Mikey360

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Posts posted by Mikey360

  1. Posted

    1 minute ago, David Ayers said:

    Hi Mikey

    Personally I would sort out the sill on the Audi. I appreciate it’s an old car but the rest of the bodywork looks pretty good.

    The other thing is there is no mention of cambelt being changed.

    I've got the bodywork man out tommorow so i'll see if he can pop that out, and good point! Completely forgot about that, it was only done 10k ago so a good selling point!

     

    1 minute ago, boring dave said:

    the valeting on the mini looks superior to the other 2 have you done something different in between

    The only thing I can think of is the headlights were covered in sticker residue so I gave them a heck of a clean, but other than that they've had the same treatment as the others

  2. Posted

    Just now, Tony911 said:

    Wish i had all this advice when i was starting out instead i learned the hard way im guessing like most traders on here. Great advice from everyone and will do you good in the long run, take it all on board

    I've said it before, but I do owe each of you at least a pint in thanks! Really smashing advice, just going through the adverts now to remove some of the bad pics and change the descriptions slightly

  3. Posted

    6 minutes ago, EPV said:

    The video is awesome. Don't change that. You are light years ahead of plenty of large dealers who don't have a clue about online marketing. Seriously well done.

    The photos are excellent, the bokeh is fantastic and if you were showcasing a Lambo Huracan you'd be in demand for any dealership. There's nothing wrong with making an old banger look something it isn't, that's the point of online advertising isn't it. The issue with some of your photos is that you are showing dirty, worn parts of the vehicle (nothing unexpected, it's 13 years old) and there's no point in highlighting them.

    There's not much wrong with the adverts at all, just could do with a little more tyre shine, straighter camera angle and start looking at what you are photographing as you shoot.

    I don't mind the text, it's salesy but you're trying to convince someone that an old banger isn't. 

    The reason your phone isn't ringing very often is because you have effectively, 3 adverts. If you had more cars, you'd have more calls. etc.

    Your online marketing is way above most dealers who have been doing this years. It's to be commended. A little more polish and attention to detail and you're there.

    That's genuinely made my day thank you, I really appreciate the kind words! 

    Some great tips aswell thankyou! I'm just going through the photos now to take out some of the less desirable angles

    I'm getting some more capital soon to get some more stock in (lower mileage and newer), so hopefully that'll help!

  4. Posted

    7 minutes ago, trade vet said:

    Hi Mikey

    I think your videos are good,you could do ours as we have given up on them.Do you have a website,cannot see one.If you are a startup,you need plenty of embellished bullshit about yourself on your website.Also,you have to be prepared to keep stuff a while and not panic and chop prices.Also,you have to think like a punter,why should they buy from you etc.

    Thankyou TV! 

    If people do like the videos, I could do it as a side line if there's enough interest.....

    I was on the phone to Autotrader yesterday, they said the website link had been put on? Clearly not.

    www.theautomotiveapproach.co.uk

    Great advice on the sticky stock, I'm just really surprised the phone isn't ringing for any of the cars

    12 minutes ago, MrC said:

    I dont like the close up depth of field type shots, Its the kind of shots Id expect to see on a detailing forum or somewhere like Tom Hartley, its like you are trying to hard. Some of the close up shots show the wear and tear a bit to much, that would be enough to put some punters off.

     

    :D very true, didn't think of that! Now you've mentioned it they do look like they should have had 9 coats of wax for a reflection shot!

     

    11 minutes ago, Mark101 said:

    I will add that I too would remove BACS as no one knows what that means (and it would be CHAPS you want not BACS).

    Remove all reference to payment methods and as Nick says, Zuto (albeit no commission) does move metal.

    I have an IZettle and it has helped but please don’t think it will revolutionise your business - for me, I think it just made it easier than bank transfer and costs me 1.7% of amount.  If someone wants your car, they will find the money but it does add some professionalism that you take cards, cash, bank transfer it finance via Zuto.

    I think you videos do not need any attention. Yes, a bit OTT for older stock but that will surely make the lower budget buyers feel better.

