Andy Entwistle

Microsoft have got some really interesting views they are going to be sharing at the conference on the future trends of retail outlets in the automotive industry, i think they have a couple of really interesting ideas....

I still think its the amount of talking the wife does that cost me, but thats a good point !!!!

Sounds like its just you Umesh !

Air Con.... Last thing i want to do is drive on the motorway to a meeting in hot weather with no A/C ... in my book this is a base requirement these days

I hear rumours the whole think could be put back at least 5 years. But until Manufacturers fit these as standard its always going to be a problem.. Interestingly i test drove a cars few weeks back from a manufacturer who i won't name. This car only had FM, no AM let alone DAB... personally i thought this was very poor !

Who's signed up for this years event yet? The Car Dealer Conference 2014 takes the theme of 2020 Vision and will be taking a look at how the motor trade will evolve over the next six years – and how dealers can prepare for it. It will be held at the Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon, on Friday, June 20. This years speakers are all experts from within the industry and will be giving advice and insight into some of the changes facing the dealer over the next few years. Along with the day’s speeches, you will also have the chance to explore the Car Dealer Expo – the UK’s largest event of its type. Rockingham Raceway's exhibition hall will be taken over by more than 40 exhibitors who will be on hand to chat about the products and services dealers need now and in the future so they are not left behind. Find out more info here http://cardealermagazine.co.uk/publish/register-today-free-attend-car-dealer-2020-vision-conference-2014/80812 and click here to register for your tickets https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/car-dealer-conference-2014-2020-vision-tickets-10572240857 The Car dealer team will all be on hand to have a chat over a coffee and a bacon Sarnie

I know a volvo specialist, all he deals in is volvo's, small sales and mostly service, has done so for 20 years. prior to that they were a main dealer, but lost their franchise as their site was too small and Volvo invested in a new site in an out of town business park around 30 miles away He had operated with a logo on his site without causing any issues or problems ( that i'm aware of) until recently when Volvo threatened him with legal action. He's now removed all reference to Volvo for fear of a big lawsuit. I agree that Manufacturers need to protect their brand and that the people who pay good money for franchises should get something for this, but is there a place for small independents to use the brand in some way if they are specialists ?

Hopefully with the number of sensors on cars these days it will be easier to spot ! A friend with his own independent is running round in a flood damages written off 2008 Focus TDI. It was cheap, but has been a lot of trouble, things just keep failing ! He does tell me a story of a local character from around Woking who used to buy these, tart them up and sell them on back in the eighties. He bought a Sierra that had been up to its windows in a river. Cleaned it up and sold it on, he thought he'd done a good job until the punter brought it back to complain about the Cassette player. He couldn't get a tape in it, so he'd taken it apart assuming a tape was stuck in it. Turns out it was full of mud. He managed to bluff his way that they had stuck an old unit in it as the original hadn't been working apparently....

Should Toyota be commended for acting on these issues regardless of the cost of the recall, or are they just suffering from quality issues that others aren;t? We all know of plenty of "known issues" that manufacturers refuse to acknowledge, fearful of the cost of a recall ( or lawsuit). Failing power steering pumps, head gaskets made of lace and faulty handbrakes are 3 that come to mind straight away.. What are your views?

Should Toyota be commended for acting on these issues regardless of the cost of the recall, or are they just suffering from quality issues that others aren;t? We all know of plenty of "known issues" that manufacturers refuse to acknowledge, fearful of the cost of a recall ( or lawsuit). Failing power steering pumps, head gaskets made of lace and faulty handbrakes are 3 that come to mind straight away.. What are your views?

Have a look on ebay, there is suddenly a lot of RS5 parts for sale... I can;t belive someone cut out the rear wing, thats no easy job at the side of the street !

I'd get on the trade wires and find another identical car, you have a ready made sale !

Cheers Jim, that's sounds spot on. I'll email you tomorrow

Warranty is a very competitive market place. What kind of stock do you retail Nick?

