umesh

WHY Would you want to get involved? - as already said , there is ALWAYS a story behind majority of these cars! Keep away would be my advice.

The famous #19 by Paul Hardcastle [ Sorry showing my age now , for those youngsters https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRJFvtvTGEk ] On 1st of July I celebrated 19 Years in business , I can remember my 1st day as if it was yesterday , working from home - 1st thing was to get into the right frame of mind although I was only working from my study at home I had to get dressed in work mode, yeap a shirt and tie ! A few months later I moved into the showroom that I occupy that was Nov 1st 1997. It's been one hell of a roller coaster ride , loving everyday , I think i am a very , very luck man as I love what I do, I look forward to the next day to meet new people and new challenges and what the day brings. The support from family, friends , colleagues and most of all loyal customers has been incredible without that I would certainly not be here. The toughest years were 2006 -2008 due to personal circumstances and then the almighty crash !! I thought long and hard about ' throwing the towel in ' but I'm a fighter , I speak to many people some who think its been an easy journey , others are going through tough times- All I say to everyone is , if you have the passion and dedication you will succeed [ Luck plays some part ,lest not forget about that ] but it won't happen overnight, YOU have to work at it.! Times have changed , back then no websites ! wow can you image that - we have to adapt and keep up or get left behind. The biggest tip I'd give to anyone starting out in any business is be in for the right reasons, passion for what you do and ENJOY , don't be afraid to ask others , others actually want to help and share their knowledge , I just wish these type of forums were about back in those days. So how long have you been in business , what have been your high's - Lows and tips you'd like to share? Umesh

Calm Down , Calm down ! Of course .... NOT !

Chris , Thats their way of 'upgrading' dealers to paid adverts - If you pay, I knew thats how they would make money - but just got this in the post ' Basic ' Anonymous email - 12 Images Enhanced - Full Phone Number & Email address - 100 Photos Pricing tool -compete branding - cannot be conquested (Keeps competitors off your listing!) Featured - All the enhanced Plus Conquest competitors - featured placement on SRP's Doesn't give prices but 200,000 + Cars 3,000 dealers [ Including me - Had a few leads on 'older cars' that 'show GOOD BUY' However 'buyers' still want to know BEST PRICE- But Not a single one has turned up - called me - or replied to any of my emails)

Gavin , In principle sounds great If they come and inspect etc et c.... However this is flawed 1- there will be too many cars to inspect so they will subcontract this out OR The dealer buys into the 'system' of 'Approved ' i.e. RAC /AA to name a couple - so not worth paper its written on as its 'self' promoted as great ! #JustMtThoughts

Good interview , put his points across very well ... seems a different model to what we're seeing - he said 'dealer' reputation and also 'specification ' checked , think I would need to see proofs of that as all i still see is cars which are marketed on price .. done a couple of quick checks , if I don't stop I'll ramble on ! but it doesn't add up to me as yet .... !

Strangely enough the Police have similar issues .. The valeting company I use the driver got pulled a few months back in a Subaru WRX - They followed him and then pulled him over as the original plates were hidden behind the trade plates , He said similar however its the DVLA that decide the correct display and fines, so very mixed messages out there ..but I do remember a dealer who got fined ( This was mentioned on TCD Forum- Can't remember who ) for having plates in the window - original plate got picked up by camera and DVLA Advising him that plates should be covered.

The rules always have been and more important than ever now , The original number plate must be covered and not displayed , the issue now is if you plate gets picked up by an anpr camera it will show the car is not taxed and you get fined regardless the plates are in the front & rear window. You need cover the plates your insurance company is wrong , hence on the MID your trade plates should be noted.

Asked same/similar - The customer is actually mislead if they advise them about 'best buy' as its only price lead and not as you say spec/dealer reputation etc etc - so in reality its not 'best buy' for the consumer ! ++

emailed them over ! , will be good to see the interview , Very much look forward to it.

Well Done Rory . You have have found the sweet point ! go man go ....!

Personally I think the 'carcraft' name had such negative name that I would not wanted to be associated with it ! You just have see some of the alleged horror stories on the net ! Maybe that will change as times go on ....

All the best James , Been good connecting on here ... Hope it all goes well - keep in touch ! umesh

HPI Spec check is the BEST Thing I ever found out about .. In fact I rave about it Can't buy a car without using it ( I.e. Audi, BMW, Mercedes especially )

Thanks for sharing

Same as said by Rory , If they've seen the car - then Non refundable ( Unless they've said for example subject to the Mrs/Mr ..or a mate giving it once over etc at the start of the process ) AND I do make it clear that if they change their mind ..then sorry its non refundable and I don't really want a deposit if they are not 100% committed .. Only ever had an odd one or two who's changed their mind and to be fair if for example the other half didn't agree and they called the next day as a gesture I've refunded .. its amazing a bit of good will goes a long way! Had one where it was genuinely man lost his job, paid me £500 deposit - car was ready for him and on the day of collection told no job! I agreed to refund half and keep the other should he back in the market ! He was overjoyed with that as he thought he'd lose it all ! Think we have to look at reasons and treat everyone as individual !

I don't use auctions and from hearing so many horror stories ( But guess the bad news always gets talked about more than good ! ) what do they see as a way forward to 'help ' dealers - more accurate descriptions, help dealers who have bought a car that was clearly not described correctly ? stop 'public' ' Non trade' buying and make it 'approved VAT registered dealers only ' to help the industry ?

I've tried it and definately did not work for me ! just a quick example it tells me the hottest cars to buy are Corsa / C1 etc as they are the fastest sellers in my postcode/area, ..Guess what I have Arnold Clark main Vauxhall dealer , AC Supermarket and AC Biggest in europe centre with all with 5 to 30 Mins drive who sell these these like hot cakes - now do I want to compete in that market ? will they be profitable cars for me to buy ? .. A Lot of other cars I looked at using the 'tool' I couldn't buy for the said value but obviously paying more according to the tool I couldn't sell for 'the suggested price' ! I'm stick with my own knowledge and experience Thank you.!

Dito ! 7 Days - if longer bigger deposit and so forth ! Just have to make it clear on the day and in writing then you won't have issues.

Impressive Number of Likes 47K ! Lots of reviews .. Do you know if the sales are actually from FB ? And Are they making the margins or simply churning metal ? ( We'll never know !)

Welcome back to the future ! It ain't cheap and further more a lot of them won't do deals ! There are various ones around me and depending on which one I use the numbers are similar if not more ! But it works for me .. not every week - just like online but having built an audience over the years and the ' mature' buyers still read the local and are more comfortable dealing with local business. Let me know if you decide to plunge and try it ! Good Luck

As we know this auction is an auction with a twist ! #NeverUseIt

I met Danny the night before CDX16 ! We chatted most of the evening with a couple of friends ..I think i remember saying to Danny " we have probably 150 years joint experience , listen to us , WE ARE TRYING TO HELP YOU " He promised us that things will change , all we can do is trying to guide him - rest is down to him as they say " you can lead a horse ...." DANNY... It's ALL down to YOU as i said ' Action speaks more than words ' !

Max , Unless he's a bona fide trader you'll have problems, I know what the advert stated and he's put his name and home address , but you know what these laws are , regardless of him signing it to say its a trade sale the law will say you should have got proof of trade.! Good luck mate !

Of Course you are ... ! Never doubted you ...