    Remove all negative posts and images and fight those objections face to face - I.e, get them in front of you rather than prevent a call.

    Good luck 

    Super thanks Mark, izettle would more be for credit card payments as most of the stock is within credit limits, only considering it at the moment though. 

    I'll sort out the mentions of payment methods aswell, thankyou!

    12 minutes ago, Nick M.K. said:

    No. 

    Because it only has 100 miles over what you stated no punter in their right mind will object to that but at 90000 you get in more searches. IF someone says something about you putting slightly lower miles you can say one of two things: 

    When it arrived and we advertised it had just under 90K miles and after we've test driven it the figure is slightly higher. 

    OR Due to customer feedback we have rounded the mileage very slightly so you have a chance to find the car if you limit your search to 90000 miles. We wouldn't want you to miss out on a car for the sake of 100-200 miles. 

    Great thankyou Nick!

  5. Posted

    3 minutes ago, Nick M.K. said:

    I had a look at the Audi A3 mostly. The location is OK, not great but not the worst I've seen. Similar to one of mine I sometimes use when the light is really low (https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201811072224788). You can zoom in thye car a bit more to get rid of some of the background. 

    1) The £4050 price should be £3990 or £4000 or over £4190. Otherwise you don't appear in a lot of searches for the sake of £50 that EVERYONE will want to chip down. 

    2) The mileage of 90100 miles should absolutely be 90000 in your ad, again to be visible in searches

    3) I like your text but remove half of the superlatives. Have a couple, sure but "fantastically smooth" as an example for the DSG gearbox is a bit over the top. 

    4) Remove the bit about NOT offering finance. You can do a finance deal with ZUTO for example and even if you don't want to work with them you can always get a customer to come, see the Audi, love it, then find the money somewhere else in a few days. 

    5) Remove the number of owners. It could put people off. If it's really important for someone they will ask over the phone. 

    6) Remove the payment by BACS or CASH bit. 

    7) With a service and MOT date like that put New MOT, New service or recent service. 

    8) Change the order of your images slightly so customers see the nice leather interior very early after clicking on your ad. Mix them up a bit :-)

    9) Pick ONE photo of the alloy with the least amount of damage and use that. Don't give buyers a reason not to come and see the car. If you are worried about letting their expectations down put in your advert text "Some kerbing marks on alloys"

    10) Use the world Petrol and the word Auto somewhere in your ad so if someone is specifically searching Google for a Petrol Audi Auto you have a chance of them finding it. 

    11) Pay attention to every little detail in your ads and if it bugs you - get rid of it. 

    12) If you have a landline number give it to Autotrader to display along with your mobile. Divert the calls to your mobile so you will always answer it. Use call whisperer. 

     

    2 minutes ago, Nick M.K. said:

    13) Remove photos of dashboard showing date and time. If it sticks in stock they can see it and can be put off

    Awesome thankyou Nick that's some brilliant feedback! Always love the way your pics look in your adverts!

    In regards to the mileage, is it bad to under state it rather than over state it? So because it's done over 90k, would it be better to put 90250? I can just imagine a punter saying I've advertised it because its a few miles over what's in the advert :lol:

  6. Posted

    1 minute ago, Max Branning said:

    Your videos are good but in my opinion on old stock like this its the wrong type of video to be making. Your style of videos are the sort of thing i would expect a franchise to be doing.

    Personally i would do a full walk around video of the car and highlight the good and bad bits which inevitably a 10 year old car will have. 

    True, it does take a lot of time and effort to make them! I was planning to do a walk around video of the Mondeo when it's ready as it's not sporty like the BMW and Audi, and with the Mini I thought a stylish video would attract the younger audience that the cars intended for

  7. Posted

    Just now, TheDarkSide said:

    You've encouraged me to sign up to reply Mikey - looks like you're about 5 miles round the corner from me!

    I disagree with comments about the location, you've found somewhere with no distractions in the background for your pics - and it's not like buyers round here don't know what the fens look like...

