EPV

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Posts posted by EPV

  1. Posted

    12 hours ago, AutoJacob said:

    Hello

    We have bought all our stock privately, have previously bought a few from Copart so know what to expect in terms of lemons.

    We've recently opened a BCA account and have been placed on the silver tier, I had my eye on a 2008 Citroen C1 Grade 5  with 90K on the clock at BCA Preston today but never attended (currently house bound as suffering from a severe case of man flu), I called BCA to try and get the hammer price but they have a policy that they cannot give the prices out unless you've won that vehicle.

    Cap clean was something like £1020 but with it being marked as Grade 5, how much would you expect it to sell for at auction?

    Any help or advice is greatly appreciated as I'm totally uneducated when it comes to trade auctions.

    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. 

  2. Posted

    1 hour ago, D7neo said:

    what percentages are you guys paying for card payments?

    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.

     

  4. Posted

    3 hours ago, whitestone679231 said:

    how it works they will get a list of say 5 or 6 cars they going to look at, ring them up to say they coming but end up buying first one and cant be arsed ringing other to cancel cus.

    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.

  6. Posted

    9 minutes ago, grant8064 said:

    Yer you do a lot more than us tbh. I'm just a name, number and don't forget to bring your license with you. I might start testing the water with some of that

    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! 

    • Like 1

  9. Posted

    6 minutes ago, justlooking said:

    like Arfur and yourself, we are internet based, viewings by appointment only, got a couple sites for storage, do youtube videos of all our cars and lots of quality clear images, reviews important also.

    the last week has been quiet for us. total of 3 enquiries all week on 15 cars (2 AT and 1 Gumtree), week before was 13 enquiries.

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

    • Like 1

  11. Posted

    1 minute ago, tradex said:

    A PDI is not a get out of jail free card. We keep saying this but a layman cant sign away their rights via a PDI. 

     

    I feel for you here, reminds me of our petrol in a diesel tosspot we had couple of years ago. Best of luck. 

    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? 

  13. Posted

    48 minutes ago, Scooby who said:

    Thing is I  didn't supply her with a PDI. Also I'm sure she has text message correspondence saved on her phone relating to the issue within the 3 month warranty period. So even though I have tried to sort it out I think a judge may find I didn't. She really has annoyed me as she will not cooperate.

    I'm trying to see it from her point of view but still I think she is being unreasonable.

    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.

  14. Posted

    12 minutes ago, Scooby who said:

    Sold a 2010 Avensis 2.0 D4D with 70k miles on the 17 August 2016 with a 3 month warranty, Customer complained after a month that flywheel or clutch were acting up. I was shocked as car was a real gem and drove impeccably. I asked her to take it to HER mechanic as she is 2 hours away. He drove it and reported he couldn't find anything wrong at all and said it must be in her imagination. He drove it again 2 months later, same story.

    Next thing I start receiving correspondence from her solicitor, so I send the countries top motor engineer round to investigate. He couldn't find anything wrong either apart from a tiny whine from the release bearing which he said was normal wear and tear and not relevant. Sent his report to her solicitor and offered (as a good will gesture) to supply a 3 piece clutch to her to have fitted at her expense.

    That was in October 2017 14 months after purchase. She declined and wanted me to pay to have clutch supplied and fitted by her local Toyota dealer. I declined and then offered to have my mechanic fit it if she dropped the car to me. She declined and wanted a replacement car while her's was with me and also wanted her legal fees paid. So I ignored her solicitors last two letters and now 18 months later I think it may be going to court. Funny thing is I think she will win if it does, even though in my eyes I have done everything I can to sort the situation.

    The joys of the motor trade!

    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?

  15. Posted

    24 minutes ago, justina3 said:

    Hold on tiger you asked for advise and i was pointing out a potential problem, and yes thanks i know the answer.

     

    That's kind of you, thanks.

    21 minutes ago, andymc1973 said:

    are you sure you haven't passed the threshold?

    Afraid so, the sum total of about £15k in turnover so far.

    5 hours ago, NOACROSS said:

    You're welcome - I just wish I was too busy to answer! ;0)

    I think if they are going to nick the reg numbers, they'll just drive past your house, or go to Tesco's car parks. You will alienate some buyers with cover plates- just my opinion though. Punters are often suspisious.  They also need a reg to do a (easy) price comparison.

    I also (again somewhat controversially) wouldn't waste your money with Autotrader Highway Robbers- but we've debated this a lot on here before so I'll shut up now...

    Justina was mentioning you had one car 'including vat'.  Did you understand this point?  When you sell that car, you are stating that the invoice will show 20% vat as part of your total asking price, so a vat registered buyer could then claim back this amount of vat.  I'm guessing you bought this car on the Margin scheme, so vat isn't applicable? Or did you buy it as an 'including vat' car? If you're not VAT registered I don't think you can pass on this vat element if you did.  I may be wrong.

    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.

  16. Posted

    19 hours ago, justina3 said:

    on your one series bmw it states vat included as i am vat registered if i purchase this car can i claim 20% back ?? 

    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.

    18 hours ago, NOACROSS said:

    I would have left your sold cars (marked as sold) on your website as you only have a few. Would show some stability and trust.  

    I’m weird about photos being the same for every car, same angles, same order, lots of shots etc and would recommended you find one location you like, whether it’s at home or a nice spot out somewhere, and photo everything there (and the video is a good idea but I’d have that after the photos.)

    I hate cover plates but I know others will say the opposite. Some customers will Hpi before enquiring for example and need the reg. although looks like you’ve only done it on the Nissan Note  

    I don’t see the point in going on about the mot date currently and no advisories, and would offer a new, no advisory Mot at the asking price.

    Finally and somewhat controversial on here is the diesel issue: we can’t sell diesels for toffee (south coast) the last 18 month’s or so as have many others and have changed our business model to avoid them where possible.  I see all your cars bar one, are diesel-something to consider.

    We have only done six cars this month and have 50 plus in stock- so I wouldn’t panic too much-just get used to it and prepare yourself for a long slog. Sometimes it’s just quiet  

    It’s the best or worst job in the world, depending on if you’re selling.  Rarely any inbetween. 

    Good luck.  You’ll need it! ;o)

    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.

  18. Posted

    5 minutes ago, trade vet said:

    Hi EPV

    Your website looks OK to me,you just have to find out what makes the phone ring where you are.  You have done 3 so far,in order to try and help,what were they,price,description and mileage.

    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?

     

     

  19. Posted

    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.

  20. Posted

    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!

     

  21. Posted

    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!