RH Trading

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.

I love these cars, had an auto for 6 months in a beautiful blue about 5 yrs ago which I was loathed to sell and they do set the benchmark for quality. Even a 10-12 year old one still seems ahead of its time. saw a 2.0 sport go through Castle Bromwich a week or two ago and it looked mint, was tempted but no history and 140k meant it didnt get much interest

Had a few Mazda Eunos' from the East, and a few from Cyprus a few years back. wouldn't do it again due to legislation, tax, HMRC, safety and environment certificates. paperwork was a minefield. I know a contact who still makes a good living from specialist Scoobys, EVO's, Nissans etc. but he's been doing it for years, is a big petrolhead with a big loyal following all over Pistonheads. is this the type of stuff you're thinking of? if you know you're stuff and what people want over here you might be onto a winner TradeVet but advise you do some homework mate

Cant see your video? what was it?

Hi Gents, any updates on this? @umesh@cheshirecars@jimreidvehicle@Philip Nothard keen to see if I can take advantage of discounts, happy to pay but don't know what for? thanks Rob

Received an email from a dealer friend on the same road as me Just to advise, if you’re not already aware, Motors rep rang me up and tried to give me a rate increase. The increase is ranging from 10% to 15% based on the response I've been enjoying (according to their data - not my sales!!!) took the opportunity to put my cancellation in, having enjoyed zero sales. saving me £400 per month Over the years had great faith in Motors, they have the backing of Cox, started with a big marketing campaign, website looked good, prices reasonable, rep was always knocking on my door so thought it would be a real challenger to existing monopoly and break the stranglehold at a fraction of the cost, unfortunately it doesn't ever seem to have taken off, tried them several times, last time about 12-18 months ago, always thinking this time would be different and always with same result - 35 cars advertised, paid about £2000 over 6-7 months, 2-3 emails but zero sales. its one I would never go near again. I've finally learned my lesson. and that extended network talk is marketing garbage.

Never sit around all day waiting for a punter, but with that size of stock view by appointment only don’t think works, people will enevitably let you down and not turn up. Keep busy, don’t waste time traipsing round auctions and being away from the site if that’s how you stock, do it online if you can across many websites. get some proper legal advice on warranties T’s and C’s check, ask Lawjaw on here, he’s a member of lawgistics and could help. some aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on, we have a workshop and do most ourselves but still use WMS, shop around the AutoTrader works best for us, love it or hate it, they’re expensive for a reason, they work. I have all 35 cars on their ranging from £5k up to £20k, any cheap part ex’s under a £1500 are free I think but only rarely put these on, it’s not just for expensive stuff. Don’t put your eggs in one basket though, I use the AutoTrader as main source of leads but always dabbling to see what works, whatever you use make sure you measure it, nothing worse than paying a fortune for advertising (our biggest bill) and not knowing if it works. Exchange and Mart is useless, where would you go to buy a car if you weren’t a dealer? Above is only my opinion though AM, don’t want to sound like I’m telling you what to do mate, good luck with everything hope you’re a success (unless you’re based near me)

Welcome to the forum David, as a new member you might want to consider your audience and tone, there are a lot of dealers on here that have built successful business's over many years, there's good humour, banter and camaraderie on this community, and wherever possible we all help one another with advice and tips. I try and avoid the negative threads and other forums as you can get sucked into depression about "who's quiet" or "things are really bad" and we can talk ourselves into a depressive state. As part of the magnificent 7 you should inspire us, encourage to join your association that you're now the spokesperson of. Please treat everyone with respect, a lesson I learned from my father God rest his soul, we're all here to help one another after all, we're all passionate about this industry and doing the best for one another many apologies for going off topic gentlemen, I'm old school and believe in fairness and good manners in business

