Nick M.K.

If someone takes a dealer to court over a car like this the claim will be thrown straight out. "Struck out" :-) You buy at those miles with that "fair wear and tear commensurate with age and mileage" you don't get to waste their time...

Hahaha, this was funny. Better solution is to let some gas out of the valve so the system pressure drops and the A/C compressor stops coming on. Then tell the customer that "it probably needs a regas but might be something else" and put on PDI that aircon system does not work. Had the exact same problem last month with a high mileage p/x Honda Jazz (was very annoyed with myself for refilling the aircon) but it was so hot I preferred to sell it with a working albeit noisy A/C. Buyer was OK with it, I did put on the PDI Aircon pump noisy.

This is the point of my rant exactly. I did ALL of the qualifying as per my post (certainly more than most would do) and it still wasn't enough to save my two hours... The question here is not if I am an expert at what I do. It is Why the **** a certain category of people think it's OK to do what they do? "I asked the lady that called a lot of questions about being serious about buying it, have they read the advert in full, have they watched the video, are they sure OUR car is THE car for them, do they need finance, do they have part ex ("Yes, it's gorgeous!!!"), how much are they looking for the p/x (£3K) etc etc etc" "Does it tick all the boxes, Do you want to buy it?"

French Diesel doesn't worry me. French Automatic does :-)

You are braver than me! Hats off!

I don't want them to "surrender" :-) I want them to "attack" and get there first when they see an unrepeatable opportunity to achieve a complete victory in their "epic" car search. The problem is some people will not recognise an opportunity even if it hit them on the head...

Abso******lutely! At any end of the market.

I did. Approximately. They said they wanted £3K for it which at a push I would've given for a clean nice example with no warning lights. They didn't say anything about incomplete history, worn clutch / flywheel or EML. Ultimately they wanted a deal for their car at £3K AND £500 off for mine (they said on the phone happy with the price!) I don't do OFF of part ex deals and I certainly wouldn't pay them £400 over Cap Clean with the faults on their p/x. I welcome part exchanges, I really do. At the right price though.

A mechanic that was inspecting a car for one of my customers (they sent me to him) told me: It's near perfect, it has a small oil leak and ideally the front discs and pads should be changed in the next few months so I can also earn something from it as well as you... A very sensible guy :-) Of course he would prefer the cheap private car with a long list of potential "earners" to be done... They don't want accuracy Simon. They want a bargain, a mission, an experience, a project, a hobby, a talking topic for the mates at the pub and everything else that we hate. Some do leave a deposit though. Others say "That's a greeeeaaaaat shame" when I call them to cancel their viewing because the car has been sold.

One of the aspects of my job that I really dislike is a certain type of "buyer". I'm not one for profiling people but this category seem to have all gone to the same school. For me they usually come out on Saturdays. Today it happened again: "Can we come and look at your 2011 Audi 2.0 TFSI Quattro Auto in an hour?" I asked the lady that called a lot of questions about being serious about buying it, have they read the advert in full, have they watched the video, are they sure OUR car is THE car for them, do they need finance, do they have part ex ("Yes, it's gorgeous!!!"), how much are they looking for the p/x (£3K) etc etc etc. They called at 11, I gave them an appointment for 2:00-2:45pm, then spent an hour cleaning the TT again, a bit of polish, getting it as presentable as possible. They were bang on time at 2pm, had travelled over an hour from Kent. Their p/x looked OK but had an EML and Glow plug light on. (Polo 1.6 TDI, 70K, fault code for DPF pressure sensor). Clutch was heavy, flywheel vibrations. They had a good look at the Audi, LOVED IT. "Does it tick all the boxes, Do you want to buy it?". Yes, it looks great can we go for a drive? Of course we can (me on the back seat of the TT, snug fit to say the least). Sat at my desk after after a while, they both mused at the full Audi history and all the other paperwork (with which I am OCD). CAP Clean for their 2010 Polo TDI (70K) was just over £3K, with incomplete history and EML with the DPF code I offered £2500 which I knew was more than most offers they would get and fully expected that to be followed by a handshake and a hug! Instead I got a "Cash" offer of £8K plus the Polo for my £11500 Audi. We love your AUDI but our budget is £8K. "Why didn't you say so several hours ago on the phone so I can save us both hours of our time?" We had to see it, it's so nice but we only have £8K. I offered a bit more for the part ex but we were still too far apart so off they went to look at the next TT on their list: a 2010 TT TDI with a few more miles and Manual! The husband had a very guilty look on his face when they left, the wife couldn't care less, I was as nice as a car dealer can be after 2 hours of their working Saturday were almost completely wasted. I know, we get paid to have our time wasted. But still hate it! Rant over...

Without being an expert it sounds like it needs new rear spheres along with a hydraulic fluid change. Not a big deal.

Understanding buyer behaviour, why people buy, why they pay what they pay will put you in a better position in our line of work.

I would say either some noise they heard or the steering wheel felt slightly heavier than the previous car they checked because the front tyre pressures were low :-) Is there a note about "abnormal shoulder wear" on tyres as well? If the car has fully electric power steering it's a risky buy with that Caution. If not it's probably ok.

Were they shivering the whole time :-)

Same engine as that BMW you had with low oil pressure light. I personally sell them well.

Sounds like CAP Average is around £10700, Retail around 12K. If you can buy for £9.5K you can retail for 11500-750 and this should be on the low side on AT. Dark exterior colour with light leather the preferred combo for this. Some dealers wouldn't touch this engine.

I know. It's everywhere :-) It's even on my coffee cup. Re-did it a couple of years ago and now I am thinking of upgrading it again. Everything moves so fast in this trade, a two year old website becomes obsolete :-)

No. M.K. are my middle name and surname. I am just outside the M25 in Southern Bucks

James, if able can you run a couple of examples through it for me: MJ59HHF, 56K miles and HK64FFT, 24K miles

But a silver 320D M Sport with "Network" cloth interior, Business radio and manual gearbox will be far less desirable than a black / white 320D M Sport with black leather, auto gearbox and Professional nav. We are talking 60 days to sell vs 10 days to sell difference, yet both cars will probably end up with the same 3.4 rating.

I am sorry, I only just saw this. The "proper" package gives you a certain number of advert slots and an advert can be live on one slot indefinitely. The major advantage is that if you turn your stock quickly you can sell 20 cars in a calendar month but only pay for say 12 advert slots. The major disadvantage is that you could pay for 12 slots but only have 9 available cars to advertise so you could potentially be overpaying at times.

What tool do you reckon is worth trying out the most? I might persuade my account manager to give me a months' trial...

A lot of my customers weren't actually looking to buy a specific car, they weren't actively searching. They just browsed AT (the mobile app mostly), liked a car that we have, kept looking at the ad for a few days, weeks sometimes, made up their mind and came to buy. I am not prepared to lose these "impulse" (if you can call them that) sales for the sake of a-grand-a-month when just a single finance commission covers that.

They rely a lot on analyzing searches in conjunction with views. But the desirability ratings are flawed in the sense that the same make and model with certain spec and in certain colour can be a lot more popular. And their desirability ratings don't factor that in. Give me an S500 any day and cut my veins now if I have to sell another Fiesta "for my daughter" :-)

Out of 10-11 sales a month 8 come from AT, 1 each from eBay and Motors. If you divide the cost-per-sale AT is working out cheaper. What I find crazy in this internet age (and FORGIVE ME if this will sound insulting to some) is to NOT use Autotrader considering how much more popular it is as an advertising platform.