EPV

Jet wash the bay itself, the outer part, don’t touch the engine. Spray degreaser on the engine cover and other plastic covers, battery covers, head etc. Wipe off with some paper towels. Spray on some auto glym vinyl and rubber care, close the bonnet and run the engine for 10 mins. Open the bonnet and mop up any pools of the auto glym stuff. Voila. This is more than enough to give the engine a look of being clean and a little sheen without actually touching anything that matters with chemicals or worse, water. If you’re looking to be very careful, bag up any terminals or wiring with clingfilm or sandwich bags and twisties but it’s a lot safer to just get the leaves and shit blasted out of the edges of the bay and make the plastics shine a little. Job done in 5 mins plus 10 mins drying time.

yeah, super, fab dave, lovely, all interesting stuff etc. So when are you moving down to Kent then?

Bad luck mate. I speak with several different people at AT including my account manager (who answers emails at evenings and weekends) and they are all spot on. PM me and i’ll See if we can subtly drop some names in the right places and get things improved for you.

Yep, or, ask him when you can call him to discuss the matter. I’ve sold cars over text several times but I wouldn’t value a px over text!

This is correct. Stick to a DA until you have the skills and the confidence to use a mop. I started with a mop but i’ve burned through clear coat in the beginning so either practice on scrap panels or get a DA. I tend to use my rotary to cut fast when I want to improve something like a bumper corner that’s not quite acceptable but doesn’t warrant paint. If you’re looking to bring a bit of gloss back to the paint a DA will do just fine. No. Its a good robust product but it’s never as capable as a proper extraction machine like a numatic or puzzi. It’s a good robust dry vac though and would clear a blocked sink or reduce the moisture in a wet household carpet but it’s not up to a full car interior like a Charles is.

Paul Dalton actually applies that to his cars he details with his bare hands....

I’m not but I could. I have 12 in at the moment and can see that i’d get another 2 in.

I suppose the hammer is there for tenderising the sausages

This is amazing.

Agreed, however I'm not convinced you can shoe-horn 11 cars into 100m2 so I suppose "big enough" is subjective! I have 2200 sq ft and I can squeeze 14 in at a push, with my offices and toilets taking up 200sq ft.

Welcome. The fundamentals are the same (buy a car and sell it) but the “game” has seemingly changed a lot from what the elder statesmen on here say. Speaking from personal experience, i’m perhaps fortunate that I didn’t experience “the good old days” and there is just “days” to me. Either way, doorstepper or unit (i’ve done the former, i’m doing the latter) you need to be switched on about digital marketing and how to sell cars on t’internet. So, that all said, if I were in your shoes and i was confident I knew what I was doing with online car sales, i’d take the doorstepper option for 6 months and keep the overheads down whilst I was getting things set up, relationships with suppliers/trades, refining adverts, working out what I was selling etc. Once I had things running in a fairly straight line and I had a little system set up i’d take on the unit and upscale the operation. Trading from home is fine, it’s doable. It’s not ideal, it needs a degree of patience, reasonable neighbours, heavy vetting of punters on the phone so you minimise the risk of a lunatic turning up on your door wanting to spend 3 hours crawling over the stock with his Halfords torch and diagnostics machine etc but it’s a perfectly acceptable starting point. I could never go back now I don’t think unless I had a detached property with land to build facilities but it gave me a chance to build what I have now and I am grateful I managed to do that.

I agree and i’m sure OP will have his ducks in a row.

Leave it out Dave. We’re talking about a bloke starting out doing a few cars from a driveway trying to keep costs down whilst he’s learning. I did say i’m not encouraging him to pull in any old herbert from a bus stop but to find a keen qualified local lad who chases the pound note. When he expands and takes on more complicated stuff and larger volume he can seek out a brick and mortar place.

Mr Wongski

You should do, what are you exporting to?

Superglue in locks

Given your area you will have a raft of local johnny foreigners who will do simple tasks fer kesh and keep your costs down. I’m not suggesting you pull any old herbert in to change the brakes of your stock vehicles but you should be able to find a decent reliable Eastern European with a good set of kit and keen to earn some folding.

I agree with Dave. I'd go and knock on his door and give him a load of polite but "ner ner" type verbal and walk away smiling when he's stammering and stuttering his way through his reply...

What this man said. And what this man said. Good luck with it all mate.

And there is the difference between paint correction and paint enhancement. Filling is easier and quicker than removing and 99.99% of punters wouldn't know the difference. as you say, down to cost and time. To correct an 8 year old car is a two day job. To enhance it is two hours.

If I was doing my own car i’d go with the yellow but for stock i’m more likely to use 3000 trizact, green and leave it. Inside the showroom it looks excellent. In direct sunlight, to the trained eye is a different thing but I never have either of those in the showroom...

I don’t change plates personally mate, i’m just saying i’d rather do £15 per unit than £5 per unit and a crap look.

Well I looked at an invoice...

£15 for a set of plates? How shit is it going to look with a one size fits no one sticker planted on a number plate? Pony up the £15.

They don’t add vat to their buyer fees only to online buyer fee