EPV

Clay bars remove surface bonded contaminants. Sap, tar, brake dust etc. You need to be polishing clean paint. If it’s freshly painted you won’t have this problem. Clay bar’ng a car is probably one of the best things you can do for a cars paint.

Learn with a rotary but do so on old £30 panels from a scrappie. In my opinion it’s like learning to drive a manual car, thereafter you can drive both manual and auto. Learn on a DA and you’ll have to or want to, buy a rotary. Then you’ll have two tools. You can only use one at a time. To get you over your buffer trail issue, buy a Sealey rotary and a blue pad with blue anti hologram 3m product. It will be almost impossible to do any damage with that set up and will get shot of holograms in 30 mins for the whole side of a car But for future learning, get a hard pad, some compound and learn how hard you can or can’t go, on an old panel from a breakers. Rotary polishers are not fire breathing monsters unlike what DIY enthusiasts will have you believe. I have mopped umpteen cars and burned through clear coat twice. Both attempting to cut so hard on a very deep scratch that would have needed paint anyway. For simple swirl removal and lessening deep scratches, a rotary is the tool. Learn the hard way first, for an easier life down the road. My smart repairers use a mop, compound, a polishing pad and polish on fresh paint each time they paint a panel for me. Comes up right each time. Compounding and polishing isn’t difficult but you just need to know what you are doing each time you set the machine on. As said, detailing forums will help but like any forum, there are knowledgeable people and there are people who give shocking advice based on other people’s shocking advice. Conventional wisdom.

Less than a week for my last logbook.

Have you seen how many adverts there are? And have you seen how small a local trading standards operation is? And have you seen big the raft of other shit they have to deal with is? Thats why.

This isn't exactly revolutionary. Sites like Wizzle and Autoi do exactly the same thing. There won't be enough stock imo. Anything worth having will be bought at silly prices and anything not worth buying errr, won't be bought. Among it all is the age old problem, the public wanting unrealistic prices for their cars. I've bought off Autoi before but opportunities are rare and most of the time you will see joe public wanting retail money for his car, that's despite the fact he's already received a guide price on what he should sell his car for, if he wants to attract bids. Nothing wrong with the idea. It's not new though.

Whatsapp, text, carrier pigeon, I don't care. Timewasters will ring, text and email. As will genuine customers. It's 2019 and this is how some people communicate.

Good for you mate, nice hobby you have.

Yet another case in point. This time yesterday I had three appointments for today. Now i have none, the last one cancelled just now after the other two cancelling yesterday. I’ve had a lie in and i’ll be down my unit for about midday to do a bit of paperwork. I’m gutted that there’ll be no sales today as I need them but what can I do. Just have to take it as it comes.

Agreed but I personally have always done the job right and covered my arse. New service, new MOT, PDI and a proper margin. Even when I started out. Buying a car, washing it and putting it up for sale without even having a test done is asking for trouble in my opinion but each to their own.

Ah ok. You’re selling end of life bangers from home. I can see why that would need to be part time.

So i’m assuming the £1000 includes the auction house fees, if so, your VAT liability on that is around £200. Corporation tax or self assessment tax around £160. Advertising costs about £50, a new MOT £50. So around £460. Leaving you with about £340 nett. You’re one set of pads and discs away from working for nothing. Good luck with that.

You haven’t lost a sale there. They may not have turned up. If they did they may not have bought it. Glass half full at all times in my eyes. I just took a call from a chap who wanted to buy a car from me today. I’m not at the unit, nor will I be as I have my boy and i’m enjoying a day off as i’ve been flat out with prep all week. He claims to have spent 4 days looking at these particular cars, took time off work etc. I asked him why he hadn't found one yet and he said “cos they’ve all been rubbish” Have I missed a sale? Possibly. But equally I could have abandoned my plans, gone down to my unit only for him to have got stuck in traffic or changed his mind and even then, if he did arrive, maybe he would have found every chip and scratch to sigh about and maybe he would have arsed about and squabbled over the price or maybe he is a serial car tester. Who knows. All I know is I haven’t lost a sale, i’ve missed an opportunity to sell but at what cost? As I said life’s too short.

Case in point. Three weeks is nothing, really. I’m not saying it’s easy to just forget it. But as BHM recently said, you cannot force punters through the door. When it’s quiet it’s quiet and if you are doing what you have always done and that worked last month, then you’re doing nothing wrong. It’s just business. Any business. Peaks and troughs. I’ve lost count the amount of times i’m quiet and Mark101 is flying. A month later and he can’t give his away and i’m doing well. Sometimes it’s best not to talk to anyone. Misery loves company as tradex sagely reminded me some months ago.

I am glad you find some sort of solace in the fact others are struggling as well but i’ve personally never understood that mentality. If i’m quiet for a week or two or even three I can’t say I think about it too much, three months is the timeframe to observe performance in my opinion. But anyway, so what if others are doing well or bad or average etc? There are people out there doing well, month on month, so i’d rather focus on that and aim to be one of them, than think “well that’s a relief, i’m not the only one who’s quiet” I mean, that doesn’t pay your bills does it? If I were quiet, and nothing to do (prep, paperwork, price adjustments etc) i’d welcome it, go fishing or horse racing and enjoy it! But if it was raining and there was no racing and i’d been quiet for several weeks, i’d start looking at myself, what can I do differently? Could I rephotograph that car? Should I just cut it’s legs off and buy something else? I’m doing “ok” this month and another two deals (highly likely) this month and i’ll do “very well” but if they don’t come and instead 4 deals come in the first week of July does that make June a failure, or is it just a month is too short to worry about performance? Anyway, I hope you get a few more in the bag and in the meanwhile just find some joy in life. It’s too short.

Final best last price fer kesh

Just walk in and slap your cock down on the first desk you see and loudly announce you’ll be taking a car off their hands today. Works a treat.

"Gary" Something else smells dodgy Tell her foxtrot oscar

Leeds

You’ll need to know what’s wrong with the car, if anything, by driving it. No point in having a car in for a MOT and service if there is a knock, bang, jerky gear change, air con regas needed etc.

What colour is the car? And if you're looking for the BMW colour, it's Ferric Grey. That's the one you want.

Lawgistics warranty support was fucking appalling. A1's is spot on.

Is it last week already?

Nope, I don't think it makes a difference now that AT have amended the way they show stocking finance. Previously they may as well have said "don't buy this car it's on finance and will cause you no end of issues" and now they have softly explained what stocking finance is etc. I sold a £19k car to a chap who knew it was on stocking finance before he'd even turned up. I don't think it makes a difference, if someone wants your car, they will pick up the phone, ask the question, you will explain how the stocking finance process works and if done correctly that will alleviate a potential customers nerves.

Ask your insurers if the policy covers “a contract of service” which is basically you giving someone permission to use your trade vehicles for trade purposes. Moving from MOT station to premises etc. If so, anyone can drive your trade vehicles providing its for trade use.

Bit of as whooshing sound just above your head I'd wager