Max Branning

Speak to an accountant.

I have just spent the best part of 2 hours..yes 2 hours with a "customer" This chap turned up this morning and after a very thorough examination of the car, (he brought a kneeling pad and blanket) he asked if he could see the paperwork... He went through all old mots and service history with such detail and at the same time decided to bore me with every car he has owned since passing his test some 30 years ago and virtually every repair he has done to each car...bear with me.. He asks to go on a test drive so we are getting somewhere...He wants me to drive for at least 5 miles so he can "feel the ride" apparently this is the only way to know if there are any problems? He liked playing with all the controls while i am driving, i really appreciated the hot air blowing in my face while trying to explain how the sat nav works...He then took over as pilot and drove at about 35 mph in a 60 and i could see the queue of car building up behind me...still telling me about all the cars he has owned. We get back to the ranch and he says is the price negotiable? Ok we are getting somewhere after another boring chat in the office for half an hour and a bit of to and fro with the price he finally says it... " i have got 1 more to look at " At least the sun is out..!

The target audience seems to make a big difference. Any tips as to what works with this?

I have tried boosting posts before but although it reaches maybe 5000 people, i might just get 2 or 3 likes from it and that was it. Seemed like a waste of money, maybe its just a case of persevering. What kind of budgets do you guys use? And what about target audience anything in particular?

I have recently started some facebook advertising again after a break from it for around 1 year. I previously tried boosting posts that i had linked to my facebook page but really got no response so felt it was a waste of time and money. After hearing positive things on this forum from other dealers regarding facebook i was wondering if they could pass on some tips as to how they are making it work? Are you paying to boost posts? or are you promoting website / local business etc at cost? maybe you are manually posting adverts in local groups, i have tried this but seems very time consuming maybe i am missing something. What form of advertising on facebook seems to get the best results for you?

This is not always the case, after doing this job for a long time it never ceases to amaze me how dumb some people are when it comes to dealing with money. I often wonder how these people survive from day to day. There are people that just would have no clue on how to sell a car and will either just give it away as a part exchange ( come on we have all had those customers ) or will just do an online valuation from a used car buyer and accept the first offer they are given. When they are knocked down even further at collection they just accept it because its in their nature. So although there will be lemons going to these buyers there will also be some very good stock. Just a gamble as always at auction.

What winds me up with online auctions is at the bottom of the listing it will say " payment and collection within 72 hours - no exceptions " But...You email the seller for their bank details and get no reply.... So you ring up after giving them a little while to respond say 24 hrs and after being passed to about 3 different people and getting spoke to like you are wasting their time you finally get the payment details....All this takes up half of the "collection time allowed" Why cant they all just list the bank details to make payment to on the confirmation email you get once the auction is won? Rant over.

Exactly this. 20 years ago it just would not of worked but in the modern day it is the way forward. Saving 12 grand a year plus is a no brainer even if you are missing out on a few walk ons. If your cars are priced right people will find you and the cars will sell without doubt.

The days of the good old fashioned forecourt are dead now. The only dealers that really need it are new sales as they need to be seen. Most roadside pitches will attract a high rental price due to the location. It is possible to rent a yard or unit on a industrial estate for sometimes a quarter of the price of a roadside pitch and you often get more space. A lot of the time the "walk on" customers have actually already viewed your cars online. I have also noticed many more traders now operating on an appointment only basis which i always thought was a bit daft as its in peoples nature to just turn up and view but i actually started doing this on sundays only and it is going well so far. If no one rings me by saturday night i get a day off but when people actually make an appointment and turn up on a sunday they seem to be buying rather than just looking so i am wondering if this could work 7 days a week...time will tell.

If someone is operating from fixed premises and has a VAT number which matches that address then that should be enough. Usually when you register they send you out a letter to your registered address with your VAT number on it you could always ask for a copy of that as proof?

