Nick M.K.

I read a couple of posts recently and some people seem to have had a great month, others only just scraped by... I had a very good November, probably my best ever (not finished yet so the calculator isn't out) but I personally am never ever happy with my sales, I always think I could've done two-three more, could've sold certain cars for more or quicker, could've paid less for some part exes or repairs and in general when I do the figures I have this sense of unfinished business. So, do you reward yourselves at the end of a good month or go into the next trying to better it?

Once again Matt, congrats! A tremendous achievement.

Lawgistics have said this many times so on occasions this allegation must've been true (legally speaking)

They used several BMWs while filming, an M5 and several 535s (that got damaged)

Dark green Audi S8 in Ronin, another Citroen XM and E34 BMW M5. I always had a soft spot for E34s...

And some toilet paper...

No but he could be the one that built the algorithms that allocate the "random" seating on Ryanair's website

Apologies but with the number of cars waiting to be advertised I simply don't have the time to even read what you posted. Can you re-try in around 1500 words (the exact amount of words we have to sell a car on Autotrader)? 1500 characters rather than 1500 words :-)

Does this mean that you actually need 2 brand new keys plus one new module as the old second key will presumably stop working with a new module?

Similar to my M-B Becker Map Pilot Sat Nav that needed a PIN number. The dealer said new Becker nav module required, £400ish. It actually took 2 minutes on SDS to simply remove the stored PIN from the memory and to make the unit completely functional again.

I started using it a month ago. Shows some surprises but generally confirms what we know. Because of the way I buy I don't use it pre-purchase but I have a good look at it when pricing and re-pricing stock. Already sold a car £1000 over what I thought I could sell at because the program showed 99 desirability score and 4 available nationwide for a car I genuinely considered undesirable.

That's not just Brexit (although it certainly does not help) It's the general switch to online buying, especially in bad weather. You couldn't pay me to drag me in a store, never mind getting money out of me there.

I think you'll get on really well compared to not having it. As an advertiser they are so effective (provided you use them correctly) that I see little point saving that money. Buying is consistently switching to online in many sectors and a web site, Google and a couple of badly performing cheap advertisers will not offer enough national exposure for your stock.

There is a trade insurance requirement to add a taxed car to MID. What insurance do car repair garages usually have?

Well done everyone! Hopefully it was a fun night. Photos should be entertaining :-)

I have stocked up in anticipation and will advertise 17 cars instead of 13. In addition I advertise SOLD cars in the empty advert slots. Some of the SOLD I will utilise to full effect to also "manipulate" AT's price indicators.

First of all contact your own insurance company / broker and ask them the question "Was I insured driving a car that I did not own???" You may be pleasantly surprised if they say yes. Second, ask the garage that supplied the vehicle IF it was taxed and then the million dollar question: IF it was indeed taxed why wasn't it on the MID database where it would've shown as insured on their trade / courtesy / demonstration cover. They have responsibility to add it on the MID irrespective if YOU are insured or not.

You are joking right... The motor trade is what the property developers get into when they get bored of property and too much income... Will never turn my life's work into a block of flats

Absolutely! Something an old £2000 part ex will earn me more than the £15K retail car it came against. In this trade some dealers have a feel about a rare and unusual car and others wouldn't touch anything unfamiliar. I'd go with rare or unusual every time.

Yes that is correct. 5 million limit for PL, my insurance is with Arista / Ageas. Annual premium £1521.

My management style is massively different. If someone employed me they will probably kick me out in month. I am pretty sure after (almost) 14 years on my own I am completely unemployable.

Of course I do. And Ebay and Motors. All part of my huge variable costs. If I have less cars I will pay less and if I stop working for a month or a year I will pay nothing. Also something no one mentioned: Not every car we sell needs to be advertised. 14 cars at £1400 a month works out at roughly £100 per unit advertised but if I source for existing customer the advertising cost for that one unit is zero. I guess some can view advertising as fixed cost, some can view it as variable. Surely. In fact Simon himself stopped his AT for a couple of weeks when he went on holiday. I doubt anyone could stop paying his unit rent or his mobile phone bill in the same way.

And the term ANNUAL COSTS was also important for the purposes of this discussion as it was all about annual fixed costs.

I do. And NONE of these bar the public liability (part of my trade insurance) are fixed ongoing annual costs. My office for example costs me a certain amount. One outright payment in 2015. It is now almost 2019 so I consider it bought, paid for and forgotten. Same for my 2015 Mac and my 2011 Mac computers. Not to mention my phone. Not fixed costs. Just depreciated but usable assets. My work and my personal everyday life are so linked together that it is almost impossible to draw any kind of line between personal and business use for some items (phone, wi-fi, clothes, personal car diesel, printer ink?) so we prefer not to claim some expenses. It may not be 100% tax efficient but is prudent for other reasons. Does your accountant tell you for example that you can claim for the difference between trade and personal car insurance cost IF your trade insurance covers your personal car. I have chosen not to claim that. For some people this will be a four figure sum.