GreenGiant

I've lifted the full details from the Dealer Portal : In readiness for the addition of Category C & D labels to adverts shown to buyers on Auto Trader next week you'll see an icon appear next to these adverts in Portal from today onwards. For the full details on the automatic identification of these vehicles to buyers please read the information below. Helping car buyers make sense of Insurance Categories To help buyers compare vehicles fairly on Auto Trader, we're making some changes that may affect how some of your adverts are displayed. From the 23rd April 2014, we'll be using MIAFTR (Motor Insurance Anti Fraud and Theft Register) data to automatically identify cars on Auto Trader that are in Insurance Category C and D. What will change? To give buyers more information about vehicles they're interested in, we'll add a label to all adverts for Cat C and D cars on Auto Trader. As we do not allow Cat A or B cars to be advertised, any we identify will be blocked during the ad creation process. Category A and B vehicles are only salvageable for parts so cannot be advertised with us. Why is this happening? To build trust in you — and in us. We've found 73% of consumers would trust a dealer that clearly identifies Cat C and D cars. By being upfront about your cars, we'll help you secure more sales. To simplify the legal side of things. You're already required to declare Cat C and D cars to buyers. We're simply automating that process for cars advertised on Auto Trader. To help buyers understand. We'll explain each Insurance Category clearly. Confusion puts consumers off, but once they understand the implications, more buyers would buy a Cat D vehicle. What you can do If you have Cat C and D cars advertised on Auto Trader, it’s a good idea to provide as much information about the car’s condition as you can. It remains the advertiser’s responsibility to ensure that all information given in adverts is accurate and up to date. Label on advert in search results Label on full page advert The below images display how the categories are explained to buyers on a full page advert on a mobile device

Loving the envelope. This, in a nutshell, is the net result of 21st Century education in the UK. Without a spell or grammar checker and no way of prettying up the font, the numpty who filled that in didn't stand a chance...

Saw this a while ago... sums up precisely what i'm trying (and failing, it seems) to say

Red rag <-----> Bull I think you've managed to miss the two most important ways of interacting Face to face Telephone These have/do/will work just fine, thanks very much. The others? Whatever. If that's how you want to waste your life, knock yourself out. Have a good weekend people. I'll get my flame-retardent coat...

Yep, ain't that the rub - they can drop them on your toes with dodgy gearboxes (only happens when warm), Cold start issues (only happens next day of course) and no scruples shown or comebacks entertained ("didn't happen to me"), but if the one they bought has a squeak coming from the parcel shelf, you're a worthless piece of crap and you get dissed all over t'interweb and reported to Trading Standards. Welcome to the retail motor trade people!

In the old days it would've been a duplicate service book, out with the old John Bull printing set and then it was like the Post Office on Giro day. ...in the old days, I said...

....i'm not even gonna go there....

That's very kind of you, Jim. And you don't seem like a latte sort of bloke to me - more Americano with a splash of milk and 1 sweetener I reckon. It may also be the case that I too have a stack of awards and am just 'poking the bear' to wind people up. It has been said many times that there's no fun in this business any more, so maybe we have to just entertain ourselves?

Here we go again.... throwing ourselves at the feet of the great Social Media phenomenon Guys. I'm sure you're lovely fellas but you should stop spending so much of your precious time a-tweetin'-and-a-twattin' There's cars to be sold. And as funny (or not) as this might be, it ain't shifting the stock! While you boys have been chortling into your lattes, I've been flogging a car to one of your customers who couldn't get served in your showroom 'cos all your staff were peering at their phones and ignored him.

True Umesh, But that won't happen. There's a clue in the name my friend. They are supposed to support the interests of the manufacturers and the traders so, by definition, it's gonna be a conflict of interest whenever any kind of dispute between the two arises. Who's side they'll be on? (Clue: who do they least want to upset...?)

Thanks all for the opinions. Mrs A still pi**ed off, but I have promised to try and find a similar (or better) equivalent. trouble is, the one she wanted had a ton of extras that I haven't seen on any other car. Mr & Mrs B, however, over the moon and we have two nice px's to sell. I agree with pretty much everything you say, although we employ a couple of slightly different tactics especially with regard to 'holding deposits' We never, never just hold a vehicle whilst someone makes their mind up. As Chris said, why leave ourselves open to the possibility of losing a sale twice? If, however, someone is travelling a fair distance to see a car, I will take it off sale for them, if they ring when they are leaving, until they arrive. Deposits are £500 minimum - creates obligation and stops them shopping around after agreeing to buy ours. If they ask if deposits are refundable, it is obvious that they are not obligated and therefore more needs to be done to get over the line.

I appreciate your thoughts. I'm caught between a rock and a hard place at the mo. As far as we're concerned, as sympathetic as we are to A, B have put the money down and signed the order. We all know there's a hell of a jump between 'i want it' and 'here's my card details' and one does not automatically lead to the other. I did say we would remove the ad from AutoTrader, but the car was still on display with no deposit and no signed order. I wasn't available yesterday and the salesman did his job. Incidentally, this £250 deposit you take to hold the car - is that refundable?

