jamslug

GET OFF MY LAND .... I think it is definitely the future. But like Umesh says, they aren't quite ready for it. I can see a problem with distance regarding complaints and finance. Once this has been ironed out by the likes of car spring and others it is something that everyone should jump on board with.

We use warranty wise. But we only use it if the customer wants to pay for it. Else they get our standard 3 month 3 k in house warranty. RS , you have a point. By putting full service history it doesn't become cheaper or doesn't benefit us in any way. I am going to start putting last service only. It seems that they love using the service history as a get out clause.

Afternoon all, I currently do not use a stocking plan but have been thinking about it more and more lately. Does anyone else use them? If so which ones are the best. Are there any to stay away from? I just want a little guidance. Thanks, James

Oh really ? I need to listen to it. What episode ?

Must be a cost saving exercise, do you reckon they can put the fees down now ?

I always prep so I know exactly where I stand with each car. Since I have been prepping then selling I have been making more profit as you know exactly where you stand. I had exactly the same the other day. Advertised with a new mot, by the time it was sold it had an 11 month mot. I just sucked it up and learnt for next time.

That's a fair old trek but if you want a chat feel free to get me on uglcars@gmail.com James

Where abouts are you located? James

Be extremely careful and only accept a bank transfer as payment. DO NOT ACCEPT A CREDIT CARD OVER THE PHONE

VERY VERY TRUE

It is 14:26 on Sunday.... I have just finished. The desk and floor are covered.

I'm still here picking staples.

I just had a transporter arrive. It was full. I will be here for the next couple hours just in picking staples.

Just saying

Without any dealer training or any experience, I threw myself in the deepend. Naive , young and vulnerable; I quickly learnt that however nice and honest you are, the customer is always trying to rip you off. Their part ex is f****d and the header tank is probably full of k-seal, they want your car for less than it owes you, they come back for absolutely everything and think a 3 month warranty means a free pass to all goods and services that your garage provides. When someone wants "trade" discount, they will still come back for ALL the warranty claims. The "I'm in the trade" bollox.......... you used to sweep the local motorbike dealers floor once a week............... YOU ARE NOT IN THE TRADE I hate people

Interesting stuff. Thanks for your response. I wonder if I can just remove the advertising aspect from autotrader and still use the portal part to get the retail checker tool?

I know I posted this is Twitter Car Dealers but I want a broader audience. So in short; this is how I use autotrader: 1) Buying stock from auction with the stock profiler in autotrade mail. 2) Pricing stock using retail checker. 3) Valuing part exchanges with retail checker. 4) Creating adverts. 5) Printing sales flyers. 6) Generating leads. This costs around £1200 every 4 weeks. I really find the pricing useful and allows me to buy stock in the first plce to still be able to use their retail prices which I find really does work well and helps with stock turnover. What I want to do is knock AT on the head completely and source each of the above elsewhere. It will be a little more work but should be worth the £14,400 annual saving. So I would like help on the following replacements: 1) Does anyone use the stock profiler in autotrade mail as a stand alone product or are there other alternatives out there? 2) I have considered Glass radar as this will do the same sort of thing but at the moment AT's retail checker is quite good. Does anyone else have experience of Glass's radar or it's accuracy? 3) What is the best way to value a part exchange. I always sell my part exchanges and never auction so I am guessing with the help of Glass' radar (if it is any good) then that is my best bet. 4 & 5) I would use Motor's portal if I ditched AT, do you know if you can do flyers from there? 6) Motors generates the most leads by far already for me, far more than AT so this has never been an issue. I am am expecting sales to drop slightly if I did decide to do this but I wont ever have the financial burden of the AT bill and I wont find myself having to budget through tough times. I would have the extra advertising budget for facbook and local papers that surprisingly also work well for me. This has been playing on my mind for a while now and it is a huge step for me as I am only a 23 year old one man band, so I would really appreciate any thoughts at all. Even if it is on just one of the above subjects. Any feedback would be incredibly useful.

Been with them 2 months, not a single call or email. If it doesn't improve, I will be stopping in January.

I was there too. Love Blackbushe . If you see me , give me a shout . I am usually the sexiest one in there .

The only reason I hate the 'be back boys' is because it really is 50/50 if they come back. The only reason I get really annoyed is because I don't know if I can risk the smart arse comment that I have ready and waiting for them.

What a horrific situation to find your self in; even considering a Zoe . My heart goes out to you.

Yes Jim , I did write an update before now but I will write one just for you ;). So she was happy for me to pay for her train ticket down to my place. She didn't use that in the end and got an airplane to exeter and then a 40 minutes taxi to me. She transferred the money whilst she was with me and the money went straight through. Everything was fine and she drove off. It was a little weird one but has all turned out ok in the end.

Ummmmm. Am I invisible ?

Sorry didn't do an update. ..... So the plot thickens I offered to pay for her train ticket so that we could carry out the transaction on my premises. She took me up on my offer. She didn't like trains so she self funded a plane to collect her convertible BMW priced at £10,200 . She transferred all the money with faster payments when she was with me. It came through instantly and still remains there. And I waved her goodbye as she drove off. Happy ending

I didn't want to be the first to post about this letter. The letter states that a pricing structure will be published by mid August. I wasn't even aware that I was on a discounted rate. I will wait until this is published then look at downgrading or cancelling completely.