MattR

you may have a bit to learn......

some new patter for the pitch there

SCAM. If it seems odd, its odd. Trust your instinct, you will rarely be wrong. On a different matter MOT till July? Just get it done. the last thing you need is the phone ringing in July when a greedy main stealer has just given an extensive list of 'recommendations for repair' when its just passed its MOT. The first thing I learnt early doors in this job is to get a new MOT on all and do a short service on most to avoid any reason at all for the Punter to go near a garage. EVERY garage does a 'free health check' offer to upsell ANYTHING.

Back on to this thread as I wanted to look back at how everyone else gets along with CG. I've had more than a few CG leads in the last 4 weeks which has resulted in a 'new account manager' from CG calling this afternoon to 'introduce himself'. I havent given him a hard time because I'd like something for nothing from him and did spend 11 minutes discussing why, despite very prompt responses from me to an email enquiry, I generally didnt hear anything back. The stats he gave me were to expect a 1% hit rate from having the free package and around 9-10% from a 'paid for' package. I'm waiting for a cost from him on that. I'd actually be more interested in whether I still get a large number of enquiries from (as was described above) exotically named individuals on a paid for package, as those are the ones I think may be fakes. I could however be entirely wrong. My only theory on that is that if you are not British then you may not automatically think Autotrader and so would search for a car a different way? Anyway, it might be worth a go now that I'm not paying for extra AT stock since the half price offer stopped. I'll see how cheap they are.

i like this! can you show it to all the noobs who are obviously privateers

Ebay Auction, reserved at £250

45k, a company car, and a sideline selling cars? Really, truly, dont give up the day job. Unless you hate it. Ive no idea about warrantywise, but have good experiences with WMS.

contact a local finance broker / company to you. most will happily send someone out to you to help

watch the auctioneer, you need to know the signals he gives off for no bids, bidding you up etc, and be strong enough to walk. its harder than you think when you get caught up in it. As Nick says above, watch and learn. And know what the faults are on the sort of cars you are likely to bid on eg noisy timing chains on corsas, and how much such things cost to fix. finding the private sales is one way of learning the faults and can yield good results. but can be very time consuming. I cant think of an auction which would consider letting you look at any documents. And remember the buyers fees. Can be punitive at first. And buy the guide for a tenner! Good Luck

Cheers Jason, this helped me out when I'd forgotten to pick one up from the garage this afternoon!

Agree with all of the above. You're not being unrealistic at £800, which the cap figures on an auction catalogue (clean to retail) would demonstrate. its making it profitable after VAT, advertising etc thats tough. But find your niche and what works for you.

Think of the costs of the credit card aside from all the issues discussed above. You will get charged from 1.5% upwards for a credit card, it all adds up over the year. I use my card machine mainly as a deposit taker , and bank transfer the balance, which minimises the cost to me and speeds up the cashflow. But then im only selling around 15 per month and its just me, so tracking the money when it arrives in the bank is a lot easier. Dont lose sleep over 'losing' that deal. it happens from time to time. You may well be losing more money by not offering finance....

Because its hard to earn more money, especially if you are looking to split it in half with your partner. used car business with no self employed experience, 2 staff and stocking from scratch? Making 70k in the first year? good luck. Not what you want to hear, but you'll be lucky to have a tax bill in your first year.

still waiting for that 350m for the NHS mind.

yes, i can! VGS Warranty, 4 star cover, cars up to 12 years, 120k, costs more for a 4x4 but thats the only limitiation (but then I dont sell fancy stuff, so would imagine a 5 litre bmw would be double too). £500 claim limit per claim, multiple claims permitted during the warranty period. Ive been with them for 7 years and had the same rep for that period too, which helps with grey area claims. I've had a number of 'goodwill gesture' claims paid out too. I think it helps that I put a warranty on all retail cars that I sell - I dont pick and choose which I warrant and then ask them to warrant the potential duffers. I'm sure they are 'up' over the last 7 years but I do get my moneys worth in peace of mind and if its only £35 per car more than self warranting thats only one decent claim a month and I'm up. If you want a bit more info mark, PM me

More realistic than Jaime! Bagheera, get yourself to the auctions and find the 'problem car' which isnt too much of a problem to you with the knowledge. Ignore the auction mechanical reports, they're Boll*x. No planning permission required. Stand your ground on this when the inevitable nosy neighbour makes his presence felt.

I think this is interesting, as I guess you are paying 20 per car for someone else to take the call, but the liability is still yours? I pay £55 plus VAT for 3 Month warranty. Horses for courses.

I think youre confusing the issue. The purpose of 'owning' the car for 6 months is to sell it to WBAC. They wont investigate gaps in when it was or wasnt taxed.THE END.

I love the marketing sh**e in this. No report is complete without the words 'solution' 'strategy' and 'optimum'. FFS, it seems all theyre doing is collecting their swappers and putting them through the block!

If the prestige isnt working for you, it may be time to look elsewhere, but you're right in identifying thats where the high profit per unit SHOULD be. Pitches are good for mainstream fiesta, corsa etc, never hugely profitable on their own, but sell 15 a month and theres a wage at the end of it. Good chance of some warranty and accessory upsell too for youngsters who want to connect phones etc and parents who want someone else to pay if something goes wrong in a few months. I think you need to make sure you can offer finance with prestige (if you dont already) to make sure you dont miss anyone, and perhaps be more flexible about what you buy at the block. Prestige is rare where I go, and when it rolls through it makes big money, even when its not right. So try to go to an auction where there's several hundred going through so you can be fussy. Just remember, we all know theres bad cars out there. you will get one from time to time.I've got 2 at the moment that will only get me money back when I've retailed them, but thats life. Just so long as you can be profitable after a big fix, you'll be alright

No No, she wouldnt have done. But if she looks at 10 cars (assuming she is sensible about how she searches for the car re price, seller etc) then the chances are that she wont see one. She doesnt sound like a cat n customer to me. Personally, its not the sort of thing I would (knowingly) sell. Ive never retailed a CAT c/d n/s car and have no intention of doing so. Too many questions that could be asked that I would never know the answer to. Have I ever retailed a car that was HPI Clear and yet had substantial body repair done? Maybe, but I never saw any evidence of it, and neither did the workshop who checked it for me. I think theyre potential trouble and wouldnt want my family in one, so shouldnt expect anyone else to do the same. Cosmetic damage only? Still not for me. I buy cars that need bodywork, but its a couple of panels needing attention, or a Ka with a rusty fuel filler flap area, not 'proper ' damage. But if it works for you, go for it. Just expect the odd dreamer who doesnt believe you. AND BE CLEAR IN THE ADVERT AND WHEN BOOKING THE APPOINTMENT. Dont waste your time, it is what it is.

Your professional courtesy is appreciated! I love a customer telling me about the car they just missed out on, they know not to mess around on mine then

have been busy during the week including 2 on Good Friday but nothing booked in for today and the phone hasnt rung yet. If nothing changes by 2, I'm locking up and going home!

I must be due an upsell call this week, 6 car gurus leads since Monday. And not one of them has replied to my email. how mysterious.

Not busy here either, saturdays seem to have died a death too....