    As others have said, I'd look at your ads and pics and take out anything that you think might put someone off from picking up the phone - like you, I don't do finance or card payments but I don't make reference to it in my ads, I'd much rather have the chance to talk to someone and work round it rather than them never ring me at all...

    Welcome to the Forum! 

    Very good point, I'm probably doing myself out of a phone call, we are all technically salesmen and they need to be with us in person for us to do our sales pitches!

  8. Posted

    4 minutes ago, Tony911 said:

    Not bad really, bit of tyre shine invest in a good quality hd camera will sort out the lighting also personally i think wording is too much you need to really focus on service records in detail and definitely new location as its not great, just to add keep camera straight not bent.

    Rodger that Tony, thankyou!

  11. Posted

    2 minutes ago, Ocsltd said:

    I just looked at the Audi and here are my thoughts....

    The location looks dodgy, it looks live you've turned down an old track and taken the pics in the middle of nowhere, as a punter would make wonder what you're hiding, doesn't give an overly professional image. 

    Some of the pics are wonky / looks like the car is on the lean....

    There's only a mobile number and no landline number, again looks a bit amateurish......

    You've put in the description BACS or cash, which is fair enough, but again just sounds a bit amature.

    Don't get me wrong I'm sure there are good reasons for some of the points above, but just doesn't inspire confidence / look overly professional.... 

    You don't have to have a shiny showroom to give punters a bit of confidence.

    No offences hope this helps.

    P.S Agree about the alloy wheel!

    No offence taken! :) At the moment I'm storing the cars at a caravan storage site, good friends with the owner so he lets me do all the viewings there in a really nice gravelled area just outside of the indoor unit where there kept. I'm just waiting for one area of the gravel to be refilled (soak away was dug in last year) and I can do all the photos from there in front of a green steel wall, so at least then it will look like its in front of a unit! 

    Completely agree with all the points, I am looking at getting izettle soon so then punters can use cards, i'll look into renting a land line number aswell!

    5 minutes ago, NITM said:

    Really like your selection of photos, shows nearly every angle possible, plus alot of interior shots will be appealing to a customer. A good valet on the Audi would maybe bring more potential buyers, like the exhaust tip shot, if the tips where shiny and tyres were slicked with those sort of pictures it would look great :) i like the videos also!

    Thankyou! Definitely spending some money on tyre shine tomorrow:D!

    5 minutes ago, Blenheim Car Sales said:

    I liked the video very professional, Obviously we are in same boat here the  adds in full cloud are not as desirable as the BMW in the sun, I guess you will be doing something once we get a  forecast for sun.

     

    Just me................  i take a  pic of the  2 keys sitting on the handbook, And while i am keen to have  sun pictures for exterior i find cloud cover best for the interior, Its  just so you dont have shadow and sun in the interior pics, I doubt the point i have made will or would have made put anyone off its just me and what i do

    I think I'm missing a service book and key pic for the BMW, is it worth doing even when it's only got the little service booklet and one key with no A4 receipts?

    I always found shooting in direct sunlight a nightmare because of reflections on dark cars and the contrast in exposures? I was thinking about redoing the BMW in overcast conditions?

    Thankyou for the feedback! REALLY appreciate it!

    4 minutes ago, Mark101 said:

    Tyre shine and lighting is my two pennies.

    Noted, thankyou Mark!

  12. Posted

    4 minutes ago, NickGCS said:

    I just looked at the Audi and bmw- Bmw looks better in that light, I’d try brightening the photos of the Audi or taking them in a different light.

    both could do with a good bit of tyre shine on, id also spend 10 mins on the A3s scuffed wheel with some 800, wheel trim silver rattle can and a pack of playing cards, a DIY refurb

    Interior shots of the switches etc look dirty-  buy a detailing brush and get all those bits of dust out with a good interior cleaner (we use pazzaz by AS) buff off with a dry cloth and it will transform those pics.

     I’d avoid taking those types of photos of the bmw steering wheel with obvious wear etc too!

    write ups are good, loads of photos too, plenty positives, but retail is detail..... mind you it is january... :) 

    Awesome thankyou Nick! Much appreciated!

