to be clever and 'work' your adverts/listings and ensure you give it a fighting chance, especially ebay Motors Pro, with lots of pictures, good sub-headings and enable 'Best Offer'. Also, make sure your SEM is good so you factor well on a google search, and we use the excellent Click Dealer for this. It is quiet out there at the moment, and these quiet months really hurt when you have a giant AT bill to pay. When you're flying it doesn't hurt so much.

Very few enquiries, but have sold a few. (Last April was really busy weirdly) One hasn’t gone out yet, as the (old boy’s) wife rang to cancel saying ‘he’s nuts’ and ‘he does this’. He’s now emailing and calling saying she’s an old bag basically and he does want the car. Joys! We should have known really when he could only stump up a £200 dipper on the day. Luckily we’ve not sent it off for the Pdi & MOT.

Did you have it Mot’d after taking the order?

Spot on. This is what I was getting at. Get a job as someone else’s salesman/woman (order taker) instead. I bet you’re just looking? No charge today. Let me know if I can help..

I’d like a ‘dislike’ button ;o)

Title should be ‘Are You SURE You Want To Be A Car Dealer?’! In all seriousness, would it not be better to do a ‘So You Want To Be A Car Salesman?’

I’ve never had any subprime clawback from First Response. I’d much rather have Prime punters too, but I’ll take any finance sale I can get.... I only get half a dozen subprime (paid out) deals a year probably but I’m very grateful for them as much as any other deal. Money is money Rodney.

First Response are good and Advantage

Three owners or less for me when buying- or maybe four if something else is right or unusual about it (e.g. sporty stuff) or in PX- before I get a bit odd/don't want it. Less and less people ask nowadays I'm finding. The older people are still really worried about it. Even on an older car. With regards to no service history, I'm sure we've all traced some history before, or found the service book squirreled away somewhere. Not the end of the world depending on the car.

Absolutely true. And both platforms will work for some and not others as you say. I'm sure the times they are a changing though for AT's dominance but I could be wrong. I just wish I was told/encouraged years before I did to dump AT.

My old salesman (old as in previous, not age) always sang AT's praises and said how good it was. I then twigged one day- of course ANY salesman will want you to be on as many advertising sites as possible as (they think) it gives them more opportunity for leads and commissions -which it does perhaps I guess. Trouble is, a salesman doesn't have to write the cheques. He always said the calls were from AT mostly. When I started quizzing the customers and looking into it, I realised that because we had an AT website, customers that found the ad say on ebay MP (must have Best Offer enabled IMHO) they then clicked on the website and then thought it was AT. The ebay call didn't come through as an ebay call. Or from a google search 'used cars in my area' for example, AT would often be top of the list with ebay or others just below. They would also very often tell me they 'also saw it on ebay etc. and, as I say often- we still get told 'I saw it on Autotrader. Once we dropped AT, nothing really changed. Certainly not enough to justify going back to giving them 40k a year. I really am convinced more and more people aren't just going to a dedicated car sales platform anymore but google search etc, or click on targeted banners... We'll never resolve this I know, but everyone is entitled to spread their viewpoint, so I can't see the subject ever going away and, I for one, will keep shouting my viewpoint in regards to AT disgusting prices and practises, cluttered sponsored ad website, ridiculous 'race to the bottom' price indicator stress etc ;0)

You can have as many high quality images as you like on ebay, if you use a program called Autavia (I think this is its name.) A friend of mine always did it this way and when you open up the advert description, the extra pictures are there- but you get (I think) 20 anyway so that's enough for me). I see others using it quite often when I'm looking on there. Just because a customer says they found you on AT, doesn't mean they actually did or started there. We still get people telling us they saw us on AT and we've not been on there/with the robbing bastards for years! (broken record, sorry.)

We sell a fair few ( second hand) cars unseen inc delivery! Often they don’t even ring up. All by email. Always amazes me but that’s the world nowadays. Gotta embrace it or lose out I guess.

I guess we all work so hard and take pride in our service, that it can’t help but hurt when some moron leaves a negative review. It’s like when you have that occasional screamer- it can get you down and you can be guilty of forgetting all the hundreds of cars you’ve sold with no bother. Same goes for the quiet months- you soon forget about all the good periods and can get down. It’s important to remember that you ‘can’t argue with a fool’ and move on and don’t let the odd bad review worry you.

We give a separate deposit slip receipt. It quite clearly states on there deposits are non refundable. Plus we take time to read it out to them and get them to sign. They get a copy. We get them from here: https://www.johnsmotorcaresupplies.com/product-page/used-car-vehicle-sales-deposit-pad

We do similar numbers (well 20 to 25 a month) without AT, so can it be seen as what- 20 plus sales in a six months period have gone to paying them? Apologies if my quick mental maths is wrong. V. Interesting all these different opinions. I don’t think this will ever change on here. There’s always going to be those in and those out. PS. I reckon you’d do the same just on their basic package. I could be wrong...

It’s only stuff waiting to be prepared. No matter how many painters or Valeters etc you use, they’re always busy. Or off on hols/long weekends or it’s too wet/ damp to paint or valet.... I’m sure they moan about us too....

I'm sure the police have better things to do. When a load of cars got clamped near us for no tax, it was the DVLA, not the Police. I park a couple in the local occasionally, but so far it's been OK. Been doing it years. However, there's always something that comes along in this game to kick you in the nuts. Just when you think you've cracked it, something inevitably happens!

Just reply to it politely pointing out the facts. Don’t get tempted to disparage him but try to make it slightly lighthearted if you you want. Most people will read your answer and think he’s the idiot. I wouldn’t then lose any sleep over it.