Phil H

First thing I do is put them on the MID as the boys in blue by us will try to have you on the 14 day rule from day one.

After the drive home I've just had I wish I had one of these in my fleet. Don't the Sunday drivers know it's MONDAY today.

Thanks for the advice GG, had a similar conversation with a nice lady from HMRC last year when she came to inspect my books and she advised me that as long as you adjust your vat returns for personal fuel used and tax returns for benefits in kind accordingly to allow for personal use then what I'm doing is fine, so we agreed an amount each week to take these factors into consideration and adjust accordingly. She also gave me this in writing with the agreed amounts on which we adjust on every return.

when I use a px I'm taking it home on a 25 mile each way round trip to give it an extensive test drive checking for faults prior to selling only, don't use it for personal use. so it's not classed as benefit in kind

whatever's px's got fuel in it which hasn't been cleaned and only for a few days until DVLA receive the yellow slip (but always carry a set of trade plates just in case) apart from that my astra van.

yes countryman have bought the longer versions only problem with using them and redirecting the WBAC to them is google adwords will not allow this, As per the passing off none of the words in either name match we just share the same initials but I do know that they will fight legal battles to protect their name but we're not talking name here it's all about 4 letters, I've been told that you can overcome passing off if you display on your website that you are no way connected with them and offer a link back to their website for anyone who has to come to yours by mistake. And secondly mine is a totally different business model from theirs although both will be in the cash for cars market. Here's a previous legal battle that they lost from wikipedia: We Buy Any Car Limited launched an action via the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva against Kar Land PTY alleging that the domain webuyanycar.com.au had been registered and was being used in bad faith. The adjudication can be viewed at http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/search/text.jsp?case=DAU2012-0004 This action was not successful and webuyanycar.com continues to pursue other legal channels to protect its global brand reputation in Australia.

I'm about to launch a website aimed at the cash for cars market the business name is a good one, although quite a long one (24 characters altogether) it doe's exactly what it says, but abbreviated is WBAC and as look would have it I've managed to purchase a domain which is these exact letters, I've looked into IP Rights and have been advised that the domain name should be OK to run with it but could potentially have some opposition from a company within the cash for cars market who have the same initials. Not wanting to have a costly big legal battle with a company who has a lot more money than me but such a short domain name (4 characters as opposed to 24) would be much better for my business. Should I run with it and wait for any potential letter or just use the big long domain name instead. Any advice welcome please.

what part of the country was it James?

I agree with you all tread with caution but don't rule it out because you never know, once payment is received tell them that you're delivery company can't deliver it for 7 to 10 days, by that time if it's a fraudster the payment should of been already debited out of your account. Also make sure you get them to sign a letter to confirm that the goods are as described and advertised just to cover the DS laws. Good Luck

James I couldn't agree more about the farce of pre reg, who do the manufacturers think they are kidding with these inflated numbers and then putting pressure on the franchises to take these vehicles in large numbers, alright they do come with some benefits, free stocking time etc but surely if they are being forced on the dealers these pre reg units should count towards their new car target. IMHO these pre reg are due to both desperation and greed on their behalf after all if sales are rising then so will the brand executives bonuses but the dealers bonus falls for not hitting target, that's the greed element, and the desperation is caused by them not wanting to admit that sales have fallen on their watch when we're coming out of recession and can't blame declining sales on that any more. Have the manufacturers not learn't anything from the arrogance of the bankers in the banking crisis? For years people have got rich on the back of us dealers getting dictated too by the bigger powers causing us all to fight each other to survive, there's enough of the pie for everyone and surely it would be a lot easier if we all worked together. Fact of life in the motor trade The manufacturers need the franchised dealers, who in turn need the small independents and we all need customers and stock.

Hi Philip, interesting figures, does your 15% of cash for cars process purchases figure include the auction websites (WBAC, WWAC, M4YM etc) buying this type of stock or are these direct purchases included in auction stock sold to us?

Customers they make you laugh and you're skin thicker. I think some of the current customers are of the I want a Rolls Royce for the price of a mini syndrome. Next time you get one just tell them that it's so expensive because it's got a gold bar in the glove box and see what they say. I got someone with this one a while back and had him convinced that there was one in it and even got to the point that he'd agreed that if it was true and there was a gold bar in the glove box then he would buy it at the agreed price as long as the gold bar came with the van, if I wasn't telling the truth he could have the van for free. So we shook hands on it and to the glove box I went, opened it and produced a Whisper GOLD Chocolate BAR (I'd been driving this van the night before and had left my unfinished tea in it). He didn't buy the van but did the come and buy one the following year after the cheaper option that he'd bought instead let him down.

