tradegirl

Well I'm glad I read this first thing in the morning. I'm feeling super optimistic now...

Had a guy message me offering £3200 on a £4k car we've just listed and "Not a penny more". Not sure if he was expecting me to succumb to his nice manners and charm...

No experience with i10s, but i20s have been popular for us, and never had any mechanical problems with them. Granted, the ones we had all had low mileages. But they're generally cheap to run, and buyers seem to like them.

Yes, you are being had. Anything with "courier agent" is 99.9% a scam.

Haha, milk please, and a beer. (I'm very refined!)

Haha, yeah no chance holding onto chocolates with women around. Still, you're £1100 better off, so I'm a nice girl and not pushy. Never even got a Mars bar lol.

James, it is, but if I sell a car on there, 1. It's a sale, and 2. It gets the company name out there. And if the customer is happy, then I've gained something. I'm not saying it's a great platform, I'm just saying it also bears some fruit, and takes 2 mins to list a car. It's one extra platform.

Nick, I'm not talking about ad boosting. I mean just posting cars on Facebook Marketplace (which is free). I have 5 cars on there at the moment, 1 positive rating. No comments that I can see...?

Scrawf, I've never done boosts, but I've advertised cars on FB Marketplace. Yes, you do get a lot of time wasters, but we've sold 3 cars on there in April £2k, £6k, £8.5k, and one £3.5k yesterday. And it's free, so...why not?

I so desperately want to say something smart, but can't think of anything fitting.

Lol I love hearing things like this. I'll try it myself! What did you do to get the chocolates??

9 days is nothing. I know it's unnerving when there are no bites on a car at all, but sod's law you let a car go because you're panicked or desperate, and you get 6 enquiries the following week. I'm no expert but if the body work is good like you say, try and show it a bit more. I personally like closer photos, but others on here have told me my photos look cropped in.

Looks good! Can you do mine? Haha. Crikey, you did a privacy policy...I'd never even thought to do that...:/

Bought a car a couple of years ago on surecheck, and the engine light came on a little after we collected it. Manheim didn't do a thing about it, as whatever was causing the fault wasn't covered. But that was in the earlier Surecheck days, maybe had something to do with that.

Truer words...in this industry, be it traders, mechanics or bodyworkers, there's a lot to be said for recommendations and peace of mind (and the money you make from that peace of mind) I hate Vauxhalls too.

Ok I understand now thanks Mark. Mark, a question specific to you, as I know you stand by your cars, and if I've understood what you've said correctly. If it's unlikely the belt has jumped, how do you approach it? For your sake I hope you don't have to pay out for the Qashqai on top of the Astra. That's a painful double whammy...

You don't get to see as much these days, but listen out for a noisy flywheel or chain at start up. The drivers are pretty decent enough to go through the gears for you. You don't get to see the paperwork, although Manheim usually post details of service history online, and their inspection reports give you a pretty decent idea of what to expect with the car. However, I still like to see the car in person, as sometimes it presents better or worse than in photos. There are deals to be found both at auction, and privately. Just more vehicles at hand at auction, but expect to spend a large part of your day there, and maybe even walk away with nothing. Regarding insurance, we're covered to drive any car, as long as it's up on the MID within 2 weeks of purchase.

Those using Lawgistics booklets, or in any case, their own pot and self administer, do you cover the same things a paid warranty would cover? Or do you pick and choose? And do you NEED a warranty company? If say A1 or VGS or whoever, cover 30 different components on a car, could you not just cover the 30 components your self, and put even the £20+VAT off each car in a pot? (Since the pot is yours anyway) Short of an engine or gearbox failure (or expensive injectors), is paying for warranties worth it?

Usually takes minutes, but with HSBC it it's over the weekend, it's a nightmare. Also had one girl transfer from Natwest to Lloyds over the phone. All security ok but the money wouldn't come through. She rang again, spoke to 2 advisors, passed security again, and turns out they've had a lot of people held at knifepoint to make payments, so the advisor had to ask her 3 times to confirm she was willingly making payment. One payment from HSBC we found out the following day that it was stopped in case of fraud (even though it was made over the phone)

I've often thought this. In fact didn't someone on here post cars with heavy damage from Copart, part repaired and then posted on eBay as damaged, but with a far lighter fix? Yeah of course. I don't know why in my mind every accident = dealing with insurance.

That's a shame, and frustrating. I don't even know if it's worth arguing that S is structural, and what part of the car's structure did they deem damaged? Still, sounds like you got good money for it. And yes, the S will affect it more, but I think the buyers on some cars such as BMWs and Mercs, might be less bothered about the marker than someone coming to buy a Fiesta.

Of course I know, but explain to me why a 2015 Mazda 3 2.2 with 40k on the clock with a minor (and I mean minor) bump on the rear bumper gets written off? I think we sold that for £6500 as Cat N. Or a 2014 Fiesta Titanium with literally just a door needing painting While on the other hand, you can see a 2015 Captur now on Copart that is completely smashed up and airbags deployed, and it's unrecorded. The Mazda is worth more and it got written off for less. And I have other examples like the Mazda. THAT'S my question. How can a car worth more, get written off for minor damage. While a car that's worth the same amount of money (And oftentimes less) have more damage yet be unrecorded?

Marc recently sold a £9000 Cat N A Class on Marketplace in a week, and a Cat N £6k C Class in 10 days. Easiest sales ever. Meanwhile we have 3 £2-3k straight cars that are growing roots. Better than Wizz though. I understand it's about the money, but some Cat N enquirers act as though they're paying full straight price for the car. I guess some people want the Earth regardless of what car you're selling.

We don't have a problem with Category N. We've sold enough of them and there's good money in them. I suppose it's the same as customers buying straight cars: you'll get those who pick the car apart, and those who see the car for what it is. I just don't understand as a customer if you've no idea about Category N cars, and you're nervous and untrusting, why look for one to buy? And every single one that we've bought, we've put our kids and family in. No chassis damage, no chop shop jobs. Just straight forward replaceable panel repair. If I don't trust the car for my own safety, how can I sell it to someone else? Justin, I've found higher profit margins in Category N cars. And customers aren't that bad. Usually they're more clued up than normal customers, so they know what to look for, which makes my job easier. Having a clueless Sunday buyer roll up to a straight car and seeing if the panels align, and crying about a couple of missed services, and thus questioning the mileage of the car...not so easy.

Hi everyone. Does anyone know what determines a car being written off? We have bought 3 cars with very minor bumper damage (needed literally just a respray), which were Category N. On the other hand, we have seen cars of similar value smashed right into the engine, airbags deployed etc, that are unrecorded. Saw a straight Juke a couple of weeks ago that was effed in the wing and wheel arch. Trying to explain to buyers that I assume comes down to the insurer. Even with before photos, some people can't be convinced. Told a lady today that it was purely cosmetic damage, and she said "seems odd to be written off for cosmetic damage, thanks anyway". Would she prefer if the car had had rad pack and airbags replaced??