EPV

I don’t believe I would think differently if I had a pitch. It makes no difference. Just get on with what you do well and stop worrying about what others are doing. That’s what i’m saying.

Well I don’t disagree but i’m looking at it that in the eyes of a judge, should it get that far, you’re painting yourself as the good guy and making her look unreasonable and irrational. That won’t wash I don’t think. She isn’t a mechanical expert with knowledge of what failing gearboxes sound like etc etc. I’m just trying to look at how a judge would look at it. Gearboxes don’t just let go of life all of a sudden as we know, they do so gradually and whilst there may have been warning signs, how are you going to prove that? Thats why imo, it’s better to have it properly inspected and clarified that it’s down to user error. If you can have a bit of independent proof that’s shes caused the issue and you can show you have acted reasonably then I think you can sleep at night knowing if she did take you to court you would have a very good chance of winning. As things stand I reckon if you just told her to “do her worst” then you’d be fucked if she took you to task. Besides, it’s not great customer service just telling her she’s out of warranty when we all know warranties are just smoke and mirrors when it comes down to the crunch.

I don’t believe I would. It’s still the same concept. Do what you do best, look at the long term picture and don’t worry what others are are or are not doing. If you’re not happy with your lot in life then fine, do something productive about it. Looking at other dealers and thinking “oh that’s alright he’s doing no better than me” is a waste of time and effort.

Get the car back to you for inspection. If that’s not possible then get ACE or DEKRA to inspect it for you. If it transpires that she’s whacked the casing on a speed bump or something then offer to have the car fixed for her at a trade price that she must pay for. If she doesn’t like that then tell her she’s welcome to come and collect her car at any time.

Well, each to their own. I personally couldn't give a toss what my competition are doing in terms of their financials, I will look and sometimes pinch ideas that I think are good but whether they are making or losing money is irrelevant I think. I spend my time buying and selling cars and so far, I seem to be quite good at it and wouldn't bother if I was earning 2% on T/O. Spending my time researching how much money a competitor is making or losing is a waste of time. You asked "who is making a healthy profit" and I believe many people are, I am one of them but of course, for very obvious reasons I am not going to disclose the reality in a public domain and neither would anyone else who has half an ounce of sense. Sometimes I think some people on here can be quite pessimistic or despondent about this industry and I personally don't see why. I don't go to auctions, I don't listen to other traders unless I want to, I don't believe everything I see or hear and I can only speak intelligently about my own business and those of those other traders whom I am close with and on that subject, I know of several dealers who are doing enough to pay themselves well and be their own boss. Beyond that, who cares, really?

Sorry, I meant where as in where you are getting that from. Companies house or something?

Those are interesting figures, where do they come from?

I've just got into bed with Nextgear, very easy to load a car on and they pay the hammer price, plus buyer fees and delivery with their auction partners. They certainly know how to charge though but at the end of the day, if you can turn stock quickly and can play the game, it can build your business quicker than you could organically. Just keep your eyes and mind open. Close Brothers will want you doing enough finance deals to make it worth their while (they pretty much run it at a loss) and I expect MN will be the same.

I've given up trying to edit!

Plenty I expect, I imagine they don't all shout about it. Still, some will always prefer the gloomy outlook. Misery loves company they say.

Examples like this are why it's so important to take a long term view in my opinion. Car sales will never be liner, x a month for y months a year. It won't even happen, it's an ebb and flow. Feat or famine as you say OP. Glad you've had a little flurry to add some Christmas cheer.

What a place that is. If you ever felt chipper one day and wanted to know how much doom there is impending on owning a used car, you just need to pop on there and 3 minutes later you're looking for a dark room to open a vein

I believe both AD and Rory have been to court and successfully defended themselves. I didn’t ask the details, I wasn’t overly bothered about knowing them but they did tell me they have had their day in court and won. Also I think Boring Dave may also have defended himself successfully.

Not at the rate i’m getting through the quality street in my gaff

Good luck with it mate, the way some people go on here you'd imagine the North is a different country altogether and nobody has any money. Which obviously, isn't true.

Cheers Jim. Top work on your website, seriously, it’s probably the best I have seen.

Indeed, £14k might get you a decent e46 m3! What type of flooring is that Jimmy?

I’ve got half of that and luckily it doesn’t need anything. Yet. It may need rust treatment if it doesn’t go soon

I thought it would be gone within 20 days! Apparently not

Nice one mate, well done.

And I bet you had plenty of opportunities to delete and ignore in your previous life!

Bits of the engine were left off during a fix. The car was in the way so was pushed out of the way. One of the technicians didn’t know or forgot or is thick and needed to move the car back out of his way, so he started it. The combustion chamber decided it didn’t like life anymore and made a run for its freedom and there you have it. Shit happens!

I find some people want to crawl inside a service book and never leave and others don’t give two shits. Have you got the VRM to hand?

Have you tried hunting down the history? Rang Hyundai’s customer services etc?

I’ve never been one for heavy modification or tuning. I do occasionally treat myself to cars I wouldn’t normally buy, just to have them. Jag XF’s are my favourite indulgences but I also bought an S3 that I am getting a little bored of looking at now!