Bagheera

Yes, I've bought the mini.

From my research, there was an instrument cluster fault on the early 2011 face lift models and a few were changed under warranty but haven't read about anything else This one's a 2011 manual. Might well be, especially if you keep adding to it with unrelated comments What's the length to beat?

I've heard mini's are very unreliable, its just this one is very low mileage, with a full mini history so worth a shot I think. Thanks for replying.

Thanks for the reply, really helpful! I know some of it will be trial and error but I like to get as much info as possible before taking the plunge. Been to see the Mini, think I'll get it at the right price and apart from a dent and a scrape in the bumper it's tip top. Taking a look at the i10 over the weekend so could have two cars by next week......

I have my first two cars lined up for purchase, both private sellers. One is a mini, the other a hyundai i10. I know the former is very popular but is the hyundai i10 a car that sells well? How do you guys know if a car does well, is it just experience? Is there anywhere online that will give you that sort of information? Thanks.

Thanks for that, much appreciated. I'm hoping to finalise my trade insurance next week. Until then I can't go too in depth on manheim's site but I do like what I see and can see the benefits of online auctions. I'm thinking I'll stick to petrol for now and smaller cars to begin with. I've also been offered a few cars privately recently through my work (they had no idea I was interested in trading), so may follow up and see if I can get a bargain. One is an auto mini with 28k miles, could be a good earner at the right price form what I've seen on hpi valuations. Thanks again for your reply, really appreciate it.

Thanks for all the replies, plenty of sound advice there!

Morning all. Went to my first proper auction this week. It was open to joe public but mostly seemed to be traders there. Most of the cars sold & sold for trade price or just over although a handful were only 'provisional' and are going back in to auction next week presumably because the vendor wants more! Anyway, I plan to go back next week with my 'target' cars, these are cars that I've checked online and have a fairly clean mot history or at least advisories that have been sorted or only minor that I can fix. I won't be buying them just yet, just seeing whether I'd be in with a chance of getting them at a good price. Any way my questions are:- Is it the norm at auctions to have a look at the paperwork/service history if you get there early enough and ask? (These are sold as seen) I'll have my max bid price before hand based on what i see online but before I go but what are the basic checks you guys make that might make you adjust your bid or not bid all together? I'm thinking tyres, dipstick, coolant and oil cap as well as engine lights, discs, pads. Anything else I'm missing? Difficult to see suspension parts so I 'll rely on MoT history for anything on that. Am I right in thinking that you only need to Hpi check cars that you take in p/x or buy privately and not ones at auction as the auction house does this? And my last question for this round is on Insurance. If you take out a traders policy, are you only covered on the vehicles you add to the MID or are you covered to drive any vehicle? Is the MID system only there to stop you getting pulled by the Police regularly? I understand from my reading that I should add my trade plates to the MID system but just not clear on the rest Thanks in advance for any help.

My first impression is yes, it seems reliable. Just checked a few and then checked on ebay and it seems about right. Need to check a few more though to be sure...

Thanks for posting this, I found it really helpful.

I'll be really interested to see the margins when I go down there. Thanks for the heads up on those. Initially, I will only trade maybe 1 car per month, so should avoid any need for VAT registration, if it's average 5k per vehicle should still come under the threshold with a bit of room to spare. Thanks. I don't know if I mis read the application but I got the impression they wouldn't issue them unless you were LTD.

Thanks for the reply. I've been on my local auctioneers site & picked a good few cars of interest. Looked up they're retail value and as a guide to trade price got a valuation from We buy any car although I don't know how accurate that would be, some of the cars it was valuing only £500 less than retail which won't be enough mark up once fees, mot, service are factored in + any repairs. I'm going to head down there and see what they sell for and see what the margins are. My fully comp Motor trader Insurance has come in around £1400 or £1200 TPO which I didn't think was too bad. I don't know what others are paying but seemed reasonable enough. I think that was for up to 4 cars at one time. Just in regards to trade plates, the application want the company house registration. I'm going to avoid Ltd and just do it sole trader for the first year. How practical is it to operate without trade plates? Can you get trade plates without being ltd? I did see Jaime's post, and to be honest am very surprised at the hostility, and frankly arrogance that seems to be here from some towards new/part time traders. It's a shame. We all have to start somewhere, it was true for me 10 years ago in business and for everyone here, whatever profession you're in. I think a lot of people forget that.

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I've got an auction place near me (open to everyone) and have been once. I'm going to keep an eye on their stock and wait for vehicles/engines that I know a fair bit about (mainly Ford's), and then see what prices they sell for and what I could potentially get for them. I'll have a look for the auction catalogue too, I did see it pop up somewhere when i was on Manheim.

Hi guys, First post here - I'm hoping to start selling a few cars on the side as I enjoy car maintenance and wanted something as a hobby and to earn a bit doing it. I already have a full time income and have run a business for the last 10 years so have some experience but none in the motor trade. I've quite a few questions and have started reading through threads on the forum, I've also got the 'so you want to be a car trader' and read through most of that. Just wanted to ask a couple of questions that have arisen from what I've read. It mentions planning permission for working from home; is this absolutely needed? My aim will be to sell one car a month on average. I've also been on manheim and registered as general public. I notice that on some of the vehicle inspection reports that everything is ticked as good and then they'll be 'X Engine Noise'. Is this common for cars sold there that have higher mileages or is it indicative of a fault? Could anyone recommend the best site with easiest access to trade prices etc? I'm sure I'll have many more questions but will keep reading and pop up when I do. Thanks in advance for any help.