Is it a case of the big boys telling the little one's of us what to do again, or is it Fix It Again Tomorrow telling us that it's thinking about going down the retailing route just like the others and getting rid of the competition?

sorry it wasn't silvo I must of been having a blonde moment yesterday it was jewellers rouge Rouge powder can be mixed with water, olive oil or similar medium into a paste or slurry and used as follows: To remove fine scratches in glass, smear the Rouge Powder or paste onto a soft mop attached to a polishing motor; keep the speed slow and polish very slowly until the desired effect is obtained

Interesting point about PCP's getting refreshed a bloke who works in the plastics suppliers next to me bought a new fiesta only last year on a PCP. It was a bog standard 3 door in DC Red but after a year he's realized it's too small and needs a 5 door so he still had a year to run on his old PCP but has managed to get a new 5 door Zetec with air con in metallic blue and it's only cost him another £20 per month over a 3 year term instead of 2 years, he said it was a no brainer. I was reading an article the other month about how Car Clocking is on the increase but not by dealers it's getting done by consumers who are potentially getting hit with huge excess mileage charges when these PCP's come to an end, so they clock it before the first MOT and are getting away with it. Heres's the article for those of you who missed it. http://cardealermagazine.co.uk/publish/clocking-back-dealers-victims-time-says-glasss/91790

Years ago we used a silver metal polish pads similar to duraglit I can't remember it's name it was something like Silvo and if you rubbed it gently in little swirl patterns on the marks it worked. don't know if it's still made from the same stuff nowadays but for a couple of quid it's worth a go.

It's quiet in the van job also and to be honest it has been all year. The only thing that I can put it down to in the van job is that now we're coming out of recession all of the builders, plumbers etc who've been struggling since getting laid off in 2008/09 are now getting jobs cards in with the big boys and a company van included. No worries or hassle about having to find jobs to pay the bills just turn up, build something, get paid and go home. Now these big companies buy their vans new on lease so therefore contribute to the record new van sales that we hear about and create a shortage of customers for us smaller dealers. Now as for the car job IMHO it may be quiet not just because of the seasonal holidays arrived early but after seeing used cars prices going up every month for the past four years (we all know who's to blame for this) and record people buying cars on finance have we come to the point where secondhand cars are just simply to expensive and not value for money. The gap between a secondhand model of their choice and a brand new one is only a few pounds per month extra over a longer term. This would explain the record new car sales and the quietness in the second hand market. I could be talking a load of tosh but I'm sure a few of you out there agree with me.

why don't you take a picture of them and upload to this forum and then we can see how bad they are and advise accordingly

Umesh I couldn't agree more, The big are getting bigger and controlling the stock and in this job whoever controls the stock controls the market including prices, so if we want stock we either have to pay their prices or try to survive on selling fresh air, which as we all know is impossible. Lets go back 20 years when the auctions where perceived as not a nice place to buy from, a common saying was that if it's in the auction it's there for a reason. In those days we didn't have to go to the auctions as the lease companies would sell direct to us, so would the main dealers but this was ruined for us by the corrupt people who where part of the brown envelope gang. The auctions picked up on this and cleaned up their act, seized the opportunity to prevent corruption, engaged with the lease companies and main dealers and offered them a branded sale stopping the corruption of the brown envelope gang and instead starting the trotting up gang. We all know that trotting up happens but as we all need the stock we're powerless to do anything about it. A Source of good value stock gone Now lets go back 15 years we could still rely on part exchanges and getting stock off auto trade mail when it was owned by dealers, it was a cheap way of buying and selling and in it's heyday it worked when it was run by people who understood the job, then what happened, it got bought out, prices increased and anybody could get a subscription to help pay for the takeover. Another source of good value stock gone. Now let's go back 10 years and the invention of the cash for cars industry, as you know Umesh I'm actually the person who introduced this market to the masses with my first website 10 years ago, Some of the biggest players in this market where buying cars from the public via my website before starting their own. (I won't name them for now) For this I'm truly sorry I launched the cash for cars market to help cut out the middlemen instead the big boys seized the opportunity, made them more powerful and they have become the biggest middlemen of all, Another source of good value stock gone. What we must learn from the big boys is that they are sticking together with the various partnerships now formed, so us small independents need to follow suit and instead of fighting each other let's stick together but it's hard as they have so much capital behind them, so much power dictating the prices for purchasing stock and also the cost of advertising. All this does is have a massive impact on our margins and if we're not making it then it's hard to re invest. Now Umesh I genuinely believe that I've developed something that can help us smaller independents fight back, if we all stick together, but the only people who can let it down is us. So if there are any genuine motor dealers who'd be interested in making a difference and fighting back just send me a message and once vetted we'll talk further. Just as a taster one of the features that I've been developing is called "used car dealers you can trust" as well as others. If we all stick together we can pull through to prosperous times ahead. Don't throw in the towel just yet. Everything goes full circle in life.

