Nick M.K.

No. The garage thinks Ignition Switch which I just ordered from Jeep. £38. Parts guy though said it's more likely to be some broken housing inside the steering column which holds the switch and that is £1040. My garage knows that I "don't do" £1040 for parts on old cars and they've said that if the problem is not in the actual ign switch they will wire a live wire to the relay, presumably fitting the car with an engine start/stop switch. Either way will be fixed by tomorrow.

This is my best ever month - not in terms of numbers sold but in terms of profit. 8 sold (13 advertised, several others in prep). The profit from 3 of my sales this month equals my "most units sold" month June 2014 when I sold 15. Some luck must be kicking-in along with some great auction and p/x purchases.

I somehow suspect that TrueTrade is neither True nor Trade. Respect to @Mark101 for his post though, a great start to a bleak Monday, the (TRUE) motor trade version of motivational speaking.

On more specialist stuff I always expect my buyers to know more than me because they should've done months of research compared to my hour or two at most. Tell the Pistonheaded muppets: I am sorry, I am not SELLING anything here, I am just here to give someone in the know an unrepeatable opportunity to buy it.

Before I started my business in 2005 I was a NEBOSH Certified Health and Safety assessor, securely employed by a growing private company, earning close to £30K a year before tax. I would never get back to that, if someone is doing a job they are not 100% happy with I always encourage them to jump into something else, just like I did. Car dealing is actually very easy to get into. Staying in it profitably is the hard bit.

Not the relay, we swapped it with another and no joy. To start it we removed it and shorted two of the relay connections with two screwdrivers. The diagnostic data shows the gear as Neutral while the actual selector is in Park so it has to be the selector position sensor as @MOTORS suggested. Image attached. And as I was dealing with this just got another p/x with an issue which was not there two days ago at appraisal. Diesel leak, the whole engine stinks, 2012 ML 350, done only 33K miles, just had a service (although I told the customer that he didn't have to do it). They've replaced the diesel filter, broke one of the plastic fuel return line connectors and superglued it back. Of course it didn't hold for long but it's right at the top of the engine and visible easily, the second photo shows it well. The customer will get £200 less (£19K car!) because of this, I told him to not use the same garage again

Will drop it off to the garage later and will tell them to check that first.

The mechanic has been at it over an hour, not the battery, not clamps, not the relays but it does look like there is a lot of corrosion around the wiring connector for the starter motor (fully exposed under the car). The starter actually works, it's the solenoid that doesn't get it's signal and everything now points towards a bad ignition switch. Must've known

Exactly. They make so little out of our funding facility it's not economical for them to provide it without the reciprocal business. I have a monthly target of around £11K finance deals (it varies month to month) and I average £25K in deals a month so they are very happy with me. While I can continue to exploit that relationship I will.

"Bums on seats" is the bane of my life when they've only come to our lovely quaint just-out-of-London location with picture perfect roads for a cheap Saturday afternoon. Bums on the two visitors chairs in front of my desk is what I aim for and what really helps me sell.

£400 across the bonnet when I only sell 8-12 a month will not get my pulse racing and get me glued in front of this computer (and on the M25) for 80+ hours a week.

I have a stocking facility with Close Brothers. 3% interest (annual), more than double that in finance commission (per deal, NOT annual) at the top sell-out rate and at over 35 months lend. Costs me approx £35-40 to finance a £10K car for a couple of months which when sold brings as much profit as 5 newish superminis sold by the PLCs. IF the sale is on finance it brings a few hundred extra in commission and after doing this for a few years I personally think it's NUTS not to go that way (while it exists because it won't always) and continue working with your own money exploring the buy for £1200, prep for £300 sell for £2795 niche. It is the same as buying a house with a mortgage and buying it with your own money. Yes, the mortgage company charges their interest but you will take ALL of the profit margin after you sell it without putting up the capital to buy. They work for you, their money works for you, NOT the other way around. Not a good starting-up strategy though...

I like the latest expression, never heard it before but makes perfect sense. I am yet to meet a dealer that doesn't exaggerate their stock holding or their sales figures or their profit margin or a combination of the above. Obviously it's not so easy to do on this open forum when all stock is on a website and all stock movements are there for everyone to see.

