Andy Entwistle

Don't worry Ian, its part of life, if every deal we shook on went through, we'd all be much much richer than we are .....

I remember being told a fair few years ago in the infancy of ebay, that the best time to finish an auction was sunday evening, allegedly this is when most people are at home and scanning the net. My mate claimed that he consistently sees better money from Auctions ending on a Sunday evening than any other time... I also remember from my days of standing in the cold at Blackbush, never buy a small car from them on a Friday, the place was teeming with private buyers, Dads looking to buy their daughter a cheap first car, they came on a friday and that way had the weekend to play with the purchase !

But you didn't tell us Umesh...... what Mileage does a C300 get ?

and how about starting them ?

Surely, its another option, and its best to offer as many as possible. Many people on ebay are looking for instant gratification, so offering them a chance to buy a car now without waiting for a lengthy auction is not a bad thing... I've bought a couple of vehicles via best offer, at least its gets people interacting with you, and of course you don't have to accept !

The European Economy is still very shaky, this could easily go into decline and this could impact us. It seems that our current economic growth is based on consumer spend rather than manufacturing output and sales, which could easily faulter and put us back where we were.

I would imagine a in depth diagnostic might throw up a few small "irregularities" in the emission sensors, but really can;t see every car being forced through a diagnostic for the MOT.... then again this is VOSA. A friend runs a small local garage, picks up the stuff when its out of Manuf warranty, services 5 to 15 year old stuff generally. He said he can;t believe how many DPF failures he gets through, mostly because people don't understand how to look after them... giving someone with an 8 year old Peugeot the news that they need a new DPF at over £500 is not an easy message !

Paul - You should ask Santa for an ipad mini for Christmas

Its very sad that the fact that over 30% of the Dealers who we mystery shopped for the Used car awards didn't reply to our enquiries, never mind get as far as offering a test drive. Having worked in the industry too long, this statistic doesn't surprise me, what does however is that these were dealers who had either nominated themselves or others had seen fit to nominate them, meaning they are supposed to be the best out there.... It begs the question, does this statistic get worse if you call those who haven;t been nominated ? However, i haven't heard a dealer say they are struggling to sell cars recently, so is this just a reflection of supply and demand, with some dealers knowing they can be lazy. Incidentally, i moved house in the summer and trying to get builders to commit to a date and turn up is just as bad... and two of these are supposed to be mates ! Been waiting for a plasterer for 8 weeks now !

You can still get a few small japanese ones for decent money, though we've yet to see the snow down south, might be worth putting a few in a field !

watch the Chinese coming up the outside lane....

There are a few new pieces of software out there that use tablets, they are very slick and can tie into valuations and provenance tools to give the full appraisal. I think these are aimed at the big boys with lager sites, however, I see the biggest problem being the investment in the tablet and of course the fact that the sales staff have fingers made of butter and tablets don't bounce.. However, they look good, work well and portray a better image to your customer who is more likely to believe the result of your appraisal (?) If you already have a tablet, it could be worth trialing?

Mazda were king of special editions with the Mk1 MX-5... most were not worth anything more than the normal one, but the Gleneagles and Merlot are now quite sought after....

I have heard many dealers say that they are now using their mobiles to value stock, simply going to a retail site and seeing what the model is selling for...

Are these private buyers or are these the army of kerbside sellers, looking for a quick profit without any of the responsibility we all have?

Wrong time of year to be looking for one I know ... but if anyone has taken in a cheap 4wd in part ex let me know... age and mileage irrelevant, need it for the wife to use down the yard !

1993 Porsche 911 993. Last of the Air cooled. Sold it to pay for my Wedding....... god i miss that car

good for franchised dealers, will bring in more punters, but will this further squeeze the independents ?

Hi Kido Its not repairing and selling them. Its trying to hide this fact that I think is bad for the industry. Our customers should know what they are buying, people misleading them gives us all a bad name. Providing cars are repaired properly and advertised openly, they can be a great way for consumers to grab a bargain, providing they know what they are buying. However, surely a small kerbside trader, cheaply repairing small cars and selling them onto a young innocent driver without divulging the history is bad for all of us in the industry, never mind the potential dangers for the end buyer?

How can we ( as Car Dealer Magazine) help the trade with this. We have contacts at TSI. Are the governing bodies helping, or does it need something else to help us all ?

will be interesting to see how many people are happy to divulge this info in public !

Suzuki x90? - lovely looking car, and practical to boot !

This is all about debate. Some on her may well be trader from home dealers. All views are valid and welcome.... I can see why the smaller guys would trade from home, I'd look at it in their shoes, but at the same time we need to support the wider trade and those with legitimate forecourt business's ... Is there space for both?

I've heard a number of dealers being caught out by 2wd and 4wd variations of the Kuga and Qashqai. Thinking they have a 4wd when its a 2wd ! Most of them rely on HPI to tell them what it is as there is no other way of telling unless you get underneath.

Happened to my Aunts Rav4. won't be taking my x5 to hers any time soon.. Apart from sticking 240v through em this is a hard one.. motion sensing alarms won't work Did the 2 sites affected have motion sensor lighting, our local dealers swear that this helps