Nick M.K.

This is what I do in part x deals with private plates: 1) As soon as we agree the deal I put their plate on retention (online system, not forms) and the customer either pays directly or I charge them the £80. 2) I charge the customer £100 refundable deposit. This is to ensure that they send me the new logbook for the p/x with the old age related plate. 2A) If the customer has haggled very hard for their p/x allowance I will also charge them £25 for a set of replacement number plates for the p/x car. I give them their private plates back if they want them. 3) I notify the DVLA of the keeper change of the new car (online system) so the customer receives their new V5 with the new doc ref number in that same week. The customer then does their own plate transfer OR they come in my office and I do it here for them OR I do it online with them on the phone giving me ref numbers. 4) The p/x logbook arrives and I refund them the £100 deposit. I will then use the online system to tell DVLA car is in trade (can also be done after step1).

When stuff like this happens it's not the exact amount that gets me, it's the fact that it was my own silly mistake in a game that I should know really well by now. I had a list of about 9 people to get back to (after a 5 day trip) but some of them were after the same cars. I have the feeling that when I turn up at Blackbushe to try and re-stock a bit tomorrow I won't even be able to get in the car park, never mind a winning bid or three.

Sounds almost like "My mechanic" doesn't it :-)

I read through some of the replies this morning but my curiosity got the better of me so I picked up the phone and called my customer. We chatted for a bit, I explained the small "discrepancy" to him, we laughed off my forgetfulness and he said he would be happy to "split the loss from my pricing error" and pay £11500 - "a drink for you, a drink for me". I told him because he was being an absolute gentleman about it I will be happy to deliver the car to him, add a bit of fuel, do a new valet just before delivery and will also surprise him with a couple of bottles of wine. To him the deal will end up being almost the same, to me it will feel like the "loss" was only £100... Lesson learnt :-)

As someone else also said my answer was very specific about a 20 year old car done 500,000 miles. 10 year old done 128K is a different deal altogether.

I am very confident (80-90%) for the simple reason that the CRA specifically allows for age AND mileage related wear and tear. A car is simply not meant to last 500,000 miles and while we may know differently the judge probably has around 70,000 in his head for high mileage and 200,000 for end of life. If they get a claim for losses suffered after the purchase of a 500,000 mile run-of-the-mill used car they will feel very annoyed and not towards the dealer.

So my day started at 2am at East Midlands Airport coming back from a short holiday, a few hours of sleep, then pre-booked car viewings all day (as soon as I go on holiday my phone starts ringing). 5 viewings today, one sold, one deposit, one maybe (will consider finance), one "talk to the wife" and one more deposit: a lovely old gent who came to see my Audi TT (from my post last week about Saturday "buyers"). He asked what the price was and what I can do for him, I said it's £11489, can't do much less, margins tight etc etc but I am happy to knock off the £89 if you leave a small deposit today and he did without trying to haggle more. The only problem is that after the people annoyed me previous Saturday with their lowball offer I increased my price from £11489 to £11700 and this would've been the price the old gent saw on Autotrader before he called me today. I'd just forgotten and I don't do price boards :-) The question is do I now ring him back to explain about the STUPID mistake and try to wriggle another £200 out of this deal or forget about it "lesson learnt", "take it on the chin" etc etc...

I too tried to join that Private chat and all I got was "I am away on holiday" autoreplies.

There is no need for you to pay as the £80 were payable by the customers anyway to put that plate on retention. In your case they will still pay the same £80 for a transfer from "your" p/x to their newer car after they receive their new logbook. Your only loss is adding another keeper on the p/x and some admin time and this loss doesn't concern the customer.

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.