And so it starts again. You may remember a couple of years ago, with the help of our readers, we managed to trade up from pretty much Zip to a Porsche 911, which was sold and the proceeds went to Ben. Well, we're doing it all again, and this time I'm in the driving seat. I'm hoping to prove that a background in the oily side of the industry (me) will beat a background in poncing around driving cars and telling the world about em ! (Baggott) I'm starting with £2k and i'm aiming to trade up to some sort of supercar within 12 Months (18 at a stretch). We'll then use our contacts to get this properly sorted before selling it with the proceeds going to Great Ormond Street Hospital. In case you missed the last time we did this, we're looking to our readers to help us secure stock through their part ex's and unwanted vehicles at a "good" price, ( we also have access to some of the trade sites) which we'll take on, spruce up and sell on, with the profit going into the next car. So, I have £2k burning a hole in my pocket, has anyone got anything they can let us have around this price, something we can make a few quid on, the more unusual the better. Don't get me wrong, i'll take a Focus at the right price, but something sporty, unusual, upmarket or just different should make for an interesting read. If you have anything can you drop me a line Andy@blackballmedia.co.uk Cheers all

William Check this link, this "should" give you all the recall information for all vehicles in the UK, but i can;t vouch for how accurate this is http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/apps/recalls/ A few years ago, when at HPI we did look into trying to incorporate this info into the HPI check, but it proved to be very difficult to get this data and verify the accuracy. It was also near impossible to verify which vehicles had had the work done. So it didn;t really fly. I doubt many non franchise dealers check the vehicles, and i know some franchises that don;t either !

I hear a nice manufacturer came to your rescue... who was it again? :-)

Them - "Why don't the electric windows work in the back Me - "It doesn't have electric windows in the back" Them - "How do i open them then" Me - "You can't, they're fixed" Them - "Well, the last one i saw they weren't" Then why didn't you buy that one then....... (Knowing the particular model didn't have opening rear windows, it was a coupe) (Ok, i didn't say that last bit, but wanted to)

From our understanding, you will be able to check the tax status pretty much as you can today. This "should" show if the car has been taxed for the year, or if its just monthly. But you are correct, its far less likely that the car will come with much in the way of tax left and it will be more difficult to tell for sure. I woudl say that within 12 - 18 months, the majority of people will pay monthly, that the way we pay for pretty much everything else, i can;t see why tax will be any different ?

Thanks for all the feedback. Looks like most of the experiences aren't particularly positive. I think these guys are probably making their money at the lower end of the market?

Isn't service an integral part of any DMS these days?

Is this what we want? Surely they will expect their cut of the sale. In previous lives i've worked for industry suppliers who have all looked at using their own customer base in a similar way, but have struggled to make it work. Both the RAC and insurance companies looked at trying to do something similar in the past. The key as we all know is getting critical mass of vehicles to make it work. This is where our friends at Auto Trader, motors and Ebay have themselves in a strong position. I remember many years ago, as a Lloyds customer, my premium bank account gave me access to cars via them, but this just didn't work for them either... Don;t get me wrong, i fully support any new ideas to open up the market, but am sceptical to how successful this will be...

I'd be interested in hearing your views on the smart repair industry and suppliers. Its not an area we've touched on too much in the mag recently. They've come under some fire and i've heard opinion from both sides of the argument and we all know that a bad smart repair won't last long and within a few months the customer will be back complaining about their paintwork, however with the way teh industry has moved on it does seem that there are some decent repairers out there. How often do you guys need to call in smart repairers, have you had good or bad experiences. Do you actively shy away from vehicles that need small repairs, or is this part and parcel of life and smart repairs are a god send for helping us keep costs down and pick up a bargain? Or do you still use a proper bodyshop for all your repairs and make good?

This has been doing the rounds for ages !

We've been talking to a couple of people in the GAP industry who have sen this and are doing their utmost to make sure their products have the right cover and that dealers are selling them right, have a look through the mag and you'll see some interesting stuff that should help cover you if it does all go wrong !