EPV

Yes, I have a PDI, signed by him etc. MOT was done on the 6th Jan. It's not so much what he's entitled to etc, it's more a case of what is fair an reasonable and keeps customers happy without dancing to his tune. He was rabbling on about taking it to a main dealer and re-calibrating the OBC ffs.

He's probably doing a bit of urban, combined with the odd dual lane carriageway, 50mph type thing. Knowing where he lives and works, as he only uses it to get to work.

Sold a 2009 petrol 2.0 VW Passat DSG Highline to a chap and his wife 4 weeks ago. Just took a call from him, stating he was very unhappy. Here we go I thought, gearbox time.. Nope. Apparently he can't get the OBC to read above 22.7 MPG. When he test drove the car it was showing 36.1 (not that it makes any difference but I let him continue) so he's adamant something is definitely wrong. When he arrived to first look at the car, he brought his own DIY diagnostic machine. I let him plug it in, I had nothing to hide but it probably should have given me a clue as to what I was dealing with. But he was pleasant enough and didn't haggle on the price, just left me his shitter of a Mondeo in chop. Anyway, I asked him to brim the tank, record how much he paid per litre and drive it to near fumes so we can check what he is actually getting in real world, to determine whether it's the OBC or something else. So, in preparation for his call in a week, what would you be thinking in this situation? I want to be prepared to deal with him professionally and properly but this isn't as easy to resolve as a knocking suspension part (black and white case of me fixing the car end of) and is based on so many variable of what ifs.

Fortunately for me I don’t have to rely on other people to tell me what’s working (in their opinion) or rely on the public’s memory as I can just pop onto my portal on AT and the call logging service that eBay MP provide and see where my calls are coming from. It’s really useful for me as I can see what advertising is expensive and what’s not! I don’t think it’s about resolving the debate Noacross, what works for you works and same for me.

Thanks mate. I have a £12k limit on one Amex, a £20k limit on another and a £9k limit on a barclaycard. I have access to a credit line I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t leaving myself open to a problem down the line. My accountant confirmed what you have said so that is the way I will go I think.

That’s sort of my point mate. There is no point in keeping track of such a thing. The probability is that AT will “win” because it has a larger audience, larger customer base so in all probability it will “win” the poll. Does it mean its right for you? Perhaps! But you won’t learn that from a poll of a handful of dealers.

Thanks for this, really useful to know!

Sorry Mark, I have no idea what this will prove. As you say, there are plenty of opinions and a one click answer will prove nothing other than some people will say EBay, some AT, some their own website and so on. It won’t prove anything useful, particularly if you’re looking for an answer on which platform YOU should use. All you can do is read opinions and make your own mind up.

You’re right, that’s why I use call tracking both for AT and eBay, gives me an accurate way of tracking where my leads and ultimately sales come from.

Interesting idea, however a couple of things that have popped into my mind; Not sure what card machine retailer you use but I get charged 1.4% transaction fees for accepting credit and debit cards, includes Amex. If I have received money into my bank account, and the revenue decided to investigate me for whatever reason, would these deposits in my business account not be viewed as income? I’m assuming they would be? If so they would be subject to vat and tax?

I’m on a contract. As for text vs photos, give me the photos all day every day. People buy things online from pictures and reviews. They don’t buy a car after reading a spec list, especially stuff that’s taken from granted like electric mirrors and power assisted steering. Does anyone under the age of 40 even know what that is, anyway? Just my opinion mate, i’m a complete novice in this game so what do I know.

I don’t really understand this viewpoint. AT hold the vast lions share of online visits per month. They charge what they think they can get away with, of course they do. That’s business isn’t it. The rep asks him/herself what they think their customer will put up with. This isn’t a cartel, like one motor insurance company having 80% of the market share and charging what they like knowing full well people HAVE to have insurance to get to work, to feed their children, to pick them up from school. This is a competitive market place they work in, it just so happens (by luck or hard work on AT’s behalf) that they have the ears and eyes of the large share of the car buying public. You want your car put in front of them? Ante up. Would I like it if it were cheaper? Sure, of course. I’m 6 weeks through an eBay package which has cost £650 to date. I’ve sold zero cars. By that same token, i’ve sold 6 cars through AT. How expensive is AT in my eyes? Not as bloody expensive as eBay that’s for sure! People make eBay work. How, I don’t know. When I market a car I do my Ad on AT. I then go to eBay and copy and paste the description, attention grabber etc from AT to eBay. So the adverts are ostensibly the same. Except eBay only let you have 20 images, so it’s an inferior advert. But make it work, people do. For me though, if I want to sell cars, as quickly as possible, there’s one place I can do that. It ain’t eBay, it ain’t motors and it ain’t car gurus. What they charge me is incidental. It works for me.

£480 a month for 10 cars, 3 month contact. Cheaper if you have a years worth, about £325 a month I believe. Also, you can’t really compare AT and EBay. That’s like comparing Mercedes with Dacia. I’m not talking about whether you can make money from eBay advertising vs AT, plenty do well from eBay and power to them but AT get something like 9 million visits a month. eBay get a million or so. eBay “should” be half the price of AT.

Thanks mate.

5+2 bonus cars so 7 in total. About £750pm

Credit card doesn’t allow me to buy private stock, which is a big part of my stock I process! So it all points to an overdraft. Hopefully there won’t be another 2008 crash!

See I think the opposite. Assuming I could get a £25k personal loan (unlikely) then I am bound to pay back xyz a month, no matter if I have a great month or terrible month. With an overdraft, I can as you say dip in and out and only pay for what I use. I cant see a single reason why a bank would withdraw the facility unless I was defaulting in late payment fees etc. Main alternative for me would be a personal credit card that I bought stock on and paid off each month.

Well, whatever you think is best! It’s your business after all. March was good for me I turned my entire forecourt over and i’m expecting to do the same again in April. After that, i’ll possibly look to get a credit line going (overdraft most probably) and increase my forecourt size.

Well, i’m saying I could never get £2k out of a car, no matter how long I persevered with it! But £1k ppu is very achievable. My average ppu is £1100 and average stock turn 29 days. Hmmm, not quite. So each day, a car costs you money. Money in advertising. money in storage rent, rates etc. And a little depreciation. I’ve estimated that cost to be about £8 per day for me. So 30 days to turn is costing me about £250 in overheads. 60 days would cost me £480. If I let that go to 90 days, well you get the drift. For me if a car gets to 40 days (i’ve only had two so far) then it gets moved on. I expect when I increase my forecourt size to 12-15 then i’ll either suffer smaller margins or an increased days to turn period but hopefully the higher turnover will provide more turnover. All good in theory but in practice who knows!

I don’t think there’s a right or a wrong way. Personally I aim for a grand per unit and turnover in less than 40 days. If I doubled that turnover to 80 days i’d want to double the profit and i’d personally struggle to get £2k out of a £6k car. For me it’s easier to stock a quicker turning car with less margin than a longer turning car with more margin. Whatever works, works.

Yes that’s right; sling off is the term! It’s weird i’ve never had that with megs stuff.

Everyone has different criteria but unless you’ve got great margins in your stock i’d say 60 days is 20-30 days too long. I aim to turn my entire forecourt over once a month. My average turn rate is 29 days although like you I am working on far fewer numbers. That said the theory should be the same. If you have desirable stock, price it correctly and market it as best as you can, then an average stock turn of 30-40 days regardless of the size of your forecourt is a realistic aim.

You just have to get it on right. A sponge applicator and a thin layer does the job.

Megs Endurance is the best stuff for tyres bar none in my eyes. Stays on for a week.

Aren’t the snap on proper ones about £2k?