lastyboy

I have done my own for about 8 years. I put in £80 for cheaper stuff and £100 for dearer stuff. Every now and again I have a bigger claim but I prep my cars well and most never come back. Theres 50k in the fund now so happy days.

i Just dont understand how dealers are surprised about auction prices. It has done it every single year for the 23 years I have been doing the job this time of the year.

Same here. Diesels may have tailed off slightly but it is very slight.

If you do a lot of Fords, join their Blue Over trade club. Will get 50% off batteries from retail, putting them alongside Euro's etc for price.

Mot and service everything regardless of what has been done. Every diesel has a new fuel filter no matter what.

Ive not done too bad but Janaury has never been great for me . But October, November and December were all record months so I am not going to worry.

December is a funny old month. Can be ok , can be rubbish. Ive had a cracking september, October and November so if i cover my costs and a wage, I personally would be happy this month. However my priority will be too buy as much stock as possible ready for January

Totally agree with this. I am in Norfolk and have done this to customers in Cyprus, Aberdeen and London in the last 6 weeks alone.

Pretty much agree with that. I stock 10-12 but always 3 or 4 coming in so could argue its nearer 15. Sell 15 to 20 normally per month. But 20 years trading and a lot of repeat business

My 7 series battery was nearly new. Another garage condemmed it and he asked me to replace it so my cost was 0

Exactly what i do. Huge battery from a 7 series BMW and a sack barrow with jump leads. Starts everything

Ive been buying Diesels here in Norfolk . A few months ago they dropped hard and i bought loads of them. Same the month after and sold the lot. Unfortunately a few dealers have now got wise to this and theyve crept up again in price. That said we are in a rural area but people dont seem bothered.

Got an email from VOSA the other day ( we have an MOT bay ) and the emissions required for cars with a dpf will be halved so if you have a dpf removed car it pretty much wont pass emissions soon.

Never had an issue with credit cards in 18 years of having a card machine. Moral of the story to me though is if you have a customer who you think could be a total pain in the arse and wants to pay by credit card , just say no. If I have a customer come in and I think they could be future trouble, i just dont sell them a car

I started using videos about 6 months ago and find them useful. Best to be honest on the appraisal and note any marks on the car.

We stock only between 10 and 12 cars. 2 to 5k. Luckily got a couple of excellent main dealers i still buy from. Did 17 in September and similar for October with 3 already ready to go in early November. Not trying to sound patronising but I am finding that you need to present the car superbly at the mo and it will sell. Also we do try and prep everything mechanically really well and even if it costs more on this car, you may then go on and do repeat business with that customer. All about the long game. Also as much as i despise auto trader, I have found their review system to work well. I ask all my customers to fill it in.

Are you sure that the car wasnt just on finance as a stocking loan?

Im still selling diesel well. Over the past 3 days I have sold a 2009 Audi A3 tdi Sport, Subaru Boxer Diesel on a 59, 09 X-Trail 2.0 DCi as well as a couple of petrols.

Do you think the mota novo fund my car will work?

Have to say I agree totally with this. Was ok to start but then the tv advertising money dried out.

I have had quite a good year this year. August was superb and September wasnt bad. HOWEVER the phones are quite quiet but i just seem to be able to put a deal together with people at the moment even though I am not seeing that many.

Strange you say that I do superbly out of diesels but then I am in a rural location In some ways I am quite lucky because as well as car sales we run an MOT station and a service bay. I get to see customers cars go wrong and then decide that I would probably not buy one. So with that in mind , i avoid the following: Any car with the 1.9 tdi Fiat engine- so Astra, Vectra, Alfa and Fiat. Fed up with gearboxes, inlet manifolds, flywheels, egr valves, etc. Normally anything Land Rover although they do sell very well. Anything with the 1.6 Prince engine so newer Mini's and Peugeot 207 , 307 1.6 VTi. Anything random like Protons, SSangyong, etc.

I use Glasses online simply because every auction house or main dealer has cap so its a doddle to get cap values and sometimes I dont feel they are correct. Over time it is your own judgement that is the key

Always ask the question. With places like we buy any car now operating, i feel customers have actually become more realistic recently.

I admire your balls for attempting to open a 30 car pitch with no prior experience. It can be done but it is difficult. I personally think the hardest part will be valuing the part exchanges etc. I think you will come a cropper if you just look in glass or cap and say oh it must trade at this. Some cars are over book, some are considerably under. I personally would go and sell cars for someone for a minimum of 12 months to learn the ropes. Not a main dealer where you are a glorified meeter and greeter but at a place where you can learn the true values of second hand stock. Good luck though