jimreidvehicle

Don't we already have a 'trade only forum' with Twitter Car Dealers? It has been going for almost 4 years and now has 600+ members and everything is private, dealers have to be approved personally and you will find years of relevant MotorTrade news, debates and comments. Run by car dealers FOR car Dealers , FREE and easy to use. Jim Reid

Hi betginge the day they stop stating the car I am selling is a good, great or bad deal and they don't advertise how long we have had a car for sale is the day I start advertising with them, until then I will watch from afar! Its great to see someone taking on the all mighty AutoTrader however is this just the all 'dictating' AT in disguise? Jim

I think you will find that they are already competing with Motors, with AutoVolo now with now more page impressions( the measurement) than Motors on a weekly basis and this from a company only 12months old and who have kept their marketing and advertising within the boundaries on the M25 up until now. Yes I agree they will find it hard to compete with AT, but everyone does but unless something is done about it nothing will change! How much pain can the Motor Dealers continue to accept by way of rising advertising costs? They don't need to go to the bank for funding they could quite easily continue you grow without the investment but they WANT dealers to get involved to help dealers make them feel it's their own! Not sure if you still advertise with AutoTrader (I don't ) but paying them the crazy monthly costs for advertising is just the same it's investing in them and making them stronger yet you have no shares, no rights and get treated like second class citizens. If you come along to the meeting, even as a sceptic you will see first hand what is required, it's not rocket science, then if it's not for you then don't invest, it's simple! Sorry, Friday morning rant over, but you have to see the facts before you can comment in full that's all I'm saying! Upwards and onwards!

Hi Max, the main thing at this point is to sign up to gain be first to find out more info. These guys have loads of great ideas and by being allowed to invest in the company also, it's a chance not to miss in my view. They are planning to have a meeting with approx. 100 dealers mid Month August so they will present what is on offer then you can decide to invest or not, a chance not to miss to even find out more , email 1000voices@autovolo.co.uk

Thought I would post this on the Forum as I feel it is really important for you to understand how important I feel this 1000 Voices Partnership with Autovolo.co.uk is. Firstly I never thought in a million years how much disruption my ‘Open Letter to Autotrader’ would cause in the industry and beyond and that was only my VOICE can you imagine what we can do with 1000 voices? This letter has opened up some very large doors, which I feel as an industry we should take advantage of. The reason I’m pushing this out is that I feel this is the answer we have been looking for. Low risk, high return and our voices will be heard at long last……ALL 1000 of them! Now I’m not going to bang on like a broken record , however I feel so strongly that this is an opportunity not to be missed and I will be PUTTING MY MONEY WHERE MY MOUTH IS on this one. We need to put all this negative energy surrounding AutoTrader behind us and use it in a positive way and this can start with an on interest to 1000voices@autovolo.co.uk . If you have already registered, congratulations you are ready for change and I’ll see you at the Dealer Meeting in August, if you have not registered………just do it, before you miss the chance! I’m more than happy to answer questions by email or by phone, my contact details are below. Talk soon. Jim Jim Reid Director Jim Reid Vehicle Sales Ltd (incorporating Jim Reid Service Centre & ReidLine Performance) Craigearn Business Park, Morrison Way Kintore, Inverurie, Aberdeenshire AB51 0TH T: (01467) 634000 M: 07787587422 E: jim@jimreidvehiclesales.co.uk W: www.jimreidvehiclesales.co.uk W: www.reidlineperformance.co.uk

So what's your thoughts? Part Dealer owned , surely this MUST be a good thing? This way we get a say in what is going on! Come on, what's your thoughts? http://cardealermagazine.co.uk/publish/autovolo-launches-revolutionary-new-partnership-scheme/118267

A great opportunity not to be missed

As AutoTrader continue to 'better' their classified website by encouraging customer feedback of Dealers I thought it maybe prudent to point out that Car Dealers can also have their say on how they rate AutoTrader.co.uk as a company. Via TrustPilot you can give your feedback on what YOU really think of how AutoTrader.co.uk treat you as a customer. To make it easy for Car Dealers I thought I would just pop up a link https://uk.trustpilot.com/evaluate/www.autotrader.co.uk According to AutoTrader Insights , 88% of customers are influenced by customer reviews, lets hope their figures are correct. As I'm not a customer I won't be carrying out a review but thought it maybe handy for many Dealers to voice your opinion. I expect you may just get a reply!!! Enjoy. Jim

Yes Gavin, agree 100% there seems to be a misunderstanding about reconditioning ie the quality of service and checkover a reputable dealer would carry out and what he deemed as recon, which was if the car had been repaired right? I notice that the question wasn't asked about why they show the amount of days in stock a car has been on the forecourt....WHY does a customer need to know this?

