XDR

Firstly - my condolences & sorry for your loss. Our trade is a very tough one - with little or no empathy. I can see why the auction house may not have any remorse for you (they probably think you’re lying - as they’ve heard that excuse serval times before). if it’s a genuine scenario, stand your ground and show then proof (I know you’re word is good enough) but if it’s the truth stand by it - it will save you £2,400 however if you’ve bought those cars I presume to retail then & make a margin on? Why don’t you simply just buy them? Decent stock is still hard to get.

That’s good to hear! prices seem to be strong - I’ve heard prices will be even higher next month!? luckily we’d are stocked up (some more cars coming out of prep)

Crazy times at the moment I’ve seen large (Ish) dealers reduce their margins to £600-700 a car and I’m talking lumpy stuff. luckily we still have decent stock around either in prep or awaiting to go on. I’ll hold the bullet for a while until prices level off. If you don’t mind me asking - what market are you in / price range

Good Morning Everyone I was having this chat with a few other dealers and thought what other place to see if there are any variances. Some dealers I know have said they had a quiet January & others say it was very busy? We stock around 50-60 cars, mid range (10-25k) mainly German stuff and found January a little slow. We still made a healthy bottom line figure but just slower than anticipated. February so far has been steady, with decent leads but with auction prices being high for quality stock - I’m not paying crazy money to make minimal margin. I know the old saying “you can’t sell and empty space” is true. But imagine paying 2-3k into book, for a car to then have a big issue eg gearbox! I know you could upsell products eg warranties, finance (to get comms) etc but surely the risk / reward ratio is against us? What’s your stance for your business - are you paying good money and sacrificing margin, or are you holding off?

Not being a D*ck..... but if you’ve put your accountant to such detective work ... why don’t you ask him to find that question out too?

Morning folks, I’ve spoken to the chap on site - I’ve given him until Friday to “trickle charge” the battery. Ive told him, only will I make the journey to collect if he can confirm the car starts up (and will start up on site). If not, I’ll outright reject it, and want my money back. @trade vet I’ve taken your pointers on board, and will mention this with him on the next phone call

Good Evening All, I need some advice as on this rare occasion I feel BCA are trying to pull the wool over my eyes. Bought a vehicle from Walsall (Audi Q7) not assured. However went to collect the vehicle today and noticed the following 1) All tyres are flat / blatantly moved around with no air, so the metal rim has cut them all through - site managers response “they weren’t holding air, so we just moved it as is”. 2) The battery was completely dead, and no matter which jump / booster used it wouldn’t tick over - I told the site manager I’m no way taking it unless it fires up - as for all I know it’s a non runner? (On the pics it shows the car running) His response back was “well there isn’t an assured report, so it’s sold as seen” however I’ve said to him I won’t take it unless I can hear it, or they should have sold it as a non runner? Surely when buying online, we deserve some assurance regardless (it’s not like I bidded on it live in the hall?). I’m going on their description / disclosure. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve bought cars (some assured) in the past and not bothered them with petty repairs. But this one surely is taking the p*ss? Your opinions on what would be the right point of action is welcomed Thanks in advance

My two pence below Selling from home can be an effective and cost saving method - if you do it right you can give even us forecourt lads a run for the money I know of a guy, who lives in “high profile” gated community, big fancy metal front gates, and a nice stoned driveway - his stock profile is around 30-40k a car at minimum and does extremely well.... even has his own office in the house for the customers (it looks the dogs boll*cks if I say so). come to think of it, even Tom Hartley technically sells from home (although he has a showroom in his property lol)

“My best mate is a mechanic” “How much for Keshhh” ”Can you deliver it and then I’ll pay”

Seems a shame to lose a sale for £15 worth of fuel.... not the best first impression, that you’d want to give a customer Just make your margin in the metal and put your energy / effort on to the next one

Not going to lie - I do miss the buzz when coming into the auction... always ended up spotting something that I would have never marked up on the catalogue. Oh... and also the food (Chip Cob for me) .... that was a bonus! Anyone down for a signing a petition? Not that I think they’d give a rats arse about it

I know its still a few months away, but I’m sure some of us must have thought about it? Combining two factors (COVID-19 & December (Christmas)). What are your thoughts.... will you be taking the month off and absorbing the expenses that you would have incurred, or .... is it full steam ahead! And sales as normal? my opinion - Normally Christmas time is generally slower for us, so adding COVID to the mix, I can only anticipate an even slower month?

