Nick M.K.

Me. Engine lights on some models, kerbed alloys, scratches on bumpers, dents on doors and small rips on leather seats my favourite fixes which devalue the cars by A LOT at auction but take me only a couple of extra days to get ready (and I add even more value in the process such as changing the colour on the wheels for example). I'll take a two-three day delay in getting a car to market if I can buy it for or under CAP Below over one that will go to market a couple of days faster but cost ££££ over CAP Clean. At the end of last month my phones went absolutely crazy for this 65 reg Abarth I bought £1K below CAP Clean only because the EML was on. It was an O2 sensor but it didn't matter because the car is still under the manufacturer's warranty so it cost me £0 to fix it. Being collected by the new owner on Sat.

You and the vendors both :-)

CCL was the old name for the FCA registration, then they changed the rules. There is no CCL anymore. Your cost for getting set up will be £100 or £500 if you will exceed certain finance income threshold (which you won't at the beginning)

I could've written that myself, word for word. For the first few years of my trading I didn't offer finance because at the time the "consumer credit licence" was £1500 or so and I had no idea about the commissions. The cost now: £100 :-)

No offence taken here. Sometimes my other half needs more than a couple of mojitos and SHE had a choice 20 years ago when we met. "Life is like a box of chocolates (or like a WBAC auction sale). You never know what you'll get"...

David, don't use proxy bids if you can help it, the auctioneers will just run you to your top figure every time. Bid "live" online of you can.

They are both prime lenders but Blue has different tiers. First Response was recommended very highly for subprime on a thread here recently.

GOV site not connected with the system for Mercedes. You can check with any dealer even without doing a service there and chances are it will be recalled for Airbags. Annoyingly they call it a "steering column" recall...

We are in the wrong business aren't we :-)

No. The deal advance. So sale price less cash deposit (if they have some to put down). This is a great answer to the "Your last price for cash" brigade. Cash is costing us ££££ in lost finance commission so I don't have any price movement if you are a cash buyer.

Can I do better? Can I quote my Close rep when he admitted to me that he went to see a large dealer in Bedfordshire who showed him a commission statement from Santander who were paying 12% commission for the prime customers. That dealership does not need a margin on their cars. Just volume. Mine is just over half that. Still OK but not without a margin.

It would've been if I'd added "Sorry I missed you in Ibiza last summer"

Spotted earlier :-) "Sorry officer, someone's new tyre sticker must've fallen off"

£100 every couple of months you can comfortably save :-) Use that to pay for a few drinks when we bump into each other on a beach somewhere.

+1. ECP do fitted mats for that model for something like £13 or simply put them deep in the boot :-)

Up to 10-12 years old, up to 130K-140K miles OK with a lot of lenders.

You go to your normal garage that you trust a get a full service done at their normal rates. Not MB, not MB specialist. At 127K miles your buyer will be much fussier about PRICE, spec and condition over the type of the garage that did the servicing. If it was a very low mileage example it's a different story. A 14 plate C Class should come without a service book with pages to be stamped.

You do! Not only because of the commissions they pay but also because offering finance makes some sales extremely easy, especially on dearer cars.

If the MotoNovo rep even returns your call it will be a pleasant surprise. Get in touch with Close Brothers, their reps are very helpful when setting up. I would put you in touch with my rep but you are not in his area.

This is an important piece of information, I can't believe they haven't made it more prominent! I would still continue to not register a car in our name just because it's been in stock for a while.

That is one of the main reasons I don't display number plates. My adverts are sometimes online within the hour of me coming back from the auctions with the vehicles still there and not yet paid.

I would always take off from Automatics unless it's the factory fitted / removable type.

This is the Lawgistics article (not very recent). It DOES NOT say that you can not use trade plates for SORN vehicles... You can buy a car which is on SORN (by the previous owner, very common possibility) but as far as you are concerned you are only temporary in possession of it and it should be fine to drive it back on the trade plates while the DVLA receive your "in trade" notification. SORN declarations and trade plates for motor dealers We periodically get queries about the necessity or otherwise to apply for SORN for motor dealers. If you are temporarily in possession of an untaxed vehicle as part of the day-to-day business there is no need to make a SORN declaration. If, however, for your own purposes you register a vehicle as a keeper then that is deemed as not temporarily in possession and so you would have to SORN such a vehicle if untaxed. If you make a SORN and then use the vehicle on the road then you are liable to prosecution UNLESS it is to take it to and from a pre-arranged MOT test. In similar way trade licences (trade plates) can only be used for vehicles temporarily in the motor dealer's possession in the course of business. There are limits on the permitted use of the vehicle on trade plates. Included here are test drives/demonstrations for customers, delivery to the customer, valeting between trade premises to auctions. There is no automatic exemption for MOT testing for vehicles used under a trade licence.

And as my broker said (and he knows his stuff) if you want to minimize the risk of a claim against your trade policy because your company was the last party recorded on the MID with "insured interest" don't do it unless you have to (taxed vehicles and own use)...

EnVoy :-) I hated them. Don't see them anymore which is good.