Direct2Dealers

I'll be there. Chris.

I would love to do this!! It really is very short notice though. If the place is still open could you PM some more details (cost, route etc) and I'll see if I could make it happen. Thanks, Chris.

whoops. Sorry. I will edit the post now. Chris.

Hi CJ Underhil, All valid points. First to address why a member of the public is selling there car and doesn't want to sell it privately - simple answer is a private sales is hard work and can be risky. Even just picking the listing price can be difficult, too high and no calls too low and your already on the back foot for negotiations. Then you have to deal with all the phone calls and viewings which can very time consuming and difficult when working full time and with a family to manage etc. You then need to worry about insurance for test drives, the awkward haggling and checking the money is real. This is all bread and butter for you but for Joe public this is a lot of hassle and stress, especially if your car is worth a bob or two. Wrt to people not describing the vehicles correctly well no one can ever stop that completely. However as they will be inputting details in to a website it can be made clear that offers are only valid if the details entered are correct (including mechanical questions) and the input options could help collect the information that really matters to dealers. e.g. asking the right questions about history rather than just full/part/none or a text input. If you have any particular requests that would be good to know. Chris.

By lower fuel costs you mean the fuel cost of driving around buying cars privately? I guessing there is a lot to be said for being able to get the car details on-line or in one place, not only savings from fuel but significant amount of time too. Must be frustrating not know the interior condition, like you say not sure why they couldn't grade it. We will be including interior details. So far actions, private buying and trade-to-trade auction sites have been mentioned. Does anyone get stock from elsewhere (excluding trade-ins of course). Chris.

Glad to hear you like it. The plan is to make it clear to sellers that they need to be honest in the description as there will be an inspection and if the omitted important information the dealer is within their rights to withdraw their offer. The service is free to dealers, *edited to remove link as requested - Chris*. I like his style that is one way to try and get a car for a good price. Next he will be taking stickers with him that look like scratches! Not sure the auction house would be too impressed though. What is your view on the costs of buying from auction. They have always seemed quite high to me. Chris.

Yea I guess you can't keep you bid open for ever as you need to manage your stock and cash flow. What if you could set a time limit on your offer so it expires after a set time period. You won't get an instant answer but could means you know it is not open ended. I guess the "not mechanically checked" could really throw a spanner in if there is an expensive fault with the car. The public can be asked about mechanical questions but they are not going to have the experience a dealer would in diagnosing faults. The final inspection means you can refuse the car is there is such an issue but it would mean you have held on to your money. I'm not sure this can be fully mitigated but would be interested in people's ideas and thoughts. Chris.

Yea unfortunately there is always going to be those who are not honest, it is one of those annoying facts of life. Like you say though if you can do a final inspection and reject the vehicle if it not as described it does give you some protection. You could even ask the public to bring the car to you rather than collect so you don't even have to risk the fuel bill. If you could get this service for free with no monthly charge you could have very little to lose? Chris

Hi All, Interesting thread and good to hear that you are all making so much use of the online sourcing sites for trade-to-trade sales. Trying not to make this post a shameless plug but what are your thoughts on sourcing cars direct from the public in a similar way to the online trade-to-trade sites? As the public want to sell their car there is an incentive for them to put effort in to describing it well and using pictures for some of the more difficult/subjective bits (like damage) could help with accuracy of info. Chris.

Hi Andy, That sounds very interesting I will look out for it. I know it can be difficult to get the enough but more importantly the right information when working online. It is one of the things we are working hard on at the moment, finding a way to get as much information entered on vehicles as quickly, accurately and easily as possible. We are also working to make sure the motivation is their for people to list their car accurately. It's a tricky balance but we are confident dealers will like the results. I look forward to hearing about the other challenges you have written about and to hearing the views of others on the forum. Chris.

Hi all, I though it could be interesting to hear where you get your stock from, the things you like about various options but more interestingly the things that annoy you, cost you time & money and you wish could be avoided. I'm guessing many of you use auctions and trade-to-trade sites but what about other sources and what would you change about them if you could? Chris.