Thanks for the opportunity. I would love to know what benefit there is to either party (customer or dealer) to publishing on the advert how long a car has been in stock? (apart from giving the customer even more leverage to get a discount). Would you consider dropping this? The main issue I feel is with the Good Value/Great Value tool. Although I can see this can be seen as a benefit for buyers, surely there is more to a 'great deal' than just price? Is there no value in the fact a dealer may have a 5 star reputation for customer care, a second to none service and pre sales checkover and the factor that the car is local instead of having to travel 400+ miles? The Good Value/Great Value's are based on what valuation tool? Lastly we specifically buy & sell high spec cars, these cars can have anything between £2000 -£10000+ with of factory fitted extras from new, which obviously means that they are more desirable than a car of a standard specification, how do you highlight these cars? Are they shown as a Great Value Deal or are they shown as a Bad value Deal as they are more expensive? Other factors would also include full service history & blemish free bodywork etc What are you going to do differently going forward to ensure that you don't become just another Autotrader? ( I dare you to ask this) Thank you, Jim

Best of luck James, you will be a big miss on here and in the trade but you should never stop following your dreams! Wishing you all the best, Jim

In my humble opinion I wouldn't be without Hpi to be honest it is by far the best for correct historic data and spec check! If you are doing 500 checks this would be a £325 saving for you if you are doing 1000 checks then you would save £650 annually however with Hpi spec checker all you have to do is price one car wrong that has £7500 worth of extras from new to miss it at auction which is likely worth a gross profit of approx £2500, so for that reason I will be staying with the industry's trusted brand. As I say just my opinion, Jim

Well done Danny, it's not easy doing everything yourself and it's not easy accepting criticism which you have done graciously. As Umesh quite rightly said, if you listen to the experienced guys & girls on here you won't go far wrong! As for the lurker you don't fancy having a wee go at Autotrader do you? Just kidding Best of luck Danny and as I said before help is only ever a phone call away Jim

Here's an idea save your self a few hundred pounds per month, and I'll give you a second opinion free of charge :-) His reply...."jim hasent been with us for a while" " he just wants every one over to social media" WHY would I want everyone over to Social Media lol, oh that's right, I'm on referral schemes with Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn making £80million in selling shares over last 3years! Does that sound familiar?

Chris they are ruining the trade!

Danny best thing you can do is tell your AT rep to take a run and jump! Sorry but unless I can be proven otherwise it is just regenerated historic data sold as a package by people who have never sold a car in their lives! IMHO

Today the 9th of June 2016 Autotrader in the UK announced a staggering profit of £169M that's up £36M year on year, yet more price increases on the horizon for car dealers. http://www.iii.co.uk/research/LSE:AUTO/news/item/1990963/final-results?context=LSE:AUTO So are you happy feeding this monster? If not, why not join me and fellow dealers on a journey you will never forget email me on ayecontrol@gmail.com to show your support for change. As a dealer I'm sure you set up in business so you had 'control' of your own destiny, that 'control' has now left. So join the 'ayes' to the RIGHT ayecontrol@gmail.com and lets get BACK 'control' it's YOUR FUTURE. Jim Reid

Is it possible you can call me on 01467634000, thank you, Jim

Hope this helps CCR007 – Key data for credit firms with limited permission 1 Revenue from Credit regulated activities = this is the total commission inc any volume bonus for the period between when you were first registered and the date given for the report (only thing I was not 100% sure was if you removed the amounts that were debited back for what ever reason, I left these in , just to make sure I was not under reporting) 2. Total revenue (including a from activities other than credit related activities) = quite simply your total turnover from your management accounts 3 Number of transactions involving credit-related regulated activities in reporting period = total number of proposals within the reporting period however you have to include those that were declined and or didn't go ahead 4. Number of Complaints = this should be easy to work out and hopefully NIL 5. Credit - related regulated activity which generated the highest turnover in reporting period = use drop down box SECONDARY CREDIT BROKING 6. Total annual income as defined in FEES 4Annex 11BR for the pupose of FCA fees reporting = this would normally be the same as question one however if this is your first report it may well not be a total of 12 months, so this would be for the total of 12months so if its your first report then should be higher value than question 1 This IS MY understanding of the reporting however this is substantiated by two rather lengthy calls with the FCA, who were very helpful. https://www.handbook.fca.org.uk/form/sup/sup16_annex38B_20151231.pdf best of luck, Jim

