Mark101

Excuse my inexperience - when you say it "cleared" the faults - did you need to replace the sensors or does this simply clear the fault?

You probably know a lot more than I do to be fair, our CFO saw to all HMRC matters. I keep everything up to date and above board simply because I am very aware that it can happen. The £200m company wasn't mine (unfortunately, I was a board member but still a humble employee) this is where my savings came from that I am currently living off and funding my start-up (and again, of course this was taxable income - I would be happy if I could earn what I used to pay in tax lol). The main point is that as yet, I am unregistered for VAT (it's looming but I'm not there yet). Regarding Tax in general, I haven't drawn a bean out but put plenty in - so hopefully this only becomes a problem when I start making money. Thank you for your insight, it is appreciated - I have a lot to learn about this industry and cannot believe how much has changed since my last venture. Regards, Mark

I ran a business turning over between £12m-£15m (I was only an employee but the MD). We had had an overdraft facility of £1m for 10 years or more - never reached the limit but operated within it. As a consequence of the 2008 credit crunch, banks had to call in as much of their credit lines as possible and overdrafts are generally an easy target (i.e. as soon as there is a credit balance in your account, they can switch the facility off). For example, if your bank has issued a record number of loans/credit cards/mortgages etc - they have to work on the fact that if everyone fully utilised their lines, there needs to be "enough" in the pot. Whether you use you O/D or not, banks have to ensure they have your maximum amount available. I recently had my O/D reduced from £1,000 to £400 (on my personal account) for this reason - I had never used it. In your case, credit card would be my preference.

Hi EPV - I think we have a similar sized business at the moment (albeit you present your photos far better than me, something I am addressing). If you want my simple advice (from past experience) do NOT use an overdraft - at any time the bank can call that in (they did it to me on a £1m facility and it hurts). If you really want funding, which is clearly to give you flexibility to grow - get a personal loan of say £25k over 60 months - you can dip in and out of whenever you want and ultimately, one way or another it gets paid off - meaning you'll have "accidentally" expanded your investment pot and depending on how the business is doing, you could repeat.

See for me, a home trader - my expenses are seriously limited beyond what I already pay - arguably, a little more electricity and gas used. Adverts on Fleabay cost me £15 pcpm, so that is not here or there and as far as depreciation is concerned, negligible over max 90 days on the age profile of the cars I stock. I find that if you wait long enough (within reason), someone will come along and buy the car if it is presented well and they like you. Despite the "general" public, there are still a few which will pay a little extra for added value, quality and ease. If someone wants to drive 400 miles to save £200 - go for it. If they want a car realistically priced, full MOT, freshly serviced, valeted and with a warranty - here's my details........ Having said that, I had a terrible March, so I'm probably completely wrong and you can ignore all of the above

It is so difficult to source good stock at sensible money, so with this in mind - I need to maximise my margin on the good stuff I have got rather than "give it away" only be to be back in the same place of sourcing stock to "give away." When it starts to get silly, i.e. I've had something for nearer 90 days, it's time to cut loose but If can see a good return and that takes 60 days, I'm a happy boy Or double your stock and retain the same margin over extended period = same effect

That's what I hate about these hand car washes. The last thing they do is dress the tyres and then you have to drive off immediately before the stuff has soaked in/dried. Other than that, they do an amazing job for the money.

Personally (and I am working on seriously fewer numbers) - stock churn should be 60 days. If you're turning roughly 50% of your stock every month, you are doing well and meeting my criteria - providing there aren't too many "stickers" in that mix.

Brilliant

Luckily, my partner workshop will do free diagnostics for me and they are 2 minutes away. Maybe you could come to the same arrangement with yours?

Best diagnostic tool? My ear

My all time favourite film!

Taking all this on board: 1) HMRC have never investigated me in any capacity in the past, either as a trader or as an employed board execeutive turning £200m but I do appreciate your concerns/warnings. 2) If HMRC investigated me right now, they would feel very sorry for me as my investment vs. sales is so heavily skewed in their favor. 3) There is absolutely nothing untoward going on - I keep my books impeccably up to date and correct (easy when you have 6 cars, 1 workshop, 1 body shop and 3 vendors) 4) I don't think how you fund the procurement of vehicles and remedial work has any bearing on HMRC, it is how you record the invoices in/out, VAT margin and PAYE that counts. 5) I am not drawing any salary yet (living off savings) and have just incorporated, allowing deduction for directors loans/investment - after which I will be taking min. wage + dividend.

And you're still here, so it worked - nice one - success favors the brave (or the insane)

Again, I don't have one because often you need to pay for the facility whether you utilise it or not - we as motor traders need flexibility to jump on something because a "good un" doesn't come around all that often. We don't (well I don't) have time to wait for the bank to process a credit application, so the CC's work for me as established credit lines.

Depends, I don't have a company CC but I have about £70k limit on personal spread across about 7 cards ranging from £3,500 to £12,000 each. I never turn credit away and always use some to keep me in check. One of my closest mates is a multi-millionaire and has zero credit rating - he couldn't even get a store card at Debenhams - the reason, he has never had credit beyond his original mortgage. Credit should only be used for growth/expansion not luxuries - just my opinion

Possible (a reason we stopped, or reworded a reward system at work for customer loyalty many years ago). Possible but It is highly unlikely, HMRC has enough trouble gaining unpaid taxes from various companies, without checking all the incidentals. Pay tax and VAT on time without errors and you are unlikely to ever get any investigation, let alone into these "perks." In any case, I use personal CC, so even more work to route out what's business and what's personal. Worst case, you have to pay tax on the benefit which is still less than the RRP

I always forget mine when I go to the pub, never any other time....strange that

LOL

Result - I'd agree, sounds like a typical "get me out of here"

Just to be clear - I can afford stock but why not take advantage of "free stock funding?" It leaves cash in the business to buy in privately advertised cars and in general gives me much greater flexibility. Ultimately, the cards get paid at month end, either from a successful sale or from our reserves and I "build up" a nice little rewards incentive. I did think about a stocking loan and set up a large scale operation - I'm too scared though.

Do you guys "trust" the proxy bid? I am a little concerned that the Auctioneer will trot me up to within a couple of quid of my proxy, knowing they have a figure whether anyone else is bidding or not. I know they're not meant to according to rules but how can anyone prove it? Good luck by the way re: overturning this situation Rich

I really think it is NOT illegal - name an auction that doesn't do it. If it were illegal, someone would have hanged by now

I don't believe this is illegal - immoral, maybe... On the basis that no-one is "forcing" you to buy, just in effect, asking for more money - you can always walk away. It pisses us all off but that's life - the other option is that they don't run them up and they don't make reserve - still a crap situation. Log every correspondence you had with them regarding your accidental Proxy - dates, times, emails, calls etc - you might just do ok.

exactly - auctioneer must have said for the first time,for the second time.....anyone, anyone Bueller, Bueller, Bueller, anyone, third and last time, anyone, anyone Beuller - NOT SOLD