EPV

I had 18 on my list yesterday. I bought 2 of the first 4 through at cap average. Last week though I sat through dozens and dozens before I got one. It’s all cyclical mate, like sales, everything seems to happen at once. Feast or famine. Nice idea regarding writing January off. I may buy a load in December, prep them all in early January and open for business in the third week of January.

It was only a month or so ago you were smashing it mate. Nothing is linear in nearly every business, peaks and troughs etc.

How dare you, I pay him £45 a day and only make him do 6.5 days a week

Straight out of a Mills and Boon Novel

I’ve stopped looking at the ad views obsessively like I used to. I’ve had cars with 70 ad views a day sit for 90 and ones with 25 a day sell in a week.

Do you want to rent your unit out to me? I’m looking for a place exactly like you describe. In Kent. Preferably near Bromley. Or in it You could never run a pitch/unit of 12 cars part time. Never. Not on your own. It’s massively time consuming, some days you just end up doing what feels like fuck all. Today was a day like that for me, i’ve done a full day and felt like i’ve done fuck all. The reality is, I sold one, mopped another, photographed and videoed two, bought two online, but i’ve still got another 3 to photo and video, 2 of those will need a mop, I have two arriving early next week, it just goes on mate. I wouldn’t change it mind. Just saying this isn’t a business you can set up and run in the background. It’s not a string to a bow. It’s the bow, all the strings, all the arrows and anything you can hit with the arrows. You’re either conkers deep or you’re not. Thats not me being pessimistic, if I can do it anyone can. It’s me being honest.

Great cars to drive. Expect it to sit around for 45-90 days though, they don’t sell quickly. For me, anyway.

At least it doesn’t stand you too much!!

Better you than a billy I suppose

1 today and 7 in prep. I’m gonna have a good last week and smash November

And that’s the way it’s going. It’s not the way it is now of course but that’s how it’s moving. Click and reserve, selling to people in their front rooms, why would they bother going to look at anyone else’s, they have seen yours and it’s what they want, no time to look around, too busy on Instagram. As I say, not the way it is now but the way it’s going. I expect people who sold groceries from a shop 20 years ago would have laughed if you’d said people will buy food from their front room and have it delivered. Who would be so lazy as to do that?

Fair enough! Not sure i’d want to deal with someone who’s nervous about stone chips and bruises to be honest but I don’t run a site so what do I know! You know your customers i’m sure mate.

Also very true but if you have a black Nissan Juke Tekna with 50,000 miles on and there are 5 others in a 25 mile radius from you, surely every edge helps you win the punter? Like you, i’ve sold cars with very few photos. Not every car I have is that desirable sadly! If we could all buy cars we KNOW will sell in 15 days the job would be a lot easier!

Yeah I understand that but if the cretin you’re dealing with wants gold for the price of silver you aren’t going to convince them of that face to face. Just reiterate in the videos for the cheapies that the car is mechanically sound, without fault, backed up by a new service, MOT and mechanical check. Yes of course, it has a few signs of its age and mileage but it certainly doesn’t drive like it’s age and is a safe, reliable runner. Anyone looking for more than that (minted up £1500 car) won’t change their mind by seeing the car and driving it, wasting your time. You can’t talk stone chips and scratches out of a car.

Perhaps. But it also stops the dreamers coming out and moaning about stone chips and bruises on a 10 year old Clio? It saves your time wasted entertaining these morons who won’t buy your car at the advertised price because it has one too many cosmetic blemishes but still want a test drive and time to “think about it”

Good luck TV, I have learned a lot from you so it’s nice you’ve taken on a bit of what I do (gimbal)

I reckon if you knew what you were doing it was fine. I changed jobs three times between 2008 and 2011 (voluntarily) and I used to work in construction! Doom and gloom here but in another thread we have someone close to beating his own monthly record and last month AD had his third best month ever.

As ever, YMMV. If I had to answer Nick's questions with my customers responses it would be, in fact two of the answers were given today to me; "Did you watch my video?": Yes, absolutely loved it! What a great idea, I haven't seen anyone do that before! "What made you travel 80 miles, was it my video?": Well that helped, I knew what I was getting before I left the house so I didn't mind travelling" "How did you decide to buy from me and not from somewhere closer to you, was it my video?": Not really, you had the car I wanted so I was willing to travel, the video just helped me make up my mind I was travelling for the right car So yeah, YMMV. What I don't think we're quite ready for is the click and collect way of buying that has swept the world these past ten years but it's on it's way. People still can't get their head around handing over large amounts of cash to car dealers without seeing the car. Well, some do obviously but it's not the "done thing" although it will be. You stock a lot of aspirational cars Nick, not your entire stock but a lot of it. Like Rory does, so people will travel for your cars because it's the only white a6 3.0 tdi avant with black leather and 19" turbine alloys, beautifully photographed and offered with a description that makes them feel like they are buying a brand new SVR Autobiography.

Cheers Just spoke with a chap who knew exactly what the problem was/is, it needs to be sent off to France. £675. I will of course get a second option but my cheap buy isn't so cheap. The problem is that this thing powers the whole car's ICE, heated seats, Nav, Radio, parking sensors etc. Ah well, see what happens.

As I expected, my life isn't a simple as someone not knowing how to switch an ICE system on. The screen is blank aside from a message saying "please do not remove media, updating" or something like that. I have found the original Nav DVD in the glovebox along with some aftermarket operating instructions on how to update the system using the disc enclosed. I think what has happened is the previous owner has bought a moody updated Nav DVD off eBay, and now because this things can't actually update the system, it just goes round and round, you cant even eject the DVD. So the first job is to get the DVD out and see what happens when the OEM one goes back in.

Outstanding value until they dropped the “flexible price” line of their system. It’s comjng back in a few weeks so they say.

It’s hit and miss with mechanics. To be fair they can’t be expected to know everything about everything. My regular mechanic suggested a bmw of mine was smoking due to piston seals or valve stems. I done some googling and there was plenty about oil separators. I called him and passed that on and he had a light bulb moment and said “I often say this but we Mechanics can get fixated on what we think the problem is and sometimes need to take a step back” Either that or your bloke is clueless. You got it sorted anyway

Any update OP?

4/5 is about right.

Ah right. Yeah i’d never do that, it’s asking for aggro.