RH Trading

you're right, would only consider moving 1-2 miles away. had my eye on some units that have been available for a couple of years now. thinking of moving one bit at a time - bodyshop/MOT etc. first, then after 12 months extend into the unit next door that could comfortably hold 50 cars indoors. where we are I'm maxed out with 35 if I squeeze them all on but doesn't look appealing and no room to expand as I'm surrounded on 3 sides. Its a question do I stay as I am, which is OK, nice turnover, decent sales or take the next step. Quite nervous about doing so but "He who dares" and all that

Been in our current location for the past 20 years and whilst we still get a lot of passing traffic more and more these days, people are turning up from outside of our area and found our website first. We have a large service bay, MOT, body shop on site and this by and large generates more used car sales than being on a main road. looking at the postcodes of the past 25 sales, There's 4 I know have definitely come from our service business, another 4 are within 20 miles the rest have never driven past our site before so would never have seen us if we weren't online, furthest away last month was Dundee! I'm seriously contemplating moving to a cheaper, bigger, out of town unit, where all my cars can be stored inside, out of the elements so I wont have to wash them every 2 days and out of the way of the dickhead who thinks its funny to throw a brick over the fence on a Saturday night. My advice is to stick at it Grant

Cancellation now gone in for findandfundmycar, looks like another disappointing wannabe promising the earth and delivering buttons. Have to give 30 days notice - zero calls or enquiries, don't get sucked into their spin as its a complete waste of time. total cost to me will be over £1000 by the end of it - lesson learned but they should put their money where their mouth is and give it free to their Motornovo clients until they'd built up an audience - £7 a car is very expensive

Not had a whisper from these guys as yet, and great news is I found out I'm not tied in. will give it to March, £360 out of pocket so far

which auction are you going to Grant? I used to do the rounds at BCA - Derby, Nottingham and Perry Bar, noticed a big difference in prices just between these 3 sites, Friend of mine regularly flew up to Glasgow (met by a BCA coach at the airport) he used to swear by buying cars there and shipping them to his place in Wolverhampton but he hasn't done this for past 6 months saying prices are just as crazy in Scotland now

Ive changed my tune with these guys, last year was very angry about the value flags on my cars, that's my job. However I now love the fact they have these flags on my cars, its telling my customers I'm great value. same as the autotrader now, buyers wont believe it when I tell them my cars are great value but I show them my cars, and the fact its not me telling them, its autotrader or cargru's. this stops any haggling straight away. not sold one from carguru's yet but I guess that's the carrot to get you to pay for the lead details

Anyone having any luck with these guys? I've seen the TV ad and hoping it starts to pick up. My Motornovo rep is great and got me to trial it in December started January but just found out I'm tied into 12 months. hope it starts to pick up, £300 a month is a bit steep and not had a bite as yet. I give most sites a chance for a few months to gauge response but didn't know I couldn't cancel if it didn't work (should have checked it I hear you say)

Don't usually read or like topics that start "How's the month so far?" its usually a sorry tale of woe so trying to start upbeat. December was about 10% behind previous year so was initially worried about how the new year would start off. However we've just today equalled last Januarys sales number so should exceed Jan 2017 by about 10 cars with a week to go (fingers crossed as long as we have an OK weekend). Diesels being the surprise for me after some of my oldest in stock went out the door with still some decent margin in them. I know the media doesn't help with their scare stories but seems it hasn't put buyers off when diesels are priced right. Workshop is ticking over nicely as well, fully booked for next 5 weeks and if this continues might need another apprentice. as always getting hold of the right stock is biggest headache but diesels at the block still seem to go for silly money or is it just me?

