Nick M.K.

Rory gets my vote for "Dealer's dealer" if someone here counts.

Yes around a grand, not much more. I need one does all machine and ideally Xentry and VCDS for the Mercs and VAG. My Snap On is the entry level Ethos+, the best £900 or so I spent in 2013. Still worth a few quid "lightly" used. It amazes me how limited it is compared to Autologic or the dealer level software. But has served well.

How does it cause problems??? I am an Eastern European with a UK licence since 2003. All of MY Eastern European customers have been here many years and have a UK licence. It is easy to swap and being the EU (still) you can drive everywhere in Europe without any problems. After Brexit I guess we will keep our UK licenses and will get our own re-issued from our countries so we can continue driving in the EU without problems. Points on these licences? Let Theresa May worry about that for now. It doesn't sound brutal but it sounds different from "I’m more than happy for customers to sort insurance & RFL at my place" which does sound better and is the norm. Not legally speaking but in "best practice" terms.

You scan it with the tool, you paste the fault text (not just a code) in Google and voila: all the knowledge in the world at your fingertips. Diagnostics is far more than that of course and you'll learn as you go but a good own tool and a good garage as a back up option makes life a lot easier.

There is a much higher level Autel for around £450. Was mentioned in a recent thread. My Snap On is getting old and I think I'll replace it with a Launch this time.

Off topic again but apart from Roman Abramovich and Vichai (RIP) was there ever a football club owner that the fans were happy with and didn't hate?

No, that's before, during the test drive

A combination of things really but I sold an identical one (sold in 12 days), then bought this at a much lower price but couldn't exactly advertise it 2 grand cheaper - my other buyer wouldn't be best pleased :-) Then a number of them hit the market around April - May by which time mine seemed lower spec than some. Last month I repainted the alloy wheels black and the look of the car was completely transformed, the phones started ringing. Went to Jersey to the customer that wanted it ex-VAT as per my other thread. If you do decide to buy one call me so I can talk you through the optimum spec and aim at 35-60K miles rather than lower as they seem better value and sell faster. I've sold 7 this year, one of them twice after I bought it back a few months later. Eclectic mix of people buy these :-) Well done James and Rory for his "Dealer's dealer" nomination.

Most people in their mid 20s will be much better looking than us and sometimes it's all about appearances in this business. Welcome to the forum and best of luck to both of you.

Of course it matters. If trivia like oil level matters then so does tax and / or insurance. We are in a service business where the silver is spent quickly but the great service they will remember. And talk about. If they are happy to pay my margin customers can certainly have a few more minutes of my time for their insurance.

6. Including my 227 Day BMW i3 which everyone seems to want now and the Toyota Auris that AD wasn’t keen on. The Auris buyer (a young asian bloke, paid full price!!!!) left a £150 Kia Picanto in chop that I thought to give away. Until I checked AT pricing. I now have 8 cars in my prep queue which I am rushing to get ready and advertised before the inevitable end of November lull.

Yes you can but you specifically asked for online invoicing system with some automation. On Excel you can have all your company details but the details for each vehicle will need to be entered manually.

Absolutely not. This is a lost profit opportunity and the only people that should reimburse you are the parts factors or makers of the faulty battery IF the battery warranty is for the part and labour which I doubt.

Do you have this function in one of the sub-menus: Manual Read Write of Adaptation Channels

Yes, I found it out a month ago. But last week had a nightmare two hours when a customer was huffing and puffing at my desk, swapping sim cards between his phone and ipad, trying to log into Cuvva, forgot which email address he used, tried to create a new account and ultimately couldn't insure using Cuvva because he hadn't held his license over one year. Give me HPI Driveaway any day but cars need to be under 10 years.

If I go to BCA on a buying spree and don't buy anything: 1) I can still expense the 76 miles there and back BUT 2) I certainly can't issue myself (or anyone) an invoice for 6-7 hours of my time. In the specific example here Dave either charges the battery supplier / maker or is out of pocket. Except the miles

0 as in ZERO Actually it may need to be 000

Which bit of money? The replacement battery was free. You can certainly claim the 88 business miles (around 54 pence per, have to doublecheck). You buy a "Guildhall mileage log book", record these miles there and deduct the £50 or so as expenses. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Guildhall-Vehicle-Business-Mileage-Record-Log-Book-Ref-T43/150747245295?_trkparms=aid%3D555017%26algo%3DPL.CASSINI%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D55149%26meid%3D4e86ae68ea664a78867872be1be6b549%26pid%3D101006%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26%26itm%3D150747245295&_trksid=p2045573.c101006.m3226

Yes sure, From the list of systems select channel 17 – Instrument Panel, then from the several options select Service Reset Select Manual Read Write of Adaptation Channels Channel 053 (Days since last service) and Channel 055 (Service scope lock out) are the most common channel numbers on VAG cars. Manually edit the channel values (40 for example will mean 40 days after service so the light will stay on) You need the values on these channels to be 0 which tells the cluster that the service has just been completed and starts the count until the next. Edit both channel 053 and 055 values to 0 and bingo!

TV, what is the logic behind this? We have actually already paid the full VAT element which is part of the hammer price. Do they mean if we recover that VAT post sale?

If I was just a bit older Ladas would probably be the bulk of my stock in the gold communist years in Bulgaria where the waiting list for a new one was 12-15 years and used private sales were illegal before 1989. And you laughed all the way to the bank. It's amazing how many opportunities some dealers would miss out on because they don't like a certain model or even make.

So the wrap up on this: The customer flew in this afternoon, collected the car and drove off into the sunset. It wasn't a scam. HMRC called me with the information I requested: They treat this is a personal export outside the EU if the customers collects himself. 1) Take payment of the car ex VAT 2) Take payment for the full VAT amount as a refundable deposit. 1 and 2 can be done on one invoice or on two separate invoices. 3) Obtain proof from the customer that the car has left the EU within 3 months. This could be transport documents, boat tickets, official customs documents, permanent vehicle registration on Jersey in my case. Keep this proof for 6 years from the date of export. 4) After receiving his proofs refund him the VAT amount that he paid as deposit.

It does leave me out of pocket by about £240 as I won't get a penny in finance commission (my clawback is 6 months actually) but if someone is dead set on receiving a bit of discount they can probably negotiate it on my desk rather than go through the hoops of getting car finance, then cancelling. The £60 difference is VAT saving. "HMRC has explained the treatment of dealer deposit contributions (DDCs) when motor dealers contribute towards the deposit payable to the finance company, leaving the customer to pay a reduced amount. It considers these arrangements are a discount on the headline price charged by the dealer, with VAT due on the discounted amount charged, not on the full asking price" The HMRC brief on the clarification gives an example: ‘The headline price of a car is stated as £28,000, this is shown as being funded by £20,000 finance, a deposit of £6,000 from the customer and a DDC of £2,000. HMRC views the selling price from which VAT is due as £26,000 (£28,000 headline price less the £2,000 discount/contribution from the dealer).’ Businesses that have accounted for VAT on the headline price should correct the position either by making a claim for overpaid output tax, or by amending their VAT return."

Anyone that can get approval for that amount by a mainstream lender shouldn't really consider car finance.

My figures are good, up on last year, 59% acceptance rate, almost 90% take-up rate. approx 1/3 of my sales are on finance and I am offering £300 deposit contribution from this month until the end of Jan to hopefully help and convert some cash buyers. Some stock definitely attracts the finance buyers: prestige models, black or white, high spec, older than 4-5 years, even with higher than average miles. Annoyingly, every time I am certain a car will sell on finance it goes to a cash buyer