Nick M.K.

I think our job is a bit like prostitution: no operator likes to be cheap or god forbid THE CHEAPEST

My paperwork arrived in Jan, payment wasn't taken until March! Sent it very early December.

When I started selling cars in 2005 I would often buy for £300 and sell for £700 and was quite used to the phones ringing all the time. Now when most of my cars are much dearer and certainly no bargain I get very few phone calls. One call, deposit and/or appointment to view, sold. I much prefer it this way tbh. Every now and then I will advertise something and the phone will ring on it every hour, even more often sometimes. When this happens I always want to increase the price until the calls reduce. I know that many calls not always mean a quick sale but am I right in wanting more money with so many calls (if I don't NEED a super quick sale)?

BMW i3 bought in March '18 for £18K (£1000 above Cap Clean but very high spec). Sold late October for £19K. At least the p/x earned me decent profit on the overall deal. 2002 VW Golf 1.9 TDI Bought in 2016 for £3000 (!), sold a year later for £4K (!!!!!). It was very well modified cosmetically, matt paint, full read and black leather re-trim, grey cross spoke 19in alloy wheels, the car looked absolutely spectacular so I paid a lot in p/x but at least I can confidently say that in 2017 I sold the dearest 15 year old Golf TDI anywhere :-)

Even if I take a deposit today 30 Nov and deliver on 1 Dec (the last and first day for my VAT quarter)? I'd much rather defer that VAT payment if I am allowed and my sales invoice date will of course be 1 DEC, the date of delivery and also a date that will allow me to pay that VAT in 3 months time.

My provider charges 50% more per wheel for that. I will only consider that spend on cars upwards of £15K retail. Not according to Lamborghini :-)))

Cars in Europe are in 5 times better condition that UK cars?? Have a walk in central Paris next time you are there paying closer attention to bodywork and wheels :-) UK cars are so much cheaper for one reason only: the right hand drive. If they had left hand drive and ready export market (larger than Ireland or Cyprus) prices would be the same. Anyone that sells left hand drive vehicles here will tell you they don't fetch the same money as UK spec cars.

Going once, going twice, to the gentleman in the yellow hazmat suit. NOT you Sir, the one standing next to you! When I saw the title though I expected a thread about the recent accident at Paddock Wood which left someone with life changing injuries.

I’ve never thought that someone based in the North East will describe the population of London as “really skint”...

Great post, loved the bit with the many £ signs, I'll come work for you for a day (let's hope it's a busy one)

In that case worry if you have a repair business. You are a dealer so the punters' cars' maintenance has little to do with you.

Where will this nearly new stock come? Bear in mind because of the strict lending criteria a lot of people will move away from brand new towards nearly new where the saving is 15-25% sometimes. come from? my question above should read

There are different kinds of deposit. You can have Simon's kind where the car is virtually sold at the deposit point, they've seen his video and no additional work is required from him, you can have the typical deposit where the punter arrives, looks, drives, signs order, wants something done and pays a deposit or you can have the kind I usually take over the phone: "Leave us £100-200 refundable deposit to guarantee yourself availability, if you arrive and don't like the car or find a fault I will refund this to you in full". Last week I had a customer leave £100 unseen on an £19K Audi A3, then he arrived, loved the car, went away to arrange his own finance. He couldn't arrange finance at a rate he was happy with. I could arrange it for him with Blue but the rate was very high and he decided to "leave it". So no sale. Sold to a cash buyer on Mon with a a lovely p/x. And another: 30 minutes after advertising a left hand drive Jeep on Sunday the phone rang, a Brit in France said he absolutely wants the Cherokee and left his £100 deposit, he said he was flying in on Mon to pick it up. Never phoned back, never turned up, he changed his mind maybe. £200 up but I can't count both as sold. Jeep is still here.

if I just had a great month I will leave the other two sales for the next one. If my current month has been dysmal I will happily add those two sales to it :-)

Absolutely right, be positive! Now, where do I send my application for a Maruti franchise please?

"Presentation... not the work, not the work"

Mine too. And for months until they approved me I wondering why some wouldn't just press the button but write ^^LIKE

While that is by far my biggest cost I have not found that it adds the most value. People don't know and understand mechanical (even if they love service history). Don't care for the new pads and discs, brake fluid change, wheel alignment, service with the correct Mercedes specific 229.51 or BMW LL-04 engine oil, some of them don't even know what a cambelt is or if the car has one! What they care about is... Looks, image, presentation, no scratches, no scuffs, wheels, tyre thread, windows, cleanliness. Stuff that they can see and understand... And if you ask me what adds the most value? Phonecalls. ££££ added after I've worked the phones for a few minutes / hours and find that incomplete or missing service history. We know and the mechanics also know that it doesn't mean much BUT it's what the buyers want and value most. On some cars anyway.

While I am a Remainer (ReMoaner, even ReScreamer) doom actually brings tremendous opportunities. Do you remember 2008-2009? Poor sales of used cars for a few months but because new and nearly new car sales were very poor (no finance approvals) and because of the scrappage scheme of 2009 there was severe stock shortage. Even franchise dealers were stocking other makes of prestige cars and those sales were very strong. Then the stock became so low that prices shot up something like 25% in 2009-2010 (and WBAC really grew)... I remember one "deal" in 2010: Bought a 2007 ex-MoD Astra Life for under £3000 (the going rate then) in June '10 from BCA Bedford and sold it online to a buyer from Aberdeen for £4800 a couple of months later. They were going to the Edinburgh festival so I agreed to deliver the car there for extra £300, enough to cover the trip, hotel and flight back for two. Had a nice couple of days there actually. The next morning got an early easyJet flight back to Luton and a taxi to BCA Bedford armed with the £4800 fully expecting to buy two cars for that money. The cheapest out of 25 or so ex MoD Astras went for £4400! Only two months later. I know it's an extreme example but back in the day auction prices were more stable than they are now. My money will be on 3-8 year old stock, £3K to £15K

I get more motivated by the lows... Nothing more depressing than reading about other people’s exceptional sales :-)))

I started refurbing around 2006, £35 per corner, now it’s £50. I can’t stand kerbed alloys but love buying them kerbed at the auctions.

Sad but true...

Yes, their returns policy is abused by many :-)

I am a huge advocate for changing wheel colour especially because for me it's free. (I pay for the refurb but any colour, matt, satin or gloss is included). People want to stand out, preferences change and what could've been the norm in 2006-2008 is no longer the case. Every week I see brand new BMWs and Range Rovers at our wheel place getting a complete change to Gloss Black (usually) before delivery.

Just ring them. 50% of their stuff isn't even on the website and the pricing there will not show discounts.