MattR

Hi Salt Welcome to the forum, a great source of info. You come across as a nice chap, make sure youre not too nice to the punters or they will walk all over you. How much space do you have? If you only have 4 cars in stock, in all reality you will only sell 2-3 cars a month. If youve got space, try and make the cash stretch to 8-10 cars, then youve a chance of earning a living. Fiestas are 10 a penny, (and at the moment book quite high compared to other small cars) so you'll need to be very competitive on price, have excellent pics and have good reasons to pick yours (be it history, ownership, colour etc) to even get the phone to ring. I think the hybrids you have are a bit odd ball but then I've never had one. There's good opportunities by sifting the private ads (facebook etc) if you find auctions tough. Good Luck

Thats nuts. 100 cars = 5 grand. I've got a mazda going out in 15 minutes. Fuel light isnt just on, its flashing. I don't want a call 2 minutes after he's left saying its run out, so, being the generous soul I am, Ive just got a fuel can out of the shed and put half in. That'll get him to Asda.

I've been wearing one when with customers since June. Its fine and works as a visual reminder for them to keep away from you. Customer goes, throw it in the bin and put a new one on when another turns up. Theyre peanuts now on Amazon, about £5 for 50.

I sell mine with whats in it. If you've put any in, it should only be enough to cover test drives, and a trip to the workshop. I've not had anyone expect anymore than enough to get them to Asda a mile down the road. Occasionally they ask for more, but its not stopped anyone from buying.

Exactly that. On a 40% tax bracket job and already thinking about warranty pots and paying back Director Loans? Johnny, if you sell those 2 tomorrow, you then have no stock. The more stock you have, the more opportunities you have, the more credibility you have. If youre selling 2 -4 k cars you have a worst case scenario of a 4k buy back, and thats not very likely if you're prepping right. You're talking like your accountant. More cars = more sales = more profit. Hassle will come with that, but youre unlikely to get hit with a multitude of warranty claims that require a 'warranty pot'. I believe there are some tax advantages to having one, but its going to be minimal compared to just using the money to buy more stock.

A James Bush customer if ever I've heard of one. How did he even think it might be possible??

How generous of her to think about helping you to stay in business

What planet are they on? They really dont deserve the time of day. I do wonder how he will ever buy a car with those expectations. Fantastic response, bullet dodged.

Keep the distance where you are comfortable. Ive found that although many of the customers I've encountered since June 1st when I re opened arent too bothered about keeping a distance, they do respect the request to keep 2 metres plus away. I agree, at 1 metre its almost pointless. risk is low, very low, but still there. I'll take a view on test drives as and when things change.

You will only do what you want to do, however most on here want to be as efficient as we can - I want to sell a car to the first person I see, not spend hours talking to them about 'the good old days' watching them crawl underneath it and then declare they will 'be in touch'. You will attract enthusiasts who like nothing more than spending their Sunday looking at old cars when an owners club has a show. But when there isnt a show and they see your advert they're coming to you. You cant expect to earn doing something like this. If you make yourself out to be a specialist they're going to expect it to be mint - and that is likely to cost you more than it'll sell for. Sorry to sound negative. Good Luck.

I'll second that. He lasted about as long as a dry cough and high temperature.

I'm looking forward to more scary stats from him. And he's watching some flight scanner website too. Hope he's stocked up on toilet roll in his bedroom, god knows what will happen when he discovers Porn.

My opportunity to interact with a lot of people is directly correlated to the number of people who are scared of the corona virus. So today, my risk is zero. The staff in Home Bargains next door? I'd say they're fucked.

Who Needs Arfur when we have notadealer? Mods, please dont bar him yet, he's good value.

I dont clean the engine bay. If they ask to look at the engine, I explain when I'm popping the bonnet (and theyre taking a minute to find the latch to open it) that I don't believe in mixing water/steam and electrics. Rarely is anyone bothered. I Had one punter ask me to get it cleaned before he picked it up a couple of days later, so I asked my valeter to wipe it over, which he did. The punter didnt even check when he collected.....

But the bit that's different this time is that its driven by fear of an illness, and the potential knock on of job losses, not the conventional slow down and recession we have all seen before.To those that don't give a f**k, its just another day. So as the big businesses with 'responsibility to the well being of staff', close their doors, the little businesses like ours have the opportunity to sell, assuming people are allowed out and we arent on a total lock down like China was.Italy is still open but with restrictions like one at a time in shops. I've got to stay optimistic, hope Boris doesnt close the schools because my Mrs works in the NHS so it will be me looking after the kids and they think my work is boring.

It does seem a little less aggro. And to be fair to this first time poster, its a very reasonable question that deserves a reasonable answer. If only any of us knew what that was.

If you have the original log book, I think the supplying dealer left it to you to register it, likewise the tax. If they had done it online with you, everything would have been with you within days and you would have received an email instantly. Likewise the tax. If you have the original log book still, fill it in, post it or follow the online instructions. And use the green section to get it taxed online IMMEDIATELY. You might want to check its got an MOT while you're at it....

Back in the days when you couldnt look such things up online!

Sensible Intro! Re the tax question on the Corsa - you pay tax on everything at the end of the tax year, not the individual car. If you mean VAT, yes, its 20% of the margin between sale and purchase, so buy for 1500, sell for 2200, VAT payable on 700 = £116.67. your tax is payable on all profit, less your annual allowance (which you will currently be using via your job). The cosst of your office, and the 6k loss are legitimate business expenses so will reduce your tax bill. Only you will know if you can make this pay by leaving your job. Is your objective to earn more than the 35k you currently make? Or is it a lifestyle choice? And how many cars could you buy today with cash you currently have? to sell 4-5 a week you will need at least a stock of 20.

Same - lets see how quickly they get it fixed...

As Above. Tempting as it may be to find out what is going on, that really isnt worth doing unless a court summons arrives. And even then, the facts are the facts. You are a business. He is a Business. The car was sold through a medium which permits that type of sale. It was clearly sold as spares or repairs. End of. This is the opinion of the legal advice you have sought. A short letter which is to the point is all that you (or your legal adviser) needs to send. Dont complicate it, just state the facts as they are. And state that any further correspondence will not be entertained unless it is by post. Do not respond to texts, emails etc, you will only encourage him!!

Rory, it was you I was thinking of regarding delivery. My impression of you is that you do the job right, so have no concerns when you send a car to a customer. I agree that they are getting lazy, it may be that Huggins has a unique car or maybe he is the only one with a more common car who has said yes to delivery. either way, its down to his level of prep and customer expectation. If they're right, no worries.

Are you being paranoid because of the customers manner/ behaviour over the phone? Or is it just because you're concerned you may get your finger burnt? With the costs associated with this transaction, the only caution I would express is to make sure that the customer knows exactly what they are getting. How much is a 200 mile delivery going to cost? And if the delivery driver is faced with a customer rejecting the car for whatever reason they may decide on, is he actually able to bring it back or is he moving on to the next job from there? I would recommend you having a delivery charge involved here, and just ask yourself the question, why cant this customer make it to look at the car and drive it back himself? Even if they dont have a car, they can always get on a train etc, I'd think it will take you a few days to get a delivery of that distance arranged, so the 'i cant get down till next monday ' line doesnt really win out here. Aside from the cautionary notes we have given you so far, if you have confidence in your car and your customer, then you shouldnt have much to worry about. I know there are many on here who do deliver distances without issue, out of interest, whats the car ?

I've had one of the new shape ones. It took ages to sell, and barely made anything when it did. As for the 2004 shape on, I've had a few of them, the £30 tax ones sell just fine, I avoid the others. But they are a 'pitch car', not really one to set the internet on fire.