EPV

I’d expect it to go around cap average, or between cap average and cap below. In truth it ought to go for below cap below as grade 5 is a right old mess usually (unless it’s full of bad previous paint which the untrained eye might not see) i find auctions a mystery at times. Cars you are going through cap average that you think “what’s wrong with that then?” And others you think “i’ve got a chance on this and can pay cap clean prices” and if flies through the cap clean price and sells a grand above. I think auctions are a numbers game. If you shortlist 3 cars chances are you will end up with fuck all. If you shortlist 30 you will probably buy 2.

1.4% + 20p flat across all car types including Amex. I use Stripe, don't have a card reader, just an app on my phone where the customer can input their card details and wallop, it's in my stripe account and i can email a receipt straight to them. I also try and steer people towards cash or BACS, depending on the type of person I'm dealing with.

I've got a 118D M Sport on a 58 plate that has had a couple of bites in 3 weeks but no firm action. It is red though. I'd expect in White, in the right area (its diesel so possibly not London) it would be hot property.

If someone says to me that they have other cars to look at, we'll see you after we have seen xyz I tell them to do their shopping around and when they are ready to buy a car, to ring me. I may sound blunt to some people but I really don't want to deal with Mr and Mrs "I'm still deciding between a new or a used car" I just want to deal with people who know what they want and just want to buy a car and not fuck around testing dozens out.

Drop me a PM with your details mate and I'll get the account manager who looks after me to drop you a line.

Definitely as above, a call before they are leaving to make sure it’s not sold, text when they are 20 mins away etc. Does seem to work for me albeit a small sample size to work from currently!

Warranty Assist. Trade only warranties. As such, I believe they can take a view on “grey areas” regarding warranty claims and show some goodwill on the basis of repeat business from traders.

Early days for me and it’s yet to happen. I always say to the customer that I will give them a call 1 hour before the scheduled appointment to confirm their arrival. Seems to keep people honest so far.

Do you mind me asking about your storage? Is it indoors/outdoors, costs etc? PM if you don’t want it public! Thanks

I would have kicked the pair of them out halfway through the test drive.

Understand that but do the regs that we all abide by not state that for a seller to be liable for a refund, the fault has to be proven at sale and beyond that, the dealer has the right to remedy? Which is what Scooby tried?

I'm with Trade Wise. They have a handy online portal (I'm sure others do too) where you can nip online via your smartphone, punch in the reg and be covered in seconds. Saves ringing someone up and going through all that. See what they quote you? https://www.tradewiseinsurance.com/

Certainly sounds like it to me. If I were in her shoes and a dealer sent me a clutch in the post and even offered to have it fitted if I took it there I'd be in the car with the part in the back taking the dealer up on his offer. To expect it to be done at the local stealers is 100% unreasonable.

Slightly noobish view on this but if you completed a PDI which she signed, isn't it down to her to prove the fault was there at purchase? And if it's not, being a clutch, it's wear and tear?

That's kind of you, thanks. Afraid so, the sum total of about £15k in turnover so far. Yes, I understood what she meant. It wasn't deliberate, and I'd imagine that most people looking to purchase a car from me wouldn't be looking to claim the VAT back however, I'll address the ad in due course. I'd be happy if that was the only thing letting the side down! It's just VAT margin. On the subject of plate covers, you're probably right. However people who wanted to nick a reg wouldn't bother leaving the house when the internet is in the palm of their hand. I can see the case for both sides of the argument, I guess its like most things in life, YMMV! Thanks again for the constructive criticism.

I think given that I am not yet VAT registered (not passed the threshold yet) yet you are VAT registered, you'd be best placed to answer that question. Great post mate thanks. Some really good advice here for me and I don't need to be converted on the diesel subject. I said to myself after I bought my first car (that ratlled and spluttered its way off the transporter) that I wouldn't get a diesel and here I am, with 75% of my stock being a diesel! I bought them really well so I just had eyes for profit but I suppose there's no point in buying really well if you can't sell the buggers on quickly. Noted the point about MOT and dates, I am just really fussy about having an advisory free MOT to blunt someones negotiating arsenal but as you say, at these prices they should be 12m MOT advisory free anyway. Finally re plates; I've had someone else comment that it's best to leave the plates off to allow people to carry out their own checks but I have the HPI status of each vehicle (aside from outstanding finance) displayed on my Ebay ad which is part of the package I have and AT do it as a matter of course anyway. People may wish to find out how much it will be to insure the car but I think they are few and far between and people who want to nick the reg for sinister reasons are plenty. It's only on the Nissan 'cos I only got my personalised plates a couple of weeks ago Thanks again for the response, really helpful stuff.

