MattR

Ive decided to change and encourage customers to do bank transfers to reduce costs. Ill take a card if I have to, but in the last month not had one person complain about doing a bank transfer. Money there instantly, thats the best cashflow!

my first messer of the week? they came in on saturday telling me all about the bad experience they had with the corsa they bought from another dealer 5 weeks ago. steering broke, they wouldnt take it back, I'm scared to drive it now, lost all confidence etc. I asked if it had been fixed, they said yes, but still no faith in the car, so want to change it. But as shes a student apparently cant get any money till her next loan comes through on april 9th! I explained couldnt do anything at that point as I dont do finance but you probably wouldnt get a finance house to fund an 03reg fiesta for £1495.... Anyway, her boyfriend calls back late on saturday, says theyve got the money sorted, can she come down monday morning cos shes at work (student nurse) in the afternoon. Of course. 1045 agreed. This morning, moved 6 cars out in the rain to get this available for test drive, only for her to no show. Ring the boyfriend 'oh, she said she'd ring you this morning to let you know she couldnt make it' 'oh. just I had to move 6 cars in the rain to get it available. do you know if she is still interested or has she changed her mind?' 'could you make sure you dont block it in again in case she decides to come down later' 'how likely is that going to be?' 'Ooooh, I'd say 90% she wont be coming down' 'Ok, thanks' Its back on the front row now cos the rains stopped! Maybe the dealer she bought the Corsa off isnt the twat she made him out to be! '

OCS, I find the ones that book that far ahead tend to turn up, good luck with it, let us know!

A Clutch is not just fair wear and tear, but something that can be damaged easily by a customer. But I would think in your favour is her mechanic saying no problem, and this being 14 months down the line. It shouldnt even be going to a court, her solicitor should know that by rights its going nowhere. If anything, I think that you may have been too generous by offering to supply and fit the clutch yourself, she is now a dog with a bone who thinks she is going to get her own way. There's always one of these customers lurking somewhere, I find it odd that she has been claiming a clutch fault for 18 months and yet she is still driving the car? Surely if it was faulty within the first few weeks the car wouldnt still be moving?

how 'pure' is dealer auction? sure there must be some franchised dealers offloading their mates problems. I for one have been unfortunate enough to pick up a poorly described car - A diesel mondeo I didnt realise had 4 knackered injectors until I went to fuel it on the way home and it took ages to start! theres a lesson learnt.....

I like the Polish Customers - straight talking and if they dont want it, they just say so. They might ask for a bit of a deal, but theyll pay the price you have it on at if its fair. Best price customers? I'll only talk price when theyre with me.

I'd charge the VAT. If he's not happy, then he needs to buy from someone else. I wouldnt want to have to explain it away if I got a VAT inspection. In the end, you will sell it to someone else!

I'm with tradex on this one! I have a friend who works in drug squad, everyone they have an interest in claims to be a car dealer. They dont car what they pay. apparently they invoice it for more than theyve sold it for to help justify the money they have, and of course, like to apy cash for it at auction too

I do my best not to take credit cards now. I havent taken one since the change, and so far, no issues. Im encouraging bank transfers too, money there straight away instead of waiting a couple of days for it. And no charge(yet) for that from the banks. Barclaycard are about to start charging me 0.29% per debit card transaction when they were charging me 80p. So thats £8.70 on a 3k car, and I sell about 170 to 180 per year. £1479 per year! Most customers seem happy enough to bank transfer now, so should save me good money over the year.

or something that read pretty much the same was what greeted me this morning on a little pop up box when I loaded into portal. NO, I WOULD NOT! and the 'why not ' box ran out if characters before I could finish what I wanted to say! My reasons why not? They havent seen the car yet! I dont do a comprehensive video like simon does, and my understanding is that he talks to people before taking any money. How long do they want to 'reserve' it for? the only person to benefit from reserving the car is the customer, not me. hold it for a few days then change their mind? no thanks. Part ex? amongst a variety of other reasons. I know the supermarkets do it, but is this what we want?

I always MOT a car no matter how long is left - its a good way of demonstrating that you do the right thing to your customers and TS if you ever get a visit. To my mind a service is a check and a change of a couple of filters and oil, so the MOT covers most of the checking. Oil and filter change shouldnt cost you more than £35. That does for what I sell (2-5k stuff).