jimreidvehicle

that's surely a mistake £30 per month????? all cars! if it is I will have to call them, cause that's certainly not what I'm paying!

Certainly wouldn't be a bad thing! However it has to policed correctly, not left to it's own devices! Something makes me think that they won't stick with it though, at the omen AT can't even control the dealers on there selling Cat C & D cars and the scammers so how are they going to manage customer feedback? Also what happens if a dealer who is spending £10k per month with AT continually receive bad reviews from customers, are AT going to print them? and of they are asked to take the comments offline because it is affecting the dealer WHAT THEN? I think we all know the answer! Jim

Chris or will I call you Denis? I do agree that everyone is entitled to an opinion on any open forum which this is, however to me it is a little suspicious that you have joined this forum only after obviously seeing the post on Twitter,not only this but you have joined anonymously and only commented on this subject which makes me feel as if you are maybe someone from the Vauxhall camp! Call me a cynic! Now I like a good debate like everyone else, however I think either you have missed the point or just out to cause trouble! Which ever it is , instead of trying to trash James' reputation you are in fact now ruining your own! Which again makes me think you are not here for the long run, so I think it's either time to come clean with what your motive is and who you actually are or I think the plug will be well and truly (and rightly) pulled on you.

As our accountants finish early for the festive period I sat and carried out our Payroll Run yesterday, and like every Christmas I made my ALL my employees a Christmas Bonus! Now excluding Gail and Myself we have 9 FULL time employees and 3 part time, so this year has been the largest year we have paid out on! Although I did question this payment this year it still feels RIGHT and PROPER paying a Christmas Bonus and I do genuinely feel that it is appreciated and I little thank you for our Team's hard works during the year. Is it an old fashioned thing? Can it be replaced with an annual performance payment? But what do you do? Do you pay a Christmas Bonus or take you staff out on an all inclusive meal and drink night? Also I would love to get an understanding what everyone has decided to close this year for Christmas and are your sales guys back in to the showroom in between Xmas and New Year? For the note book We are closed 25th, 26th, 27th (then sales guys back 28th&29th) everyone back 30th & 31st, then all off again 1st, 2nd, 3rd, with the sales guys back again the Sat & Sun, with complete staff back on the 6th. Many thanks for your input & Merry Christmas Jim

Yes I don't think it's that bad an idea! If you are fearful of who is going to see what you write on this forum, because every Tom, Dick and Harry can see it, then don't write it! I have a rule for all my own posts,when I read back through them and the question 'should I really post that?' jumps into my mind, I don't press 'POST' !!!!! SIMPLES! Jim Reid, Kintore, Aberdeenshire, Director at Jim Reid Vehicle Sales and very proud of it

Everyone I think you'll find the original question was "Do you think Vauxhall could ever take the number one spot from Ford?" The article written is strong and yes it would undoubtably manage to rub Vauxhall up the wrong way to get at least a reaction from them, even if that reaction was negative, which it did! But it comes back to the same thing James has asked, apart from a cheap advertising stunt from the Chairman /MD of Vauxhall stating that they would take top spot by 2016 without backing up the claim with why or how he thinks they will achieve this. Apart from being 2nd for so many years, the facts are that Vauxhall have never been close to top spot, even when Ford were stringing out the old Escort (before Focus times)! So with all this in mind back to the original question "Do you think Vauxhall could ever take the number one spot from Ford?" With the current line up.........I doubt it!

Couple of things that fear me a little, is the fact that the residual values are not strong enough, so therefore although on the outset they look good value New compared with competition, that is cash only, without a strong residual you have little or no basis for a cheap PCP monthly deal! Now if you had a £1000 deposit then £199 Pm PCP on the new Korando then I would possibly be interested. The Korando 4x4 the Rexton 4x4 and the new Juke rival due out also looks interesting even the pick-up isn't the worst looking thing in the world, however the 7 Seater is almost as ugly as it's predecessor and unsure where that fits in the market especially the 4wd version!!!!! So to cut to the chase the product is much better the reliability is even better, the press they are receiving is the best they have ever had however unless SSang Yong underwrite or at least subsidise dealers to underwrite 2 and 3 year old stock on descent residuals my feeling is they are going to struggle! IMHO

Great question! Finding the balance is the main thing, I encourage our managers to talk with our members of staff however there is always a very fine line when it comes to the social side! Personally in the past I had always distanced myself when it comes to social activities when I was a manager in a franchise dealership, however now we have established our own family business we are much more involved with staff and their families, however there is always a very fine line that you have to watch not to cross! Respect is gained NOT a god given right and as long as you are using discretion and humility there is no reason why on some occasions managers can sit in the 'bait' room for lunch, it does help prevent barriers!

Ian, as James said you have to be 'in it to win it' We proved that this year, scooping two awards thanks to our Team Reid! and a Highly Commended, i'm a fresh faced 44 year old! and my Sales Manager who won Upsales and F&I Performance of the Year is only 23 years old, with less than 5 years in the trade, so as James said , get your self entered! it was a great night!

