Bmx Bandits

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Posts posted by Bmx Bandits

  2. Posted

    We had an issue with a Freelander 2, nearly every wheel bolt had swollen in size, so much so that we had to get replacement bolts, I thought the workshops were on the windup but went down and that had all ballooned in size, never come across it before so don’t know how common it is? 

  3. Posted

    28 minutes ago, Mercftw said:

    Hmm I have noticed that on the only launch website that looks legit it’s twice as much but I did get this message off the seller: 

    
Hello，
Thanks for you contact us .
We are Launch authorized dealer on Amazon.
All LAUNCH products we sell on Amazon are original and can be registered on LAUNCH official website, 
if you have any problem on product registration, activation, software update, X431 APP re-installation,
please feel free to contact us
Best regards
Doris

    Thanks mate appreciate it :blink:

    Must be legit with a name like Doris!! :lol:

    But seriously if it is genuine it’s a steal, you’ll have to let us know how it goes.

  6. Posted

    11 hours ago, trade vet said:

    What I don’t understand is BCA’s Cinch operation.Why do they think they can make more money retailing when their auctions have never made as much money as they have of late.I was reading Vertu Motors last accounts,150 retail sites,£3 billion sales,£7m net profit and 40% of the profit came from 8% of sales which was ‘after sales ‘.That about sums the job up.

    I don’t think they want to make more money retailing, I think it purely about creating a brand and an infrastructure that can be split from BCA and sold off for big money.
     

    They would have looked at Carzoo and thought, if they these people can create a brand (that BCA was helping to stock/prep anyway), which can be built up and then potentially floated for a frankly obscene  figure then so can BCA!! 

    9 hours ago, trade vet said:

    Just received an invoice from BCA for a 14 grand car ( not mine ) ,£829 buyers fees plus £57 Assured fee....I think that should be classed as Extortion !

    I could not agree more and you don’t even get great service for that money!

  7. Posted

    I wouldn’t worry unnecessarily unless it fits into the vendors used car stock profile. 
     

    It not uncommon to dealers to fund part exchanges especially coming upto plate change months, they need to carefully control their cash flow and with manufacturers taking full payment for a new car as soon as they are taxed, the dealer will potentially have to wait for the part exchange to have private plates removed, auctions to collect, be lotted, selling and then add a couple of days on top for them to receiving the proceeds from the sale. 
     

    Its not the end of the world with a handful of cheap p/x’s but if a dealer has plenty of lumpy cars sitting around they can get themselves into trouble very quickly.

  10. Posted

    I’d image MBR have rarely ever made a real profit.

    The only one I can think of would be Porsche Retail Group Ltd which does very very well.

    I'm sure most retail groups would argue that they are just there to represent the brand in areas were no one else can afford to.
     

    It proves that car manufacturers should stick to making cars and leave selling them to the car dealers !! 

     

     

     

  11. Posted

    It’s just one storage compound full of Vauxhall management cars/fleet pre reg/daily rental return cars. Back in the day (20 years ago) I worked for a vauxhall and they had fields full of cars back then too, they used a high tech showroom customer facing used car locator so that you could order a specific 1 - 12 month old car in the spec/colour/mileage the customer wanted and it would be delivered direct to the dealership for handover, they had cars everywhere.
     

    Mazda for example still photo these cars unwanted-nearly new cars and advertise them direct on their used car locator 

    The real issue has always been that most manufacturers try to force their market share so inevitably have lots of cars sat around waiting to find homes.

    They won’t be trying to control the market, they would happily sell them all ASAP, if they could, to get the ££££ back in and also help save on the big storage fees.

  12. Posted

    11 hours ago, CCC said:

    From what I see the stocking loan boys and BCA have a nice business model.

    Lend people money to buy an asset which they sell in your behalf to a) create a demand for consumer finance b) create a demand for auction cars

    The problem comes when the economy takes a down turn and the finance houses want their money back, not stuck in depreciating cars anchored to forecourts. 
     

    As people I know found out in the 2008 recession, owe the bank a little and you’ve got a problem, owe them a lot and the bank has a problem. I guess most dealers fit in the former.

    Cazoo sits in the latter but that’s a different model, everyone piles in (money is cheap and many private individuals, pension Co’s et. are also now giving the PE boys money as they search for yield) they build it, then float it and every investor gets his money back with a nice premium, leaving those who bought shares in the floated PLC to take the hit when it becomes apparent that profits won’t match forecasts.

     
    Slow and steady with your own cash means you can sleep at night.

    There is also the added bonus for BCA that if funders send the transporter in and collect their cars back from a dealer, BCA get to sell the cars all over again to someone else, most likely on stocking finance again. It’s a win win for them.

    There is so much cheap money about and so few places to make a good yield that investors are fighting over these start up companies and as you say once floated the real value of the company will become apparent, you just have to look at  a floatation like Aston Martin to see how thing’s can go very wrong.

    Organic growth for me too, take your time and build up a nice stock/pot of money that you have complete control over. 

  13. Posted

    4 hours ago, BHM said:

    .....and anyone who isn’t can jog on. I wouldn’t want a CC man on a car. I reckon anyone wanting to pay for a motor on a CC is already living beyond their means & probably can’t afford to run their car.