Some days at the auctions I will "overbuy". I will buy 5 instead of the one or two I went for just because I can and because a week later when I really need the stock it may not be there. I prefer to pay BCA a couple of days of storage and my stocking provider another £30-£40 if I can get a car for a grand or two less than usual.

Oh I tried all of this for a while before ringing them to ask if there is a knack to starting it or a hidden switch somewhere but no. Plus, the other day when I went it started immediately as soon as I turned the key the first time. I have two keys, same thing. Starter motor or the wiring to it has had it.

"Yes but it's depreciated further since the call! Lost £18,000 on day one so another £300 for several hours sounds possible. Send me your bank details and I will transfer my £50 deposit. I assume you will be happy to hold it for me until payday?"

Sold a Merc E250 CDI today to a very nice retired couple, just returned to the UK for good after living in Portugal for 15 years. The part ex looks very nice too, 2006 Jeep Cherokee 2.8 CRD Limited Auto, Left Hand Drive, lovely condition, huge spec and mine for £1800. Market price (not that there will be any competition for this here) will be over £5K. I saw and drove it the other day when we were agreeing this deal. Perfect! They were supposed to come and collect yesterday but couldn't. They arrived in the Jeep today, parked it in front of my garage, paperwork was done already so they jumped in the newer Merc and drove off. I waved them happily, tried to move the Jeep and it doesn't start. At all. No cranking. You press the brake, turn they key and nothing at all happens. As if the starter motor has failed. The way the car is parked disrupts my entire operation so my mechanic is coming early tomorrow morning to get it started and fixed but my question is: Do you think they knew??? Or are they the luckiest part exchangers in the world where the car lasted them exactly until the moment of being traded in I am only suspicious because they couldn't arrive yesterday as agreed so maybe it failed to start then. Bless them, I hope that Mercedes serves them really well!

I shifted two but very nearly only shifted one and wrote off the other.

Well, soon enough but I wasn't THAT specific

Nearly had a collision on a test drive in a TT this afternoon, 2 mins after complimenting the lady how confidently she drove. A mile from our place outside the showroom of my only competition, I was looking left at their stock, she must've been looking right, the Cayenne in front of us stopped after turning left from the small roundabout (maybe people were crossing), I yelled and she only just managed to jump on the brakes, an inch from his rear bumper. She shook my hand after the test drive, apologised twice and said "It's the adrenaline talking but I'll buy it, thank you". Hats off to her, didn't even look at her husband. If she had bumped that Porsche I would probably offer to pay out of my own pocket for both bumpers assuming he didn't press the insurance angle.

A recession can hit the new market hard and will be beneficial for the used car market, as long as you know what you are doing. People need their cars and when they can't buy new (if the banks don't play the PCP ball) they'll come straight to us. Be optimistic people!!! The new Klondike years are coming.

Me too. With my limited English years ago if I was asked to think of another expression to describe them I would use "Money pit"

That it does and perfectly! But I don't want that. I want them to come over, have a coffee, relax a bit, sit in my office, hear the phone ring several times in several minutes for other cars, "Sorry, we just sold it", talk cars for a while and because I have some very nice ones in addition to the 10yr old whatever it makes them feel better for getting an opportunity to buy it from me. How can I sell myself if my video shows several chips and a couple of alloy wheel scuffs and the buyer never rings me assuming the car is just average and a tad overpriced... Had a call from AT two days ago on a new advert, strong Scottish accent. "I am 350 miles away, can you describe the car to me on the phone?" I said Have a look at our video on the AT advert, he had missed it so I texted him a link to the video below. He never called back. I don't know what put him off, maybe the location, some wear on the driver's seat if he didn't see it in the pictures or my large Eastern European head reflecting in the paintwork. I'll never know. Could've been just a dreamer...

I think this is where video DOESN'T do it for me. The good photos create desire and demand, buyers spend a lot of time looking at the ads online, then get in touch. An average quality video showing what looks like an average quality car (because of my limited video skills, the cars in the metal are great!) probably scares some people away. I do it because of what I read on forums but don't see the results. I watch videos of cars offered for sale and some of them actually put me off.

That and all the DIESEL and PETROL scaremongering that just pushes people into buying hybrids. I don't see myself driving anything other than a diesel for the next decade.