James I think one of the biggest problems this year will be complacency! After a good few hard years all of a sudden everyone is jumping for joy, however things are not aback to what they were before the recession , far from it! Margins are smaller and costs are much higher, but all it takes is for us as business owners to take our eyes off the ball for a minute for everything to go pear shaped again! We now need to build on what has been a steady year to make 2014 a real year of growth, become complacent and start taking thinks for granted would be the wrong thing to do!

We remove DPF's when requested to do so as part of a Quantum re-map and agree the removal of the DPF cannot be spotted unless the exhaust system is removed! So a tester given 1hour to check all around the car for obvious safety failures like faulty brakes and suspension cannot possibly check and agree if the internal filter element is missing from the exhaust system! These systems are a complete pain and designed to protect the environment within large cities from local pollutants, larger diesel particles, however the regeneration system allows these particles to be released into the atmosphere whilst the car is in regeneration mode whilst out in the countryside , strange that!

This is the percentage of Car Dealers that DID NOT even bother themselves to follow up a car enquiry sent via e-mail, which was actually a Mystery Shop by one of the team at Car Dealer Magazines as part of their shortlisting to find out who was going to become Used Car Dealership of the Year 2013. Why am I telling you this, you may ask? The reason is, we won, Jim Reid Vehicle Sales won the Car Dealer Magazine's Used Car Dealership of the Year Award for (51-100cars stock) Yes we were shocked to win a National Award, but we were more shocked at the fact that only 70% of dealers actually called or even replied by email to what certainly looked like a genuine enquiry. That is a shocking fact especially considering that someone within the dealership thought their sales team was at least good enough to get a nomination, shocking! So what causes this? Mismanaged? Lack of motivation? "Too busy !"? On the day in question I was actually on the sales floor myself, as my sales manager was taking a well earned holiday and my salesman had his day off! So you could say I mismanaged the sales floor but still managed to get back to that sales enquiry quicker and more professionally than any of the other nominations. I just find it amazing, what are your thoughts, does this come as a surprise to you?

What's everyone's thought's on these takeovers? Is this a good thing or a bad thing for the industry? is it a good thing or a bad thing for customers? In Aberdeen where almost all manufacturers are represented by only three large Dealers, namely Arnold Clark, John Clark & Peter Vardy, how does this give customers a choice for not only Customer Care or Aftersales Care? Now I'm not saying that they don't deliver a good or satisfactory customer care, but often it is the smaller more personal dealer that provides a better level of service. Knowing Darren & Katie Williams, from Grant's Seat and knowing the commitment and energy they have put into running their dealership over the last few, very tough years, it does make you wonder if some of these Manufacturers can even spell the word 'loyal' or 'commitment' or is this what business really about nowadays? Having been through very similar event with a family owned Vauxhall Dealership over 13 years ago, I know how painful this is for staff and the owners and would like to wish them all the best for the future. Your comments please?

With the weather turning increasingly wintery and the media scare mongering (again) about being prepared for another major storm( it's JUST winter, it happens every year) how does the extremes of weather in the UK affect your business? Has the best Summer weather for years been one of the major factors that the MotorTrade seems to be booming? Situated in NE Scotland where we can experience all 4 seasons in one day we feel that continuous , constant weather ,either good or bad has little affect on our business however the short bursts of sun & heat or wind& rain/sleet do! Your comments?

Well done to the Car Dealer Magazine Team & Mike Brewer for hosting such a fantastic & friendly night last night! Well done to ALL the winners but a special mention for Umesh Samani for winning two awards last night, our very own Sales Manager Phil Buchan for winning F&I Upsell award and to ALL our Team at Jim Reid Vehicle Sales for winning Best Used Car Sales Dealership Award 51-100 cars & a highly commended for Customer Care! You have made me very very proud:-) Jim

Agree with all the comments, it's always very sad to see anyone lose jobs and especially at this time of year. We have done some business with Verve in the past who at the time were very active on the re-marketing end of the spectrum, however have not seen them at this for a while. It just goes to show that the job is still very hard and unless you focus 100% on it, it is very easy to lose the place and in this case your business! This part of Central Scotland has always been a difficult one to deal in as there is a distinct lack of money, this along with 5 years of very difficult trading conditions has obviously taken it's toll. As Sparky has quite rightly said there are a good few winners out there, Peter Vardy , John Clark especially up our way (Aberdeen) are doing well it seems along with Arnold Clark, however the long term of this could be different as selling cars is one thing , looking after them when they own is the other and I'm not convinced that any of these large dealers have got it right IMHO. There will always be a place in this trade for small and medium business's who can look after their customers. I have said this several times this week " Customer Care 1st, Profit 2nd" if more of the larger dealers and manufacturers looked at business in this manner there would be less dealers going out of business! Training is key!

Don't know if it's affecting confidence of independent dealers but do agree that the market is back from what it was earlier in the year. Is this down to the strong new car market and manufacturers subsidised finance deals on new cars or is now got to a point of saturation of cars sold over the amount of customers buying at this time of year? Your thoughts?