If you lived in the sleepy village of Rainford you'd get lashed with birch twigs whilst in our village stocks for lateness GG

AT CEO says he's not losing any sleep over the RAC entering his domain, http://cardealermagazine.co.uk/publish/auto-trader-not-losing-any-sleep-over-rac-cars-listing/93105 Is that because his mattress is so comfy with all of his bonus money from our extortionate advertising rates stashed in it?

I got a phone call from a friend of mine last week asking my advice about a car that he sold to a customer in January who had called him complaining about a fault on the car. The fault was the rear brakes were slow to work, the car was still under manufacturers warranty and he'd taken it in to his local franchised dealer to investigate who looked at it and informed the customer that a sensor on the rear was faulty and due to the fact that the car had been in an accident and had body work repairs to the rear the warranty on the sensor was null and void go and speak to the dealer who you bought it from. I asked him if the car had had any body work done and he confirmed that the main dealer who he bought it from had carried out the repairs prior to trading it to him, It was a very good repair. The customer wasn't happy screaming and shouting he wanted his money back as he'd bought a car that had been involved in a serious accident and had been siting round for ever waiting to be repaired by a dodgy back street garage and the car wasn't fit for the purpose. the repair was a new rear bumper and repair to the N/S/R quarter. He was prepared to give a full refund but I advised him to get the car back and investigate it for himself. Now my friend doesn't do stress very well so after spending all weekend worrying about this comeback the car came back on Monday and it was agreed between them that if the fault was due to the accident repair then a refund minus 6 months use would be given. He sent it to a local independent garage who started to investigate, they put it on the brake rollers and could clearly see that the efficiency on the n/s/r was well down on the rest, So they get it up on the ramp and start inspecting the brakes all round, they notice a new repair had been carried out to the o/s/f bumper and wing and not a particularly good job at that, then they notice that the car, which he had sold in January, had a new inner wheel arch liner fitted with a sticker still on it showing the manufacture date of February this year as did the indicator. It had also had a new hub and caliper fitted to the same corner. So they thought this car is fitted with dual circuit brakes, the customers complaining about the n/s/r brake working slow, the brake test confirms this and it's had a new caliper on the o/s/f maybe it just needs a bleed, surely not they thought it's been checked by a main dealer who've diagnosed it as a sensor, but we'll start with the basics and try bleeding the brakes anyway. Off the ramp it goes for another brake test and the efficiency now matches the rest, they still couldn't believe it could be something as simple as that so out they went on road test to carry out some heavy braking. It performed faultless. Called my friend and explained what they'd found and told him to come and collect it. My friend was fuming he'd had a stressful weekend due to this man's complaining when in fact he'd done nothing wrong the whole fault was caused by the customer having a cheap repair carried out by a garage who quite clearly hadn't clamped off the front brake pipe when fitting the new caliper, let some brake fluid run out and only bled the front caliper and not the o/s/r caliper which shared the same dual circuit. He informed the customer that his car was ready for collection, the fault was now fixed and he'd inform him of the problem when he got there. When the man arrived he was told that the fault was due to the dodgy back street garage accident repair that had been authorized whilst he'd owned it and not the previous repair and was confronted with the evidence, he admitted that the body shop who carried out the repair also fitted the new caliper and was just trying it on as the main dealer had quoted hundreds of pounds to fix it and the sale of goods act was on his side, he thanked him for fixing the fault as he loves the car, so my friend gave the customer both barrels, threw him out and told him never to contact him again. Has anyone else experienced anything like this and how did you handle it?

Bethany your thank you is appreciated, if we all work together in the motor trade it can make all of our lives a lot easier and more profitable for all, not just the chosen few.

Suns shining in the not so sleepy village of Rainford today and had to go to my mate's garage to borrow his stretchy gizmo for a cv boot that needs doing on a transit before it goes out, driving along and a group of 12 cyclists came towards me and I just couldn't resist so beep beep went the horn and was amazed they all waved, result, 12 points in one hit, then a couple of old ladies with a young child approached so beep beep went the horn again, even the young child waved another 3 points, 15 in total. What a difference the sunshine makes.

All fixed now AT well done,