Dear AutoTrader, I’ll come straight to the point. I have fallen out of love with you. You are no longer the same caring & sharing partner that I married all those years ago when we did things together that benefitted us both. Over the years you have become very selfish and greedy, especially with money. Our relationship no longer feels like a partnership, it is all your way or no way. Now that you have your fancy crib in Manchester with all the latest gadgets and influential city friends it seems that you are spending less and less time with me, even though I have never needed you as much as I need your support now. I have sacrificed others to be with you, giving all my marketing spend and more and what do you do? You ask for more but you give less in return. Will you ever be happy with what you get from me? Life used to be so simple with you. Now it’s so confusing and you seem to have an answer for everything even though it’s not your place to say. You always give your opinion and guess what? I’m fed up with it! The final nail in the coffin for me (and I’m not the only one) is the fact that you are no longer happy trying to help me sell, oh no. You want to have a go at being a trader without the risk! Now, what’s this part exchange tool all about? Oh yes … it’s to benefit all the potential buyers on your website. Well, I have been giving part exchange prices for years when these customers reach my forecourt, so why do you need to give these details away now and risk them never visiting me? Oh, ok, so I decide to opt out of having this as I don’t agree with it and what do you do? … you punish me by not including my cars in the customer’s search. My car’s! The car's that I pay you grandly each month to advertise and you are hiding them away from potential customers. When did you become god? It’s already hard enough getting potential customers in through the door without you giving away information so they can decide to stay and shop online, so thanks too for potentially reducing my footfall....again! If you really wanted to benefit all those potential buyers on your website why not encourage more cars to be advertised? It would be really easy. Instead of having under 500k cars on the website, aim for a million! And here’s the easy way to do it … Half your prices! Easy isn’t it? You have conditioned me over the years to advertise cars a certain way, with certain terms and even certain ways of taking photos and at one point you even told me that I should be rounding the prices up or down so to appear in the search on your website! You quite easily have moved the searches to include these. You even asked me to pay extra to highlight these then and then when you have my money, you go to my neighbour and say you pay ‘X’ amount more and we can highlight your cars before your neighbours!!! Where’s the loyalty there? And while I’m at it, why are you jumping into bed with Zuto Loans? You know that I need the commission from the Finance Deal to try and make the deal pay, especially with reduced margin at the deal because you are advising them of part exchange figures and suggesting that I have priced a car too high! You won’t be doing that for nothing I fear, no. You will be pocketing that lovely wee finance referral without having to even register with the FCA. So now that you are also referring GAP products would you like to go the whole hog and get the ‘DiamondBrite' out? Not content with telling me how to sell cars, you are now suggesting that I don’t know how to buy cars unless I have the all encompassing ‘icontrol. I’ve done very well over the years without the need for such a tool, my decisions are based on years of experience of buying and selling cars in my area, so there’s a good chance that I would know better. And what’s this rubbish about when I’m buying I should be looking at retail price and calculate back instead of the traditional guide price and add the margin on? It’s not that I don’t understand what you mean - in fact I have been doing it for years too but listen here, buying and selling is quite simple. You buy at the cheapest and sell and the most you feel that a customer will pay - then add in the value for money, great customer care, vehicle prep, warranty, overheads and back-up. We have been doing this for years so don’t really need you trying to make out its something new! Oh, and by the way, have you ever thought about this … if you are telling every dealer in the country to buy that ‘white Audi A4 Quattro’ (as it will sell quickest and give you the best profit margin). Guess what ... the demand has just gone up along with the buying price yet the margin is now smaller because every dealer want’s it. Simple isn’t it? So I’m at my wit’s end. I’m paying you more a month than what I’m making in profit. There is something far, far wrong. You need to change your ways very quickly or I’m off and you won’t manage to get me back with some gesture of false loyalty like ‘half price stock’ for a limited period. A relationship is a two way thing. Both partners have to be loyal, caring, honest, trustworthy and unselfish for it to continue. Although I have written this letter I do feel that it will fall on deaf ears, but remember there are many other letters like this one written yet unsent sitting on many a car dealers desk all over the UK. I have years of experience at the coal face of the motor trade and don’t need some graduate who has never sold a car in their life patronising me and telling me how to run my business. All I want from you is for you to treat me with the respect I deserve and help me sell more cars. I’m not an overly demanding partner. Now here’s the twist though. I’m already your ex-lover. I am writing this letter on behalf of the great friends I have in this beloved industry who are feeling this way. They are currently still with you although I fear not for long. With so many offerings on the table it won’t be long before you will be writing a ‘please come back letter, I’m sorry' to my friends. I, along with thousands of car dealers in the UK, are looking forward to your public reply. Kind regards Jim Reid Car Dealer Magazines 'Dealer's Dealer of the Year' in support of and on behalf of the Car Dealers on TCD Forum

Hi Steve havent used personally however spoke to them at length when they advertised on our forum! Seems like a cheaper alnertative to quotes few CRM's & DMS's which are available as they are not normally that cheap, worth a phone call Jim

1. BuyersCompared- is now in their shopping list 2. " I've got good news and bad news, the. auction on Wednesday night was on fire, the bad news is......" 3. Yes the sign still exists it's in my office and relates to Autotrader :-) thank you Uncle Jim

Hahahaha this actually made me laugh out loud LOL!!!!! We all get them, just imagine him actually as a customer he would have tea club all to himself! Never mind the next one will just come with his hands up , "I'll just take that, no need for a test drive!"

Why thank you very much Mr Baggott, just to show there is a need for this type of FREE service in our industry I have taken calls & emails from 6 business's. We offered some very successful mentoring on our trade only forum (are we allowed to mention it? Twitter Car Dealers) where a group of like minded trade guys helped others, but thought I would give it a shout out here as there seem to many more new starts etc on here to help. Maybe something could be set up in association with your good selves? Jim

Just give me a phone on 01467634000 or email jim@jimreidvehiclesales.co.uk , happy to help