Have experience on both last year and whilst I did sell a few cheapies on Gumtree it didn't wash its face over the time I used them. both Fleabay and Gumtree attract an awful lot of messers and timewasters, you'll get a lot of stupid offers from dreamers wanting £2k off a £5k motor, also had my account hacked by scammers who changed all my contact details and prices, massive headache and vowed to stay clear. To me its full of the less reputable "dealers" wanting rid of part ex nightmares. Trying findandmycarfund.co.uk but nothing as yet, still its early days, fingers crossed, £7 a car isn't cheap though

Put that to music and you'll make a fortune, and buy some thermal socks ya grumpy old sod

don't think that applies to boosted ads though does it? we've in the past paid a few pounds to get specific vehicles into targeted feeds - didn't sell any but think these are what dealers generally use Fb for unless its changed since I used them?

HaHa, Completely agree ,they were laying into someone called Basil when I last looked, looked again today and its still going on! Cant believe it, very entertaining until they turned nasty on him, that's what I like about this forum, no bullyboy tactics, there's more respect for peoples opinions because its open even if people don't put there names and details on here - so what?. Not one or two opinionated people driving their own agenda in a secret little dark clubroom. And I reckon that Beth's one of those avatars, its really a hairy arsed developer called Geoff from Wigan

CAP guide is worthless Pip, went to BCA myself this week and agree prices are right at the top end but its better to walk away empty handed than make panic buys, pay over the odds just to fill spaces and be sat on cars for 6 months gathering dust and zero calls

Posted on it once about 4 years ago but stopped viewing the posts last year, thought I'd just take another quick look now and its like groundhog day and I remember why I stopped. I stopped going on there as I got depressed, nothing but autotrader bashing and negativty. there's a handful of very noisy people with their own agenda using it as their platform. If they were serious about wanting answers to questions and issues then they'd ring someone up or speak to their rep not post on a forum or go onto a social site., they didn't want answers, they wanted an audience. lost all credibility for me. When I have a problem with autotrader I ring up my rep who comes and see's me, I don't whinge in front of my colleagues, I whinge to him. autotrader are far from perfect but I'm not surprised they're closing it to be honest,

agree completely, you get an idea of the market for that car right now live, see todays prices and who (franchise/home trader/supermarket/non franchise) then decide your own realistic price. You wouldn't buy a car for £4k at BCA based on it being a CAP clean trade price, if there are 200 on AT priced at £4500. - I've done that in the past to my cost and sat on a car for 9 months

Not used CAP for at least 3 years now, never accurate and adds more confusion than anything else, trade guides are always a guesstimate no matter who provides them. I look at how much I can sell the car for and knock off my costs and margin - that's my trade price, going off trade guides like CAP destroys my profit. throw them all in the bin

very interesting thread, longest current car is a 14 plate A4 Avant diesel auto at 103 days, thought it would fly out. I'm very strict with my stock normally, trading out when they get to 90 days, cant sit on a car forever. my cost to stock is around £35 per wk per car so I cant afford to sit on a car thinking its still making a profit after 6 months. I'm tight for space and physically cant get more cars on the pitch so every car needs to sell as quickly as possible, get the money back in the business. I could have sold 2 cars in the space that Avant has taken up

I'd steer clear of eBay, I have bought privately before but only to order. did look at ebay and whilst the cars looked very cheap, I didn't trust the people who were selling them and doubt very much they were privates, looked more like traders not wanting to retail, trying to pass on problem cars with no comeback. Noticed a lot of the main franchises round here keeping hold of older stock with more miles than they usually do, this to my mind will be the biggest issue next year. I used to pick up a decent amount of part ex's in the past from local main dealers but its getting less and less and relying more on auction or decent part ex's (unfortunately)

Im based in the Midlands and completely agree might sound ideal in terms of being central, people traveling and lots of chimney pots but seem to get a great deal of timewasters on my doorstep. No surprise that if someone rocks up after a 50 + mile journey 99 times out of a 100 they buy. If I hear a Brummie accent my heart sinks, tend also to bring cars back at the least (I mean the very least) thing like washer fluid indicator lights, punctures etc. I agree with all above, if you have the right cars, priced right with good adverts people will travel wherever you are. we got 2 from Scotland last week, Perth and Aberdeen, one on a Focus another on a LandRover, flew down, met them at the airport and they drove back, no hassle