I’ve had this convo before haha there’s levels to the type of “clientele” who buy these cars SEAT CUPRA - Starting off dealer GOLF R - Made some change, Few months in the job (£, €,$,¥) S3 - Middle Management Level (promotion) RS - Top Dog / The Gaffar! (The dogs Dangleys)

O.P. Try selling a Golf R (I’m sure others have had the same experience). You’ll get more messers, “cash tonight at 9pm” or low ballers, Drug Dealers, or Test Pilots, and last but not least thieves!! .... all coming your way. We has an 2015 DSG GTD and it took a while, but the right buyer comes eventually. Best of luck

I’d give the depo back regardless to wether the pedal is normal or not. Customers like that can tend to be difficult to deal with after sales, and will expect the world of you .... e.g. the bulbs gone, can you replace it etc etc. Count your blessings and retail it again, now that’s it’s detailed etc, your bound to sell it at near enough asking, as it’s fully prepped!

Same thing that happened to us Some cars have been advertised as 2 keys, and lord behold just the one - it doesn’t help as soon as your off site, they don’t entertain it. Ive even had one (BMW 3 series) rock up with an Audi A6 service book - luckily obtained the history via dealer!

OP - I generally feel for you, especially with a 6k bill - that’s a stinger! However, in our trade... we live by the good old saying “no risk, no reward”. Surely buying a high value vehicle from multivendor should ring alarm bells? We all know the ratio of it being a dodgy car to it being retail ready is heavily weighted to one side. I may sound like a d*ck, but you took the risk (which other seasoned buyers wouldn’t), and unfortunately on this one you got burnt. PS - I once saw a multivendor C63 2008/2009 at Measham - with high miles and category D marker. It went for £8,000.00 - did I bid? Nope because of the vendor.... was it cheap? HELL YEAH!!!

Apparently the high prices, we’re due to the car super markets boys being a bit greedy and not letting anyone else take stock? (So I’ve heard)

I’ve learnt the hard way myself (mainly close family). They want a specific spec, mileage etc. Before I’d say “sure no problem”, i’d bid on the car without no security as it’s family. Now whether it’s a loyal customer, family or my staff. The rule is prior to auction put down a 25% deposit on the car. If we don’t get it, a full refund back. If they wobble and don’t buy it after we’ve won it - thanks for the cheap car!

Seen this happen one to many times. About a year ago, my builder who was doing my extension knew I was in the motor trade, but didn’t utilise me (I was going to charge him a small sourcing fee). Instead thought he’d cut the middle man out as he believed he had the “experience”. Not only did he get shafted on fees, but also the car needed mechanical prep. by the time he was done, it owed him near enough retail - but no 6 month warranty to claw back on. I had no sympathy at all as it serves him right! Leave it to the professionals.

Spot on Sir! You ever though about getting a job in the parliament? - Well said! I think people are adopting the mentality of “its borrowed money” and are taking higher risks, Don’t think they’ve read the T&C’s of the BB loan.

I would be very interested to see how you get on. What vendor were they? If you don’t mind, once you’ve got them delivered if you could fill us in on how they turn out? I’m sure you’ll be doing us all a favour - as you’d either ease the uncertainty of buying online or make us change our profession for a few months haha!!

My only concern is... these loans have been handed out to every Tom, Dick, Harry and his dog too. Even if things level off a bit, things will be much more pricey going forward. We’ve gone past the days of anywhere near CAP CLEAN / Slightly above it. Now we’re going to have to factor in the abundance of money. People now have 50k burning a hole in their pocket, and some people will gladly spend it in an absurd / not financially sustainable way (as they think it’s not their money). So only people winning are 1) Vendors - as they get higher sale prices 2) Auction - more fees 3) Customers - as they’ll get a competitive price - as dealers will squeeze their own margins to make money

Check mate! - I’ve got one even better 2013 BMW M5 ( came in today) • Alpine White / Red Leather • 50k Miles • MARGINAL CAP CLEAN £15,700 BCA SOLD PRICE £22,000 + FEE’s to be added yet that’s nearly £6.5k over book? Unless a celebrity or royalty had that car, it can’t justify that price!

Talking about burnt fingers, I know of 2 local dealers, who hit the “buy it now” button and purchased unseen, when we first went into lockdown and this is what happened to them; Dealer 1) Bought an assured car, All green ticks nothing of any concern. Collected the car and by the time he hit the motorway .... he got an Gearbox Malfunction Light (Audi) - rang assured team, they said they are closed and can’t do nothing until they are open / when they open - APPALLING! Dealer 2) Bought a Car, not assured Or essential check, but upon collection, the car had a nasty miss fire, and the paint work granted it was a grade 4 had so many different shades / panel gaps - ALL STUFF YOU’D NOTICE AT A PHYSICAL AUCTION To be honest that’s why I’m trying to hold on, and not buy anything without physically seeing it. Our jobs are pretty much to see, hear and touch a car before we bid. At the moment there’s too many Billy Big Boll*cks bidding - let’s hope it calms down soon