I would of said it was up to the individual trader to decide who he wants to offer his trade to trade cars to. For example if i have a car that i want £2k for and no body other than a non VAT reg trader wants to buy it then am i going to refuse to sell it to him? The one problem is the easier it is for non VAT reg traders to acquire stock the less likely they are to actually bother registering so in the long run it bites us in the arse as they can retail stuff cheaper. This argument could go on and on for ever but in my personal opinion a buy and sell forum for VAT reg only would be my preferred choice. It just keeps things more professional.

Time to stock up on some Suzuki Wagon R

i get the "swappers" all the time mainly from gumtree. They always say the same thing "my car is worth £xxx" so yours is retailing at the same amount so what about a straight swap? They are always so upset when you explain to them that there car is NOT worth what they think and that i have to eat !

Why on earth did he not bring the car straight back to you if he only got 20 miles down the road and it started misfiring and eml on? As soon as he rang you i would of told him to come straight back. Anyway wait and see what the audi garage quote to repair and if its reasonable may be best to just pay it and move on (hopefully you had a decent profit in the car) Just offering 42 quid and expecting him to be happy is a long shot and more likely to wind things up.

Just answer any questions with "no comment" so not to incriminate yourself.

I have had some higher mileage stock in recently, well higher than i would normally entertain but have found them to actually move quite well which has suprised me. You still get the odd customer who nearly has a heart attack when you tell them its done over 100k but generally they have moved well. How do other traders find it retailing high mileage stock? I guess if its priced well the mileage does not matter? Oh by the way mine have been diesels so maybe petrols not so good at higher mileage 100k plus? Thoughts..

I would say the vast majority of home traders or part time traders do not do things by the book. How many have planning permission to trade? how many actually do declare what they earn? The reality is these traders are making life harder for the real full time traders who have ever increasing overheads. Someone who operates a small shop selling cakes is trying to make a living the best way they can, compare it to someone selling cakes on a stall at the front of their house.

Is motors really any good these days and what does it cost roughly for a 20 car package? I was with them around 2 years ago but left because i was getting no leads just seemed a waste of time, maybe things have changed?

But car auctions as we know do not adhere to any sale of goods act. They can legally sell a deathtrap to anyone who wants to buy it. As legitimate motor traders we accept this and will expect to prepare the car prior to resale BUT a private buyer is buying the car for himself to use. Also the bandit traders that are resident at the auctions will happily buy these vehicles then resell them without any preparation. Making the auctions VAT reg traders only would cut out these problems. The only problem is it will cut down on the deathtraps that the auction can legally sell on so somebody will be stuck with them or they will need to be scrapped. Excellent idea

Exactly...So why do the auction houses allow it? obviously because they are out for every penny and do not give a damn who buys the cars. I have said before on another thread that i do not see how a "private" buyer can go along to a trade auction ie sold as seen and legitimately buy a car and then get in it and drive down the motorway. Just does not seem realistic these days.

Always worth having a good accountant on board though. The money they can save you sometimes outweighs their fees. And also one less thing to worry about.

Accounts is no problem just find an accountant to do it for you. Mine does my VAT returns every quarter and charges me about £100.

You can avoid it all you like but once you start turning over the threshold then it is mandatory to register. I think you have to decide whether to take the business seriously or not. Once you adapt to being VAT registered then it really is not that difficult. I personally would like to see all auctions whether online or live be strictly VAT registered dealers only. This would get rid of the bandits and private buyers making life easier for all of us..

Write a letter to the buyer send it recorded delivery so there is proof. State that if the car is returned then you will diagnose any faults yourself and if the car is indeed faulty then you will repair it free of charge. If the customer refuses to return it then that is his problem and you have done everything by the book. If you have something to prove the car was not faulty at point of sale even better ideally a PDI signed by the buyer.

Can anyone recommend a good van price guide, usually just use hpi trade to check cars and cap/glasses on there but a lot of the time the vans do not show up as in database.