Andy Entwistle

Sounds to me like people who think that by putting this in the window of their car they can avoid paying full price... people who don't understand ANPR. Why else would you buy a tax disc for that kind of money !

So, where do we start.... Most people made it home, but i think without the AA we may have struggled with a few cars ! Anyone want to share their favourite / most amusing part of the event?

Have a look at our Car Dealer Club mini site, there are a number of member discounts here....

Its entirely up to you how you do this. Some people wear the fancy dress all the way through, but some just on arrival. The same for fundraising, some raise extra funds for the event and some just raise the funds through the sale of the vehicle at the end, The most important thing is, to enjoy it, there is no right or wrong way of doing it. There will be plenty there who will be along for the first time and everyone will make you feel very welcome !

The countdown is well and truly on to this years Used Car Awards, which are taking place in Central London on the 1st December. We are really pleased with the buzz that the Used Car Awards are creating and as some of the people on this forum will attest, its a great evening and a great way to get some industry recognition for all the hard work you or your team put in.... But, if you don't nominate then you won't know ! Its quick and easy to nominate either yourself, a member of your team or a fellow dealer who goes above and beyond. Its a great way to recognise the good in our industry and we are pleased that so many dealers, manufacturers and suppliers have got behind this event is such a big way Below is the link to our nominations form for the 2014 awards, which closes in less than a month. https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/UsedNoms14 We think its vitally important for everyone associated with the business to recognise stand out performers and would encourage you all to give just a few minutes to nominate those who you think deserve some extra credit. Although obviously not everyone who nominates can win, we do create a shortlist for each category along with 2 highly commended places. Just to be nominated is often a huge morale booster for the people and last years highly commended and winners have used these awards for some great local PR this year More details on the event can be found here http://cardealermagazine.co.uk/publish/car-dealer-used-car-awards-returns/79793 If you get a few minutes, please take the time to nominate, even if you don’t complete the full nomination form, the one category you do complete might just win it. I would be happy to help take anyone through the nominations process, or how the selection, shortlist and eventually judging works. Andy

Well, the header says it all. Sadly someone has had to drop out of the event at fairly short notice, but this does mean we have one spare place ( one car and two people). I know a lot of people have ben interested in doing it, so before we open this up i thought i'd drop a line on here, if anyone can make it ( 10th -14th Oct) and wants to come, let me know ASAP Andy

In a previous life, we used to trade ex rentals for a certain rental company to trade as an intermediary. The issues to be aware of / questions to ask. Are you buying a car that is physically available? - Some will pre market these cars as they are due off rental, the problem with that being the car does;t always turn up when expected ( renter keeps it) and is often not quite as expected as it may have damage they don't know Check the service stamps - with more being kept on fleet longer, many sail past their service due date. Look carefully at the grading policy - The biggest issue we had was a disparity between the rental company view on a car and the dealer, particularly if you are a manufacturer franchise, Most BMW dealers for example would expect a car to come in needing a quick shammy ( unreasonable in my view) if it was a top quality, whereas the rental company class a would still often need some work.... I saw many of these disputed cars, i'd say in 70% of the cases i thought the dealer was unreasonable, but in 30%, the car was not as described, so make sure you have comeback on this - ideally see em first

Yes please ! We're going to be hitting NADA is January to talk to supplier and take some ideas to help grow this years event and make it even better and more useful than ever !

Interesting. We're going to be starting planning for next years conference soon, we're looking to double the size of the Expo, would be interesting to hear what kind of other suppliers you would all be interested in seeing so we can ensure we're targeting the right mix of exhibitors

Being the DVLA, the tax classification and the owner classification are two things... So for its ownership status its either, In trade or with a keeper. But for its tax status its either taxed, not taxed or SORN. Once the new system is in place all "in trade" cars will ( or should) be classified as "SORN" base don the previous owner saying its sold to trade.... But yes, its still confusing and i bet the first story of an attempted fine appears here within a few weeks of it going live...

its got you written all over it......

Well, Summer is disappearing rapidly and the countdown to this years used car awards is now on. Who's nominated? (yourselves or someone else) If not, why not... as the big finger says, you have to be in it to win it.. To help you along your way, nominations can be made from the comfort of your settee here... https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/UsedNoms14

Interesting and no surprise they haven[t got it right ( I've just had to pay £35 because they lost the notification that we sold my wife's car, apparently there is no appeal, i'm livid) How long have you had those ones in stock and did you personally put them in trade? Although i think that SORN is how the taxation class will come up even in trade. I think the "in trade" status relates to its ownership status, not its trade status. As the system hasn't officially changed yet, i imagine they are SORN or not still?

I think a lot of these are online now. There are a handful of sites where you can buy directly from japan... if you are brave !

It would't be illegal as the vehicle is officially one owner, however trading standard do take a dim view of ex rental cars being sold without this being disclosed. However, how many red Astra's out there are on forecourts where the first owner was daily rental, but as they are on their 3rd owner this isn't in the log book, so the dealer could legitimately be unaware

We'll remind you of that Jim

What's your view, seems like a lot of work for not much return?

Joe is a personal friend and has been a breath of fresh air turning around the fortunes of HR Owen significantly. This is a great loss to HR Owen,

Yes Umesh, but your one man band is akin to a 6 piece rock group at most places !

Have you stopped taking the pills ?

You make some really valid points Jim. Currency is just the tip of the iceberg and trying to plot all elements of government will be a nightmare.

only on a wednesday

Thanks Guys...... We welcome all kinds of input, valid or not, making sense..... or not ! We don't allow any shameless selling or offensive messages in here, but other than that we try to encourage people to say what they think... even if we don't always quite understand their point..... After all, the labour of the Pineapple is at the end of the week

Hi countryman. Yep, we can confirm this is correct. In the same way that if a consumer sells their car in the future on the 2nd of the month, their tax expires and they get no refund for that month, whereas the new owner has to tax from the start of that Month. This is surely double taxation, which i seem to think was not supposed to happen.

If you are looking to lease a showroom then this is going to come down to local location and size. I don't; think its something anyone on here can give a definitive answer on. You local letting agent will be the best place to start to get an idea of availability and cost, but be prepared to have to spend a significant amount of cash getting any showroom up to the right standard, particularly the kind of standard you are looking at with the Audi showroom above