Although we don't know the whole picture,this seems like disgraceful practice from Seat. Even as a sponsored dealer, that dealer has advertised and supported their brand by the looks of things through the hard and tough times during the recession and it's stories likes this that remind me why we have remained an Independent Dealer. Even this week we have been invited to talks with a manufacturer but have declined after initially thinking it might benefit us. It makes me wonder, as an independent is going franchise actually like selling part of your soul to the devil? I'm sure that not ALL franchises are like this however I bet most dictate? Or am I completely wrong? It's amazing how manufacturers forget who supports them through the tough dark times when the SUN starts shining! Shame on you SEAT! Jim Reid

Awesome! Very proud of Team Reid being included in three categories

With only 6 weeks left of 2013, it's time to look back through the year and compare with previous years results. With all the increases in new car sales, with some fantastic enhanced and subsidised new car deals, in comes as no surprise that new car sales have gone up, but what about us independents? What about the used cars especially the nearly new car m,market, how has that been affected for you? We would love to know what the REAL picture is out there, not the picture that the media has painted, but the view from the coal face! Jim

Great points guys....GreenGiant, what if the Beano started asking so much for their advertising space that no one advertised in there anymore, does that mean that people would continue to read the Beano or would they have a glimpse at the Dandy or may even somewhere else? The advantage of having a large number of car dealers and cars for sale on one website is weighted heavily towards the customer, it makes it easy for them to compare cars like for like, side by side without even leaving their house, the problem is that if you car is identical to the car advertised next to it on AT but £500 more what chance have you got of selling it until the cheaper one is sold? and often the one thats £500 cheaper is being sold by a private, which means they have not only paid less for the advert but also don't have to HPi, mileage check or even give a warranty, but it's for sale right next to your car, £500 cheaper (sounds fair????NOT) Gavin, thank you for the compliment, we have been in business for just over 10 years and pride ourselves in providing the very best in customer care and due to this, between 60-70% of our sales each month are a mixture of repeat and referral business, the other sales & enquiries come from local people normally who can see the physical building and pitch, and a mixture of local advertising , sponsorship and social media, not only this but our website is very strong with most website referrals coming from Google, AA Cars(formerly V cars) & Motors.co.uk. Now if you total ALL my advertising activity during a month I bet it's still less than you advertising 15 cars with AutoTrader! As I say I'm NOT anti-AT i just think that the MotorTrade have to look at things differently before it's too late! As an analogy, if the price of petrol went up to £2.00 per litre , the country would come to a standstill, people would refuse to buy petrol until the price came down, there would be a major outcry, now we can't do without petrol, I agree,because there is no alternative, however you have just stated that your business cannot survive without AutoTrader, so what happens when they increase your price to an unacceptable amount? We all need an alternative, we cannot continue to have all our eggs in one basket! Things must change!

Gavin, the whole point is, as long as you keep feeding AT they will continue to grow and continued growth means more cost from you to feed it, it's like taking home a small cat then feeding it until the point that you find out that's actually a lion and it continues to require more and more feeding! We are a 'small dealer' retailing cars between £5000- £25000 and stopped advertising with AT in November last year and guess what? WE ARE STILL DOING THE NUMBERS! The problem with all these portals giving away free 12months is the fact that they have no money coming in to promote their website with, so an ever decreasing circle! Yes I agree that AT works and they know it, that's why they are much, much more expensive than anyone else! You forget however that AT need dealers more than dealers need AT, so with that in mind, if ALL dealers stopped advertising with them, then surely their share price would plummet, their investors would stop funding and the giant would start to shrink or even fall! Now I'm not anti- AutoTrader but I do object to getting ripped!

We are VERY proud to announce that we have been Shortlisted for an Award at this year's Car Dealer Magazine Used Car Awards 2013 held at The Brewery, Central London on the 2nd of December. If you are going along to the awards be sure to swing round past our table, you won't be able to miss us, we will be wearing the kilts! We are delighted to be shortlisted for these national awards as it reflects the dedication,commitment & hard work from the whole team at Jim Reid Vehicle Sales. Congratulations to Team Reid for their inclusion and fingers crossed we can come home with an award this year. We will keep you posted. Tickets ordered, flights & hotel booked, bring it on!

Gavin Always a difficult one, on telephone or e-mail. We try very hard not to give a price without seeing the car, but have found in the past that the best way to deal with this is......you can either offer a range of price from £x to £y OR explain that it is difficult to offer without seeing a car and that naturally most other dealers will either 'HIGH BALL' you by giving a high valuation only to knock your part ex price diown when you arrive at their dealership or 'UNDER VALUE' to be safe which means that you will not even visit their dealership, which means that you may miss out on the cleaner of the two cars for sale. Alos we often ask if we do offer them an acceptable price for part exchange over the phone are they in a position to buy the car you have for sale without seeing it or test driving it? The answer is envitably NO!

Yes I think the trade could do something like this, less serious, more upbeat advertising producing that can be remebered