MOTORS

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Posts posted by MOTORS

  2. Posted

    When this is launched anyone not using AT checks will be at a disadvantage because their adverts will not display that the car has been checked. We all do our own checks be it HPI or other sources and possibly even say so in the advert text. I think this is more about giving the consumer confidence in your advert that the car has been checked. Customers will scroll through cars and ones without the green check message will stand out. 

    Unfortunately another Autotrader add on that is going to cost money, but probably the only one which will actually save money in the long term.

  5. Posted

    17 hours ago, Arfur Dealy said:

    So do LG simply act for you within the  CRA parameters, or do they advise you on each claim ? How does it specifically work ? 

    The customer contacts LG to make a claim. The LG warranty is in addition to CRA parameters. LG warranty admin confirm to the customer whether the claim is valid or not (the part is covered / within mileage parameters etc). Whether the claim is valid or not LG discuss each claim with me and we can authorise the repair up to the claim limit if valid, or agree a gesture of goodwill payment for say 50% of the repair if the part is not covered, if that is appropriate at the time - Or if the claim is so outside the parameters of a valid claim we can agree to decline the claim which LG handle. Out of several hundred warranties issued we have only had a handful of claims for such things as wheel bearing, starter motor and battery. Batteries are not covered by the warranty but we have authorised such claims as gestures of goodwill.

    Basically LG will advise you on all claims. On the ones that are not valid it's up to you how you deal with them

     

     

  6. Posted

    2 hours ago, CCC said:

    Thanks. Sounds like lawgistics for local and paid for national is the way to go. The purpose of the warranty is to cover ourselves for CRA level risks within the first 3 months. 

    What's the problem with Lawgistics warranty for national customers?  We put Lawgistics warranty on every car we sell. We have very few claims but if there is an issue the customer can take the car to any VAT registered garage in the UK.  We pay the garage directly as necessary as long as the cost is reasonable and what you would expect for the repair, but Lawgistics manage the claim with you anyway. We have never had any issues with customers being unhappy with the service that Lawgistics warranty offer both on a local and national basis.

  7. Posted

    22 hours ago, Nick M.K. said:

    It publishes a specific phone number which is different to your actual number, only the front five area code digits stay the same. Punters dial it, it diverts to your actual number and plays them a message "This call may be recorded". At the same time it plays you a message "This is another enquiry from eBay".

    Most people click through to my website from ebay or Autotrader and call me directly to the landline or mobile. I have call tracker but rarely get an ebay or Autotrader whisper call. I always ask customers where they saw the car and the most common reply is "everywhere".

  8. Posted

    25 minutes ago, Blenheim Car Sales said:

    conversation starts and ends with sales and money in the bank, I may be wrong but similar to Ebay Gumtree Car Guru i seem to be  busy but not actually selling anything, I am not yet convinces FB is a suitable target market

    I agree, but like I said we've sold 3 cars through FB between Christmas & now. Not a single call via Autotrader. DD goes out on 02-01-19 to Autotrader for £2300 which makes FB results look very competitive as a cheap add on. The way I look at it is with FB you can serve your advert to the customer on their news feed. With Autotrader they actually need to be searching for a car.  With FB you can catch customers very early on in their thought process and direct them straight to your website. Direct them to Autotrader and your competition lies in wait with their similar advert, slid in next to yours as a feature advert.

    Early days but for me it's working and I'm selling...

    All the best for 2019...

  9. Posted

    1 hour ago, ExCouncilJobsworth said:

    Final question how did you go about putting the advert up? Is there a link on fb homepage or do you have to contact some jobsworth to do it for you?

    Create yourself a "Jobsworth" page (your company name). Type in your advert, attach photos, create link to AT or your website.  I would try it first by sticking an advert on free of charge, then if you fancy it boost the post and pay per click (define your local area, demographics, etc to maximise response). Ask your friends to like the post, then advertise to your friends and their friends - and build from there. You can even upload a list of previous customers to FB and they convert the list into a list of FB users that you can target.  The list goes on and you can drill deeper and deeper into a more and more defined market.

    Good luck and Happy New Year...

    1 hour ago, sparky said:

    Glad it worked. Personally I think it's a bit of a no brainer to go on it.

    If you don't mind me asking, did you boost posts or do target marketing? I'm led to believe there's a big difference. I'm lazy so simply boost them.

    I did the adverts and let a few enquiries come in, then (no patience) I boosted the post to people that have liked my page and their friends. I also tried setting certain demographics with age, self employed, directors etc and a local area. Today I've posted our most expensive car into London FB with a diameter of 50 miles to see what response I get. The mind boggles.....

    I'm getting no response from Autotrader and I joke not I've been up and down like a yo-yo at my desk responding to FB enquiries. Might be a flash in the pan or it might be the way to go. Better than sat here waiting for Autotrader to produce some leads...

    • Like 1

  10. Posted

    1 hour ago, ExCouncilJobsworth said:

    What did you get for £110? I mean in terms of number of adverts, length of ads etc. 

    And can you only click them to link you to your website? What if you dont have a website?