That’s really helpful advice thanks! I really hadn’t considered the impact of the traffic and South London is absolute murder to get around so yes people wouldn’t fancy all that. Really helpful thanks!

Thanks for the reply. Well, weirdly it probably won't help in that respect. Bearing in mind I'm in Bromley, Kent. I sold a 2011 Red Merc 1.8 BlueEf Estate to a bloke from Taunton (200 miles away) 76,000 miles, sold for £7,850 and I had a grand across it. A 64 plate Black Nissan Note to a fella from Brighton (60 miles away) which had 41,000 miles on and I had £1200 across it and a Silver 2008 Merc B Class to a bloke from North London, 64,000 miles on it sold £4,800 and I took a £800 hit on that as I misread the description on the car and ended up spending waaay too much on it, that was my first and was a sharp learning curve. I think I'm quickly learning that it isn't about selling what I like, it's about stocking what people want locally. I'm friendly with a bloke from Autotrader and he's been helping me out a lot with understanding the desirability of certain cars locally. Fiesta's do well, as do C Class' (although barely a nibble at my Black C Class, could be 'cos it's a diesel) so I think once I sell what I have I'll start to buy the stuff that does well locally. I start to overthink things, is the website ok, do my ad's look enticing, my photos etc. I even get a bloke to photoshop the backgrounds of my photos to make them all look uniform (and so distracting stuff like other people and cars/lamposts/houses are shopped out) I know 4 weeks can be nothing in this game and the highest overage car I have is 21 days (almost) which isn't bad but I'm an impatient bugger at times. I've got a good margin in all the cars I have in stock (hopefully no potential clients just read that) so I can afford to knock the prices down by £250 a unit and still be well in but I don't want to cave in so early?

I use Warranty Assist and they are well priced for what they offer in my opinion. Approx £150 for a 3 month warranty on a 6 year old german saloon with a long ticket and recent service, as an example. I haven't had a claim (yet) so time will tell but their cover is pretty comprehensive and the customer support is there, you get a dedicated account manager.

Newbie to the forum and something of a newbie to the trade. I'm part of that "build up my business part time" brigade I'm afraid, been going about 3 months and sold 3 cars (all in January incidentally, has someone died in February? The motor trade, possibly?) I've been a lurker on here for a while now so thought I'd sign up and join in. Some really useful stuff on here so a collective thanks to everyone. My website is here; www.elitepreownedvehicles and I'd appreciate some critique of my adverts, I currently have 4 up for sale, all clean low mileage stuff (which is where I focus my attention although I'm tempted to start selling some of the lower end stuff as some on here seem to do well) but I've not sold a thing in almost a month now and I'm getting a bit impatient, anything obviously wrong with these? https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-search?search-target=usedcars&radius=1&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=New&make=MERCEDES-BENZ&model=&price-search-type=total-price&keywords=&postcode=br12qf https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/253417010663 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/253417010663 I've got an ebaymotorspro account, I also use Motors.co.uk (although cancelled that as I don't think it's worth a carrot) and I do also use PAYG Autotrader. Cheers in advance for any advice!

Newbie to the forum and something of a newbie to the trade. I'm part of that "build up my business part time" brigade I'm afraid, been going about 3 months and sold 3 cars (all in January incidentally, has someone died in February? The motor trade, possibly?) I've been a lurker on here for a while now so thought I'd sign up and join in. Some really useful stuff on here so a collective thanks to everyone. My website is here; www.elitepreownedvehicles and I'd appreciate some critique of my adverts, I currently have 4 up for sale, all clean low mileage stuff (which is where I focus my attention although I'm tempted to start selling some of the lower end stuff as some on here seem to do well) but I've not sold a thing in almost a month now and I'm getting a bit impatient, anything obviously wrong with these? https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-search?search-target=usedcars&radius=1&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=New&make=MERCEDES-BENZ&model=&price-search-type=total-price&keywords=&postcode=br12qf https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/253417010663 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/253417010663 I've got an ebaymotorspro account, I also use Motors.co.uk (although cancelled that as I don't think it's worth a carrot) and I do also use PAYG Autotrader. Cheers in advance for any advice!