I wouldn't do it, its your name above the door and on the invoice and as Tadams says the buyer will say they bought it from you. how long has he had them on his pitch for and why hasn't he sold them himself - why does he think you'll be more successful? also you'd have to agree % discounts to give or be ringing him up with every offer you get on his cars - best to make him a reasonable offer as above and own them yourself

agree with trade vet, you're price range might attract more sub prime buyers. you need to get your FCA license sorted first though

Perhaps someone could post this thread on their twitter forum or the other ones. I don't go on other forums as it tends to be full of posts about it being quiet, deadest month ever, I don't really find anything useful to read except this one. They may reply to the questions if more people read them. Lawjaw has some very legitimate questions and I'd like to hear the answers but Jim, Umesh and the rest of the magnificent 7 have all shut up shop on here, even their spokesman David Bilsborough seems to have taken a vow of silence! Hopefully not for good as sometimes what they post is quiet useful, particularly umesh and I like and respect his judgement highly

Lets not forget you asked for feedback and said it would be appreciated. You got mixed feedback and took your toys home because you didn't like it. its the UK motor industries best kept secret because you won't tell anyone about it and cover it in a shroud of fog

Shall we start again and forget November 5th happened? Think the problem is the confusion from the start and a few points that reputable honest motor dealers have raised that have not been addressed but rather brushed aside in a condescending and patronising manor. I too applaud the sentiment and core values, I warmly welcomed the announcement and considered applying but wondered what I'd get for my £300. I have been in the industry for many years, growing my business, building contacts and making friends amongst many many people, dealers, suppliers and customers alike. People asked for a list of suppliers, we where told that Motortrade me was free to members but its a failed business that they tried to package as a value added product. asked if they could get discounts worth joining for, any money off the autotrader bill, and money off BCA, or Manheim - no reply Last year we where told to get on-board with Jim Reids Autovolo dealer council 1000 voices.http://cardealermagazine.co.uk/publish/jim-reid-named-head-autovolo-dealer-council/119857 a scheme which sank without a trace but wanted investment from dealers. They styled themselves as the "Magnificent 7" "Industry heavyweights" they would only accept reputable dealers into their club , Can I ask just how you decide who is reputable? - No offence but I've never heard of 5 of the 7 magnificent 7, Who are you to decide if I'm an honest and reputable motor dealer? better to ask my 100's of happy customers and I'll let my own customers decide after reading my 147 five star autotrader reviews One of them works for Cox but is moonlighting for the IMDA so asked what that connection is? - never heard a reply. Now its free to enter their club, but they're asking for donations.We were also advised to cancel our stock contracts with the autotrader. unfortunately advise which cost me several thousands of pounds in lost sales and hence the basis of my reticence to jump on board whole heartedly, To end your post with "We will not be responding further to this thread" is beyond arrogant. You started this post, genuine questions and concerns were raised, no answers given.David , Umesh, Jim et al - to be a VOICE of the Industry surely you have to also LISTEN to the industry, not pack up, get on your horse and ride off into the sunset, 3 weeks after you've started your club I tend not to jump on threads and forums as generally its just negative and depressing posts but have been fascinated watching this unfold and get angrier and angrier with the replies. genuinely wanted this to take off but left with so many unanswered questions and doubts, think if I applied now I wouldn't be accepted into the cliq I'm saddened in a way, not for me, I have my own voice, I have my own business (built quite nicely without needing anyone to speak for me for the past 25+ years) I have my own suppliers, I have my own legal advisory service, I'm sad for the lost opportunity and squandered good will, and time I've now wasted writing this post because as Jim says - they wont be listening or replying

think they have Aston Scott, Motornovo, motortrademe, finandfundmycar, and they must have motors and Manheim as the chap who works for them is a founder, I really want it to work and believe the industry needs a body like this to represent its interest and be a voice, think with the right will and the right people it may work. glad they scrapped the fee's think they must have been struggling to get sign up. Good luck to the magnificent 7 but please don't let it be another flop or vanity project like Jims autovolo council.