  13. Posted

    Evening all, seeing as the phone hasn't rung in a few weeks, I was hoping for some feedback on my adverts. 

    Seriously, hit me with everything you've got, all criticisms welcome! I'd really appreciate any help you guys can give me!

    I've only got 3 proper ads up and 2 are due in any day now. (I've taken one down (2008 Mondeo estate 2.2 Titanium X, 70k) as its had to go into the garage for some minor repairs and the body work man is coming tomorrow to tart it up so will need fresh photos)

    https://www.autotrader.co.uk/dealers/cambridgeshire/peterborough/the-automotive-approach-ltd-10015602

     

    The mini (and unadvertised mondeo) have been in since late November, BMW and Audi have been advertised since early Jan now with no enquiries what so ever

  14. Posted

    49 minutes ago, NOACROSS said:

    Have 30 odd in stock and costs associated with having a site, so it is OK but used to do loads more a month. 

    Others on here like ‘Super-Rory’ do much better numbers and are braver than I. :o)

    Everone gets their turn though, so chin up! It’ll happen. 

    Mikey- can we help critique your ads maybe? Another pair of eyes can often spot something you might not.  Where do you advertise?

     

    On Autotrader, I'll start up a new thread so this one doesn't get swamped! 

  15. Posted

    20 minutes ago, NITM said:

    Sounds good.. I never reduce prices especially at this time of year as i find it hard to replace stock in Jan/Feb.. it always picks up though!

    Bloody hope it picks up, phone hasn't rang in 2 weeks now. Had 2 gone in the first 4 days of Jan, one came back for a warranty claim though. Get the odd email offering £750-1K less but that's it!

    Think i'll start offering my manly services to all the lonely ladies to prop the car sales up when its quiet :D

    • Like 2

  16. Posted

    2 hours ago, Rory RSC said:

    Erratic idle is usually PCV valve on this engine. Very common on the MK5 GTI's we used to sell loads of and fit a lot of these. I used to buy them cheap from Auction with this fault and a £20 PCV valve did the trick. Just google'd it for a memory re fresh and it sounds very similar. I would give it a try as first port of call. 

     

    Yup I've had this twice on TFSI engines that threw up fault codes, if you've got the car, turn it on and see how hard it is to remove the oil cap. If it's really difficult it's likely to be the pcv.

  19. Posted

    Ok so lubed up the edges of the windows. They got stuck down as normal, moved it less than a metre and they worked again, and then continued to work when stationary (as they did before) 

    I've checked the battery before turning it on this morning (hadn't been run since Friday), 12.1, then when running, held at 14.7. 

    Hopefully the grease has done the job, but can't test it until it's been sat for a few hours

     

    18 minutes ago, tradex said:

    Just a thought here, not sure if Mingys have this feature? Are there any 'door open alerts', does the 'door open alert' system work as it should?

    Okay..... Now this is odd. I think everytime I've started the car, the door has been open causing the "window down" 

    I've just been out, got in, CLOSED the door, started her up and voila! Both Windows goup and down no problem! 

    Then I turned it off, jumped out, locked and started again with the door OPEN and both the windows would only go down! Regardless if the door was open or shut after starting!

    This has to be some weird safety feature so you don't lock yourself out of the car??

    Thankyou for that suggestion tradex, I think I can live with it like this!

  22. Posted

    2 minutes ago, DBCARS said:

    Ive never heard of them, if its a do it yourself logo company then im not interested as I am looking for something spectacular, I want a really good stand out Logo!

    Its not a DIY, you pay someone to do it. Fiverr is like a free lance market place? 

    • Like 1

  25. Posted

    1 minute ago, Stalker said:

    Something must be telling them to go down? When you press the unlock button on the key I wonder if it’s sticking down and doing the global opening thingy? 

    Have you got a remote key tester? 

    It's only when I use the switch to get them down, they're not going down by themselves. It's like the speed sensor doesn't allow them to go back up unless some sort of speed is registered?