tradegirl

Boy I really hope I come across a listing of someone selling her boyfriend.

Oh man...it always rings alarm bells when they say they've been looking for ages. Good call though Nick. I think you saved yourself a lot of hassle going forward.

If it's not, I need a unit.

Oh God...this is either a recipe for disaster or your ballsiness will help you win. 1. Don't get excited and overbid. Stick to your margins. 1.(b) don't get excited at the first couple of auctions and bid on a load of cars you have no idea about. If you're unlucky, they'll grant your provisional bids and you'll suddenly have 5-10 cars to prep (possibly repair), PDI, MOT and sell, without knowing if they actually sell well. 2. I'd personally stay away from Audi/VW automatics as we've repaired far too many of them. Also no ford powershift gearboxes. 3. Insignias are crap stay away. 4. Clean and prep your cars well. 5. New MOT and Pre delivery inspection 6. Price well and stick to your guns for the first 2-3 weeks (some traders keep their prices the same for months) 7. Oh most importantly in my opinion is SEE the car before you bid on it. Auction houses aren't usually known for their honesty, and we've seen clocked cars go through auction, scratches and marks left out of photos, and mechanical issues that weren't described for the online bidders. It only takes one car with a problematic engine to wipe out a big chunk of profit. Plus if there are marks you haven't seen and the car needs painting, then you need a good body shop. Do you have a mechanic you use?

We had a Ford Powershift which took about a year to put right, and even then it wasn't 100%. Never again. I know they're the same thing, but I'd like to think the Volvo ones are slightly more reliable. Even though that's just a trick to calm myself down when I buy/drive a Volvo one.

Lucas, you paid £7000 to get a motor trade policy before you've even made a penny as a trader, and with no experience? Why not sell 2 or 3 cars privately and wet your feet, and then proceed? Better yet, if you're so adamant you want a partner, wouldn't they havea trade policy they could add you on??

I thought it was just us! What is that stuff? It's disgusting but incredible!

When I spoke to them they said £3 per check for around 10 checks a month.

What is it about this job that we actually enjoy? Being your own boss? Selling something for a profit? The search for a nice motor and the satisfaction when you pick one up for a nice profit?

Lucas you've got no experience but you can gain it. Start with a couple of cars from home. Then 4, then keep increasing. You'll gain that experience. James and Mark work solo from home and they're doing well. Don't get involved with someone you don't know, especially if they know you have 200k to burn. Having a partner in any business means sharing the profit, access to YOUR money, and having to consider someone else's opinion. Trust me it's messy at times, and it can hurt people. You might lose money because your partner wanted to buy a car you didn't agree with. Or a car might fail in your hands. Mistakes happen and a partner isn't selected lightly. Be very careful. I'd personally start solo from home until you gain that experience. Then find a unit once you know what you're doing. You might not have car experience, but be on the ball and have a sharp eye even if you invest somewhere. Buy a crappy house, fix it up, sell it and repeat. Buy a piece of land with an old barn and make it into one of those fancy barn homes. Sell that. Invest a little bit in stocks. Maybe buy a unit for cars. ....that's actually a good question.

Can someone explain this to me? You sell the self-funded warranty to the customer? At what cost?

Great news! It's a real test of nerves sometimes in this business. Gritting teeth and praying for a turnaround here too.

Ford Etis for Fords. General google search for others.

Thank you for posting this.

Same here. I thought it was the amount of cars we've got up for sale (only 5, another 8 are in prep) It's reassuring but worrying to see others with a lot more stock are quiet too.

Peanuts here. Pretty gutted

This is brilliant!

Sigh...enquiries only on 1 of 5 cars. And that's my own personal car and is sort of a shed. All I'm getting is people expecting a mint car for the price of a shed. Come on, September!!

We use a breaker who got rid of the bones. The rest is packed in a garage waiting to sell!

We had the council come round a couple of years ago. Bearing in mind we have 1 car on the drive and 3 on the road on an estate. Guy said he couldn'tsee any for sale signs in cars, nor any tools strewn around or disruptive behaviour, so he could see nothing amiss. I wouldn't worry about it. Not to say are neighbours are jovial, they're all moody bastards who have it in for us. The one guy takes photos of whoever parts OPPOSITE his driveway, because he can't pull his car our apparently, and the other pathetic middle aged dear two doors down comes knocking the door whenever a customer parks outside her house (not blocking her) because she can't come out her drive (bullshit) But..I wouldn't change postcode because of some jealous idiots. I'd change it for my own joy of not having to look at their miserable faces.

It's a real struggle to find parts, especially well priced ones. We eventually bought a Cat C and broke it and it worked out cheaper.

I hate the "quick look" lot. There are tons of great activities for the weekend, why would looking at cars you're not going to buy be one of them? Or the "I just have to sell my car first". Why the hell are you wasting YOUR time and mine when you don't have the money ready?!

I had a dream last night that I put it on the car and it was a shiny silver, and the car was matt.

Surely we can get a Lawgistics solicitor on this forum to give us legal answers on these issues. Come on gentlemen, pull a few strings! These issues keep coming up and it seems it's only 1-2 in the thread who know the definitive legal answer.

I've often thought this. What we regard as a £1500-2000 cheap run around, for others it's their hard earned money. No reason why they should get a problematic car or that they get given a filthy car because it's "cheap"