    :lol: The good ole general public, you couldn’t make it up. 


    I see that Barclaycard’s current TV advertising campaign with Nick Frost specifically mentions Clause 75 & a sentence along the lines of getting money back if you’re unhappy with a purchase (or some such patter which will result in premature ejaculation for the sort of person who shouldn’t be allowed to buy by CC).


    Bank transfer is so much easier and cheaper. We did have two customers asking if we accept PayPal which I didn’t expect!! 

    The only issue I had was when someone wanted to use a 0% credit card, in the end we got them to finance the car and then settle it with their credit card after a couple of days.

     

    Bizarrely I met Nick Frost last year in the queue of a local coffee shop, he seemed like a nice bloke and we had a good chat - when my wife came up and told me who I had been talking and I didn’t believe her at first, it’s only when people started asking for sly pics and someone asked for an autograph that I believed her :lol:. Turns out he lives locally.

    If I’d know he was doing the ad I’d have given him a slap  :D

     

  14. Posted

    1 hour ago, Dave2302 said:

    Trouble with Credit Cards is the potential for chargeback if some twat's sidelight bulb blows and they decide the car is no good :(

    Exactly!! I’ve had someone go to the credit card company because in their opinion the 10 year old Fabia he’d purchased rev’d too high in 5th gear!! The letters I got sent from the credit card company where unbelievable. Customers don’t even need to pay for it all on a credit card either I believe. 

  15. Posted

    Tommy good on you for giving but a go. Sounds like you’ve got your head screwed on and I’m sure you will have plenty of highs and lows in this trade. The advice I would give is to continually evolve and embracing the new while keeping more than a keen eye on your costs and profits, we are all still learning.

    When I look at what I spend on all my prep costs I wish I had a dent man, paint guy, specialist tech etc on staff but the reality is it’s hard enough running a business and trying to keep my current employees on track as it is. 

    If you can find the holy grail of a master technician who is preparing to work for sensible money, isn’t a primadonna, will work on multiple brands, in a smaller workshop without a multitude of special tools and training courses and graft then bottle him as you would make a fortune!!!  But seriously keep an eye out as you never know. 
     

    A director of a very large dealer group once told me the best way to make a small fortune in the motor industry.......was to start with a large one!!!

    TV is right in what he says about company accounts as all that glitters isn’t necessary gold especially in this industry. I do miss physical auctions and the traders turning up in fancy cars talking loudly about how well they are doing while trying to all outdo/out story each other, while a handful of quieter buyers who always turn up in non descript cars and who week in week out hoover up quantities of cars, these are the one’s that I’d be watching and trying to learn from.

  16. Posted

    9 hours ago, Rory RSC said:

    Good event this year with the online car dealer awards put on by the car dealer magazine team. 
     

    as good as could be for an online event.

     

    managed to get a win in 51-100 not bad for a failed car washer things are looking up. 
     

    well done to all the dealers who were involved, and any new dealers worth an entry next  year it’s a huge help and boost to credibility.

    Well done, really pleased for you and sounds like all your hard work paid off.

  17. Posted

    2 hours ago, hondansxr said:

    for those of you who knew sorry to bring this up if you didnt then.........

    i have recently taken a 2003 micra with 17110 miles yes 17k  and the mot tester accidently put the milage of the last vehicle tested ...39400 miles

    i didnt see it till the next day he then corrected the original milage but it stayed ion dvla 's  mot check   site ..

    i emailed dvla who told nme to email motreplacment@dvsa.gov.uk  with evidence of milage prior to the orig mot , luckily i had a service the day before at a workshop 4 door up i sent in a pic of the service and a pic of the service book .. they replied @5 days to say the evidence given is sufficientto change the detail.. back to 17110 ... :)  days 

    just incase you have this issue as we are all only human !  

     

    Thanks for posting. I’ll be saving that email address!

  19. Posted

    1 hour ago, Kes said:

    Correct me if I'm wrong. When you have a jab, your body produces antibodies to fight virus so not only you won't get infected but can't spread the virus to others.

    You haven’t visited Michael Smith have you?? :D:lol:
     

    There is evidence the Oxford Vaccine reduces your ability to transmit the virus but doesn’t appear to stop it all together.

    Better to be safe than sorry

     

  20. Posted

    25 minutes ago, BHM said:

    Even if you answered yes these idiots wouldn’t buy anyway. Cheeky greedy messers usually. There’s a big difference wanting to buy a car when it’s not available to buy - as soon as it’s available I’ve found these characters haven’t got a pot to piss in.

    Couldn’t agree more, the fact it’s not yet available means there is no actual chance of them having to buy it, even if you cii off of get a deposit out of them, they can keep you waiting a week before they have to come and see the car, and then either not turn up or call with a p**s poor excuse, in which time you could have advertised it and sold it so someone who deserved to buy the car.

  24. Posted · Edited by Bmx Bandits

    10 hours ago, A & S said:

    We've got some like that round here.

    Thought tier 4 is click and collect/deliver only.

    Tier 4 is click and collect only, I blame my predictive text or possibly the new bottle of whiskey I opened yesterday after work. It was very moorish :lol:

    • Haha 1