    I put 11 adverts on, some for 2 days and some for 5 days. If you don't have a website you can include a link to your Autotrader advert (but my thinking is that if you direct them to Autotrader there will be lots more to choose from and I prefer to keep their focus on my car on my website). 

    Normally Facebook doesn't work for me. Maybe it's the time of year where everyone sits scrolling down FB newsfeed. I don't know. It's the first time we've had good results. What I do know is since October the Autotrader response has been hopeless, so thought I would try something different. 

    • Like 1

  11. Posted

    On 27/12/2018 at 4:46 PM, ExCouncilJobsworth said:

    FB is a gimmick and time waste. 

    If someone wants to spend good money on a car they'd go to the main platforms.

    I've discounted FB as a waste of time up to now, but for some reason on 23rd Dec I put all our stock on FB on individual adverts with click to message for enquiry / finance quote / test drive. Had 128 clicks to our website, 23 serious enquiry messages, 7 finance quotes, sold 2 cars as a result with another viewing this afternoon. Total cost £110.

    This compares to Autotrader who we spend £2300 with a month. Zero website clicks, zero phone calls, zero anything.

    • Like 2

  13. Posted

    17 hours ago, a16xef said:

    I am thinking I have already had my one chance to repair, so if they can, they are now going to press me for a refund. It seems intermittent now. I thought I had resolved it but its just come back again as I was about to return it to them. Appreciate your fast responses on this guys

    Any repair like this, we normally state on the work report "on-going repair - please monitor". We were advised to do this by the local trading standards officer on their CRA day in 2015.

  16. Posted

    4 minutes ago, Tony F said:

    And getting back on topic for Novemebr trade. We have just had our worse 2 months ever, oct & nov, and thats in 27 years of trading and including any decembers.

    Seen lots of rough patches over the years, and always manage to duck & dive, weave, find new solutions etc and come up good each year. But to say the past 2 months has me stumped is an understatement!!! Headscratching times. Glass ceilings and brick walls.

    Us too. Worst October & November ever. 

  20. Posted

    Is it an estate? I've had a few of these where the radio gets poor reception. The wire to the diversity amplifier in the rear spoiler goes through the rubber grommets / rubber pipes from the body to the tailgate. The wire snaps from constant opening & closing and just needs soldering back together and re-insulating with some heat shrink sleeves. From memory its a brown wire. Real easy repair to fault find & repair once you've located the wire in the rubber pipe. 

    Hope this helps.

  21. Posted

    1 hour ago, Mikey360 said:

    Thanks for the replies chaps, gave them a call and got a free 8 week trial, certainly makes buying alot easier!

    Great that you’ve got a free trial. I would just say don’t take it as gospel as some of our regular best sellers only rate 45/100 on the new desirability scale. It’s just a guide but I’m sure you’ll find it useful.

    • Like 1

  22. Posted

    I use it but understand that it shows desirability within 50 miles. While it’s interesting to compare the new desirability score (out of 100) against the old rating out of 5, I struggle to believe the results as we don’t sell much to customers within 50 miles. Most travel 100-200 miles.

    its also interesting to see a desirability score of 99 for a car which shows 2.5 on Autotrader buying (autotrademail) as they obviously contradict each other.

    • Like 1

  23. Posted

    9 minutes ago, EPV said:

    I do mate thanks. My trade insurance covers anyone else moving cars for me as long as it’s exaclty that, motor trade purposes. That and they are over 25 with a full license held for more than 2 years. 

    Will the second set of plates have the same number as my first or will I need a separate set of plates and put those on the MID?

    Cheers chaps 

    Will be a different number. We have two sets, both on the MID.

  24. Posted

    1 hour ago, Tadams said:

    Actually you don't there are brokers that if they see the value in a relationship thy will let you use their licence. 

    I don't think offering finance is essential however its certainly a nice string to the bow and a nice offering to be able to mention, 

    There is still the usual stigma of the used car salesman working in cash only to try and hide something unfortunately i think being able to offer finance can make you look more respectable as a business (regardless if that is true or not).

    For us in was a trade off between how much time we wanted to spend on a deal vs the commission.

    The guys are more useful selling the cars than sat behind a computer filling out apps and getting proofs so we send everything to one broker who does all or finance, they speak with the customer, they get the proofs (where needed) and they complete the legal stuff and go through the signing process with the customer, all we need to do is generate an invoice. 

    Admittedly the comms isn't the best  but from the example we were given before we are only about £50 worse off but based on the time saved and how the saved time free's up more time to sell to other customer it's a hit we are more than happy to take. 

    Comms is a direct payment in our account at the start of every month.  

         

    To deal directly with a finance house you need to be FCA regulated. But yes as you say anyone can deal with a broker without being FCA regulated

  25. Posted

    11 minutes ago, Blenheim Car Sales said:

    I am planning on going fully FCA accredited over Christmas break but do all finance houses actually need you to be FCA in order to let you sell there finance products ???

     

    i am going FCA accredited purely to sell finance for additional income....................   broker i used this year  must have earned a tiny fortune from me

    Yes, you have to be FCA regulated to deal with any finance house. Don't forget to include debt adjusting.