Nick M.K.

I had to read this out loud twice to get it but it's really funny. Especially in Essex where Danny was/is based and the G is normally silent after an N

You absolutely can but if you say it after 12 October (this was this year's cut off date) you get excluded from the double stock offer.

I have a Karcher Puzzi specifically for the wet valeting. Probably the best £290 I've spent on a tool. Another Karcher WD2200 bought for £30ish from Karcher Outlet does an amazing job as an everyday hoover. Similar to this: https://www.karcheroutlet.co.uk/products/product.asp?id=5189

How? Half his cars won't be displayed because if he adjusts the package after 12 October he will NOT get the double stock offer.

I know, I know... We don't like to haggle and we try not to. BUT Every now and then in this job the old haggling craft needs to be applied. When buying and when selling. What is your favourite approach, what do you "tell them"? 1) When buying I personally will praise a car rather than point every little mark. When the buyer eventually (I do take my time) warms to me I will tell them all these little minor things I would want to improve to "add" to the meticulous care the car has received by it's owner and will make an offer that will allow me to do all that and still earn from the deal. Cash deposit immediately followed by a transfer for the full balance. One of the reviews on my website actually says "When he buys, he pays" :-) 2) When selling... oh dear. I will not talk money over the phone or in an email. I avoid talking money during the test drive or when they stand by the car before or after that. I always like to sit the customer in my office and to slow the deal a bit. Coffees, Teas, service history files, spec checks, MY life story, THEIR life story, anything to keep my buyer in their chair for a bit longer and to make them forget the previous car they've looked at and especially the one they were planning to look at next. Lots of jokes and lots of humour only interrupted by an expressionless look if they say something like "come on, what's another £200 to you". When that question comes I have a big screen calculator and will multiply the £200 or £100 or whatever by 150 cars a year and show them the £30,000 on the screen explaining as politely as I have it in me that I simply can not take that £30K out of the business just like that and it usually does it.

Now, imagine this: In today's economy you advertise 20 cars on AT for £200 per month. How many sales do you think you'll get considering the number of advertised cars will be closer to two million nationwide rather than the current half a million? It's the same number of buyers... I've said it before on their own forum: If Autotrader was cheap it wouldn't work as good.

Doing what? He is merely road testing one of his cars on a long journey to ensure that a previous repair was successful over a high-speed, high-engine temperature, high-rev long drive. If this coincides with someone's airport run (even his own) so be it.

We answered at the same time but it definitely will not be business as usual for me.

YES. I have 13 adverts and around 15-16 stock. With 26 slots everything will be advertised, even the ones in prep, plus a few sold ones plus a few sold but not marked as sold. There is a huge advantage in advertising a specialist vehicle of which there are not that many in the country and alongside it to advertise a similar more expensive or slightly older example which clearly states DEPOSIT TAKEN or SOLD. A lot of dealers will not list double stock simply because they don't have it so if you list double you will get more views. During this offer I also take a few sale-or-return cars as advertising them is practically free and if a couple sell the commission from those will cover my Autotrader bill for a few months. On the flip side of the coin: If I was looking at a yard full of run of the mill bread and butter lowish value cars of which there are thousands for sale I'd be worried. With an offer like this there will be a HUGE number of new such stock simply because everyone that didn't bother paying to advertise them can do so free.

Fuel receipts are one thing. It's like screenwash liquid or engine oil or tyre shine. Something that we put in/on the stock cars for sale and something we claim the VAT on. Mileage allowance is to allow for the business use of your personal car and your personal fuel (that you don't claim the vat on).

Best Newbie : BENJIV50 aka MRV. Runner up EPV Best Useful Techy Contribution: Scottish Dave Most frustrating topic: Anything that can be easily found with a quick 2min Google search. Runner up: Is this (make / model) good or bad news? Most helpful forum member: Must be me Most modest forum member: Definitely not me Grumpiest Member: BHM very closely followed by 11 others. BHM also takes the "straight talker" of the year award. Thick Skinned Tenacity/Comedy Gold - BENJIV50 aka MRV. No one even comes close. Oh No Not Again Award: Is Autotrader worth it? Most polite: Me or Umesh (I'd say me) Best fatherly resource: TV Happiest face: Because I've seen only 4-5 forum member faces I'd have to go with Rory Most money (to burn): Lucas Biggest run of bad luck of late: Tradegirl

That's the saddest part of my job, what should seem like common sense turns out to be extremely hard for some people...

When they closed them they enabled the Post Office system to do a lot more than before. You can do virtually anything at a post office these days if unable to do it online.

The Mot station gets £30 and their aim is to pass you. The RAC gets almost 10 times that and the aim is to find stuff wrong so the customer pays again the next time. It’s not the same test, not the same process. Until RAC start using diagnostic equipment (they still don’t!) I tell the buyers that that inspection has limited value and to save their hard-earned.

Yep, Aston Lark, I've always dealt with Jem Emirali, he is very clued up, call him a call directly, you can say that Nick from ND Trading gave you the number: 07775 023559

Give MB in Glasgow or Edinburgh a call, give them Mel's maiden name and address and use reg number KR60DZD to quote for that service.

Absolutely as above, agree to the report on the understanding that the car may sell in the meantime. You have nothing to lose from this point onwards.

Contact me even before that as approval these days only takes 3-4 weeks.

Credit card clawback is very nasty indeed because the money leaves your current account before you even know there is any problem. If your cars are cheap and you always have surplus £ in the account (or overdraft) it's no big deal but if you sell a £15K car and one morning you notice that £15K taken out of your account the very next thing you'll do is amend your advert text regarding credit card payments. That's the reason most car supermarkets don't take credit cards. And the need to sell car finance of course which you'll have soon enough.

Oh, I had one last year, the manifold from MB was cheap I thought (£350ish?), parts guy said they had 4 on the shelf...

Errrrr, Sorry, No. When this iPhone generation grows up a bit to have their own money on their Apple Pay and they want to pay "contactless" for everything, when haggling stops being the norm (which it will, soon) we can all forget cash. Which is fine by me. I dislike it anyway.

It's the busiest November I remember. I can't get them IN fast enough.

I take as little as £100 on a card and even that is enough to secure the deal and to get the buyer into this "have bought it!" mindset. Card machine is a must to get those impulse buyers that call first and think later (I am one of them by the way)

I've always thought NO but I've had 2 instances in the last 3 years where it did! Months later! First was a MINI that I advertised on behalf of our bodyshop. They had done repairs to it, it was HPI Clear. Luckily for me I had several cars and the MINI had to wait over a month before I advertised it, then it had no interest for a couple of months. I did a new check mainly to get the new CAP values and it popped Cat D! The date of the write off was some 7 months before. It slipped through the net they said and the marker remained. Advertised as cat D it sold for £2K almost instantly and the advert price for the HPI Clear car was £2750 with no calls. Go figure. The other was really unlucky for me. It was a stolen-recovered 2007 BMW 330 part ex and I was keen to get that marker off (which I have done before on other cars). HPI did remove that marker but instead the insurance company applied a CAT C marker! When HPI contacted them they went through the records, saw that they'd paid out for damages during that theft and slapped a CAT C on. I was absolutely livid. Sold it with no loss but had I not tried to remove "stolen-recovered" the car would be worth two-three grand more.

Yes you sign up with HPI and it works straight from their online portal. It costs £15 for 5 days fully comp Aviva cover and the customer pays that with a card just before they drive off. The dealer sign-up is free.