EPV

As a rule of thumb grade 1 and 2 would be clean, 3 and a good 4 average, and a bad 4 and 5 below. But you will see clean stuff going through at below and absolute sheds making retail money.

When I started out I only had 3 in stock so to make myself look “busy” and not Mickey Mouse I marked them as sold. I’ve grown things so they “sold” ones will be phased out.

seems fine for me

Rolling monthly as far as i’m aware mate.

You won’t get them on that subscription mate.

Two very specialist cars there mate, not exactly stuff that makes the phone ring regularly?

I don’t agree that third party warranties are an assurance product, they INSURE you against paying out for what is ultimately your responsibility under the law. If someone asks about a warranty it’s your job surely to assure them that any issues with the car under their statutory rights, you will sort.

A third party warranty is an insurance policy. If the vehicle has a fault then under a certain set of circumstances (which have been discussed many times) as a trader you have to put it right. All the third party warranty is doing is insuring YOU against having to pay for the repairs. It should make no difference to the customer as they are entitled to said repairs whether you use a third party warranty or not. Whether the punter knows they have these entitlements is a different matter and if by offering a warranty you are reminding them they have these rights on a 10 year old banger then why would you?!

On a £3995 10 year old car? Why would you get a warranty? On a £9995 4 year old Focus, that’s a different story, people may expect it and you can use it as a selling point if you are competing with two other local cars that don’t offer one. But in that £3995 market, if everyone is offering the same car with a warranty and bells and whistles then what does it come down to? Price! People want a warranty but they don’t want to pay for it. They would rather have a £200 cheaper car with no warranty. The best thing you can do is prep a car to a very high standard, new mot and service, fix advisories, polish and hoover the nuts out of it, take plenty of good images, write a good description and price it correctly. Do that and things like warranties and card payments become a very very secondary issue that people will overlook because your car is a standout.

No, to do that you need to be an IAR, an introductory authorised representitive

So jealous.

That’s a good price Mark. I’d expect to pay £350 for that and those are favourable rates as I push everything his way.

Spot on. No point in changing a set of brake pads when you need to be sourcing cars or working on ways to sell what you have. If I had a decent valeter that would do a car to my standard for £75 i’d happily pay that. As it stands, my local place does an ok job for £75 but if I want shampooed carpets and air vents cleaned and door shuts degreased I have to pay £125 and book him 3 days in advance. So I spend 6 hours myself doing it all and getting it done to my standard when I want. But yeah, changing brake pads and oil to save £50, not for me.

I clean em. Someone else fixes em £390 for a CB on a TT sounds a bit trumpy. Not massively but nearer £300 than £400 in my world.

I didn’t even get a chance to see it as he has someone coming tomorrow and he’s giving him first refusal. He was a proper BMW bore, telling me how he took his car back to a different garage as the previous one put the wrong oil in etc etc. A right boring cunt but his car is right up my street...

This is my thought process. I spoke to a bloke the other day when I was looking to buy his car and he kept repeating how he decided to sell it privately because the BMW garage offered him “such a derisory offer” and said that three times in 20 seconds. Some people, probably more so German prestige owners, look at a low ball offer in the same light as you setting fire to their children.

I probably do £1250+ a month with him and that will soon be £2000+ a month mate. Plus every now and then I slip him a note for a drink. He can give me a few diagnostics for nowt in return

I assume he means I-control. Autotrader tool.

You definitely have me confused with someone else..

There are already a few of those around, if you know where to look! In my relatively inexperienced view, because of a dip in new Car sales the franchises are hanging on to part ex’s and pcp returns that previously they would have no interest in and would either send off to the block or trade out to local traders. So anything half decent that comes in they are retailing themselves and any shite they don’t want they are pushing off to the block because they know if they did a proper description of these cars no fucker would buy them. So off to auction they go with a half arsed “assured” report on them to con people into thinking its problem free.

I just mentioned that on another thread! Watch this space!!!

Well at that price it’s gotta be worth having around I suppose. I bought that Titan vacuum you recommended. Off shortly to valet the nuts out of an ML350 so let’s see if she’s up to the job...

I don’t have a diagnostic reader mate. My local garage has them all. As I understand it, the proper ones are about 2 grand? I don’t ever encounter enough situations where spending that kind of money would justify it. Any part ex’s I take in I whip round the corner and get him to plug it in.

What do you guys do with them? Obviously I want a sale but I have a car I think will sell within a few weeks and i’m being offered a car that I think will take yonks to shift (630i vert in Silver) Would you politely explain to mr customer that you don’t want his car because it doesn’t fit your stock profile or would you just bid him £500 under book and look to punt it on to the trade if he did bite?

Nope. 2.7d with an eml on. Probably the worst one. BUT, they aren’t all shagged, they don’t all go wrong and like Alfa’s, they seem to be able to be made of balsa wood and porcelain and yet people love them and buy them worldwide in their millions. I’ve got plenty of wiggle room in this and as long as the eml isn’t terminal (seems unlikely given the car drives spot on) then I can afford a sensor or two. I will buy a lot worse lemons than this.... In other news, I bought an 06 ML350 today, a bit tatty but purrs along the motorway at 80mph like it was new. An oil leak fixed here and there and i’ll polish and hoover the life out of it and she’ll be as good as new.