Nick M.K.

Hold on Mark, finance companies pay for a percentage of the advance not a fixed amount per deal. And you can’t compare the 3 part exes on three £4K cars with one nice p/x on a dear car which often of similar retail value. Only the warranty upgrades will earn more if cost is the same, this is not one of my income stream. Yet.

“Added bonus of a day job”.... £2-3K per month for 80% of your time. I am very sorry but I will never call that a “bonus”. Burden is the word you were looking for.

maybe this is what we should expect from the finance comission income but I’d want a (fair) bit more from the metal, especially if bought for ££££ less thsn other people paid at auction.

Exactly. So why don’t we talk more about the gross profit and comissions earned but keep counting the number of cars sold every month, even if some of them can be at a loss? I can sell 3 times as many cars if I reduce my mark up 3 times but I don’t really see the point.

Break? Do you mean take?

My mechanics hate Ford diesel & any Vauxhall, I hate japanese & korean part prices so it’s mostly german cars for me too. I love them. I really do. I don’t lose my sleep over them at all.

Why is 6 a month great and why do we continue to count only the number of cars sold as a measure of how well we’ve done? In my first year of trading (2006) I averaged 10 a month from a London house with 2 parking spaces.

I disagree with some of the above. Full time you will do MORE, if you borrow you will do MORE, if you buy higher value stock you will earn from it MORE, you have a chance for finance income AND for much better part exchanges. DO NOT stay small if you have a chance and desire to grow, you are just wasting time and opportunity. The following 5 years will give a lot of opportunities to clued up dealers that are willing to put in the investment and the work.

I remember when you used to take your photos outside a few months ago, looked much better.

Neither did I and had no need to find out :-) thank you for this unique forum contribution

Don’t just dream. Wake up and do it.

Wait for your first deal with £3K retail margin, ££££ finance comission or £2K profit on the part exchange, all in the space of a week. Will make you sick every time you smell the inside of an old Corsa.

No such tales from me after 14 years of Appointment only. It has several downsides but certain advantages also.

I always have a couple, amazing price fluctuations and real bargains to be had at auction sometimes. Also, MINI buyers always say that they were specially looking at a MINI so it’s not like you can hope to get those buyers with different stock.

Nothing. Nothing at all. Attention grabber, 2000 word adverts and when they come to view by appointment the deposit is usually already collected in advance. I don’t have walk-ons.

Call Nextgear Capital, they will send a rep over. If it can be done they’ll do it. Don’t bother with BCA Partner finance

Most suggestions for your plan will be simple: Don’t.

I thought it was a yellow light. Just because I see it often :-)

Simon, those letter ARE from Lawgistics and for many years I've been saying that even smallish dealers should have a Lawgistics membership. If you are worried about prejudicing yourself in a letter write on top WITHOUT PREJUDICE. Tony, the guy doesn't threaten court action because the belt snapped. He is saying the car was not advertised properly. You can have records that show a belt replacement but an old actual belt in the car. Ideally you wanted to inspect what's left over of that engine and that belt. Now weeks after the fact and after everything has been replaced and old parts thrown away you have no way of inspecting hence no way to confirm or deny if the car was "represented" properly.

Yes, that customer should have given you an opportunity to inspect the damaged engine to confirm liability (the reason for the snapped belt). His omission to do so means you are not in a position to compensate him for his loss which is his own and unmitigated.

And for those lacking it it gives 6 years of (near) peace and mind if they do muster the confidence to buy :-)

No! When the car is standing around the voltage drops. The ECU sees this is flashes a reminder. When the car is driven longer or when the battery is charged with a charger the warning will not appear. Is it on all the time or just briefly when you start the car?

Weak battery voltage on startup

Just wait for the Grass Cutting Regulations 2021 and the Window Cleaning Norms, Standards and Clarity Rules 2022 :-)

Sure. But most dealers would sleep better if they didn’t know: The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 can be used instead of CRA by a customer to take a dealer to court for breach of conract. This can be for faults found up to 6 years post sale. The onus is on that consumer to prove that the fault WAS present at the point of sale. Normally very difficult but not for well known common faults which usually start soon after manufacture.