So, here's the scenario: Customer 1; Mr & Mrs A Customer 2: Mr & Mrs B Car: Nearly-new. low mileage, high-spec sporty number Mrs A sees the car in our showroom. Says all the usual things..."it's lovely, I'd like that, will be back for a test drive etc. Comes back 3 days later, has test drive and says must talk to husband, he's away on business etc. I tell her that it is on sale until it's sold and if someone comes in with the money, I'm selling it. Comes in 2 days later with Mr A & has another test drive. Tells us they're very keen, but there's a mark on the interior trim that's putting them off. I say, we'll work on the trim and call when we're happy. Next day, Saturday, I call Mrs A (husband away again) to say that the mark is 80% gone. She says that should be OK but will check with Mr A and has to speak to insurance co as previous car was write-off and need to confirm premium and detail change etc. I say we'll take the advert offline whilst she sorts it out, but we need her to come in and sign the order etc. Mrs A says she'll be in 'either tomorrow or Monday' Next day, Mr & Mrs B roll in, see the car, love the car, want the car. Part exchange valuation agreed and balance paid in full. Nice deal, full up, retailable P/x. Happy days. Today, I call Mrs A to give bad news...... Pompeii-style eruption ensues. We 'promised' her the car, we knew she wanted it, it's 'her' car, why didn't we contact her when someone else was looking at it? (wasn't possible - was in hospital with sick mother yesterday and the Sunday guy didn't have Mrs A's details) What should we do/what would you do?

So, the manufacturers think the market will increase, bless 'em. Wheel. Reinvented. I predict that the Grand Total of all the manufacturers' volume predictions will be waaaaay more than either likely or possible. Maybe the question should be 'who's going to underperform vs their aspirations?' They can't all be right....

I would answer you, Umesh, but quite honestly I CBA.....

What did you expect? Joined up thinking? As always it's a case of "bright idea first, consequences whenever". Whatever happens, it'll end up costing us.

I think you'll find, James, that a pre-reg is a pre-reg whether it be done by the manufacturer or a dealer on their behalf. So the same rules apply. So obviously Wessexboy is correct. All registrations are clearly legit and, as no action has ever been taken, there is no Pre-registering going on at all. So it's a bit of a non-story.

Any chance of an Android app any time soon, for those of us who don't worship at the Apple altar?

There are loads of things that will be impacted by this proposed change. How will we (or anyone) know if a car is taxed or not? In our business, our ride home is usually "anything with rent and a ticket", so that will be a problem. The whole issue of who gets any refund or whether the tax passes on automatically to a new keeper needs a lot of clarification, especially if it's being paid monthly. However, on a brighter note, it will allow roadside traders to park up many more old klunkers opposite your dealership, as no-one will know if they're taxed or not. Happy days.

Local main (French badge) dealer advertising Jan 14/63 plate in his used stock. What happened to the 90 day rule in the Sale Of New Cars Order I wonder?

Oh stop moaning. You know you love it! And Rule No 6: Dick'eads buy cars.

Used to use a local smart repair guy. He had an uncanny talent for colour-coding alloy wheels when he was doing bumper corners, or, worse still, managing to paint parts of a tyre Sparkle Silver on an alloy refurb. Obviously, we've moved on since and now use a (not quite so local, but waaaaay better) bodyshop. But his legacy remains... A new verb was created: To Ron something is defined here as: "to be paid a fortune to make something worse".

James, you ask why the industry doesn't report the truth. They do, and always have. Trouble is, as you say, the mainstream media don't listen and will ignore the facts. Maybe they can't handle the truth. It may also depend on who's paying their wages. Wessexboy: I never said it was right. I think its an ugly, insidious practice that, for all the reasons given above, cannot (and will not) be stopped. The short-term bonuses are too high, the long-term penalties for failure to meet targets are even higher and, by the way, there's another transporter outside! Many years ago I was once told by a senior manufacturer exec that they weren't interested in market share... all they wanted was registrations. Nothing seems to have changed. If it (pre-reg) stopped tomorrow, the over-production throughout Europe would put several manufacturers in serious trouble financially if there was nowhere for the product to go. And their respective governments wouldn't be overly happy as they'd probably have to wade in. Although what this industry actually needs is a 'correction' - a bit like the housing market - so the weak can die off and we can then run our businesses based on 'demand pull' rather than 'supply push'. We all know it's unsustainable as it is, but who's going to put their head over the parapet? Just Say No.

Seriously? Do you mean to tell me that there are some vehicles being registered without an end user? Wow. Who'd have thunk it? This is not news. I've just skipped back through the archives of Trade mag articles and can see this has been banged on about for years. And years. And nobody seems to care. As long as the main dealers keep doing it to pander to the stick-wielding manufacturers, nothing will change. There is only one solution: Everyone has to just say No. But it won't happen. there's too much at stake. The horse is dead, James - stop flogging it.

I can't help myself but, first tiny chink of sunshine...... "Get them tailgates open!" Cos I know (scientific fact) that cars with open tailgates sell quicker. And for more money.