Forgive me for sounding like a stuck record, applaud what you're trying to do here I really do. However last year was advised to cancel the autotrader and subscribe to Jim's autovolo dealer scheme.http://tradeplates.tv/live/live-6pm-autovolo-jim-reid-vehicle-sales/ Usually sell between 30-35 cars per month. I cancelled in May last year for 2 months, sales dropped to 11 in June and 9 in July (didn't go for the autovolvo and I know its my own fault but was convinced it was the right decision), so listening to the magnificent 7 cost me around 40 sales conservatively and circa £28000 net profit, will the IMDA give me other such peals of wisdom for my £300 Also would like to know which suppliers your negotiating discounts with, are they such market leaders as motortrademe or have you got preferential rates for click Dealer, lawgistics, autotrader, carguru's, BCA etc - I'd rather pay £3000 if you could deliver discounts from these, than £300 and have Vauxhall conference, Z list suppliers no ones ever heard of and again not comfortable with Cox being involved unless we can get a great Manheim deal. sorry for sounding cynical, still smarting over the bad advice which cost me last year so wary of jumping into anything else regardless of the cost and don't want to be burned again.. Got a close pal who's a DP at Holdcroft and he's a member of the NFDA and pays a similar amount for franchise support http://www.nfda-uk.co.uk/ is this what you're trying to do? are you going to be lobbying government for support, clarity on Brexit affect on Independent dealers, plans for diesels, hybrids etc - that would be a powerful voice

thanks for settling that motortraderme, question for the magnificent 7 as I noticed last night your names are all on there for testimonials, sourcing is a real problem for us, selling isn't an issue its getting good quality stock at a REAL trade price in order to make a decent margin after costs - How long have you been using Motortrademe and how many cars have you traded through them? just want to get a feel before applying, I seem to waste a lot of time, traipsing around auctions and sick of walking away from Wolverhampton, Perry Barr, Manheim Birmingham, Nottingham etc. empty handed because of crazy prices, private bidders and substandard stock. have tried all the online trade sites and wasn't overly impressed with motortrademe, whats changed since the free offer and how are you guys making it work for you? Is Phil from Cox ok with endorsing them as seems competitor to Manheim? if you say its a good source then that's good enough for me. not being negative at all just desperate to source as we probably all are on here and applaud your passion, want sound business ideas as well

looked into Jim's autovolo and the independent dealer council 1000 voices thing last year, seemed like a good idea, the Imda looks similar but think its a Motors thing isn't it with the Cox guy? is it cheaper to go on there now? also if I sign up my £300 should I cancel a mototrtrade me subscription?

thanks umesh, sounds great, will do, its nothing to do with the autovolvo thing is it? note the same person involved with both of these

How much is it Umesh?

whereabouts are you Allstars? I'm West Midlands - September was record month, October started Ok but last 10 days very quiet. thankfully given me time to try and get more stock which is my biggest headache, everything at auction fetching crazy money, would normally buy around 10 a week but walked away from 2 auctions this week empty handed. refusing to give the money that most dealers seem happy to pay. had my eye on half a dozen and all went for near retail when I checked online - seems some dealers are panicking and are buying anything and everything just to fill up their site. not one fetched anywhere near Cap

Ive seen an increase since we put video on our ads. I tried half and half at first thinking it was too time consuming but noticed that we only seemed to get interest on the cars with video so now take the time to do the lot. also try combining it with as many photographs as you can, I try for 30 good quality shots, lots of interior stuff, handbook, keys, shots of the dealership etc. seems to work, particularly as the guy down the road with similar stock cant be bpothered to take more than 9 photos and is always complaining about being quiet. if hes that quiet he should have the time to take video and more photos lol

Mainly the autotrader yes, I don't dismiss anything and give everything a try for a while but make sure I track and monitor each and every lead and sale. every now and again I try boosting some ads on facebook and targeting but other than a few time wasters no sales as yet, think you must have something really specialist but its a lot of time and effort to put in. be interested to see what the motornovo site does but they should have chosen a better name

Tried Motors for a period of about 8 months last year, I monitor religiously where I get my enquiries and sales from here are my results. 40 cars advertised. cost £3840 for total 8 months, 1 email, zero sales. the rep regularly rings me up with free offers and trial periods. don't be fooled. complete and utter waste of time for me, good luck if you try it though, no saying it wont work for you. like all of these websites they all promise the earth and deliver nothing. I'd have expected if they do have half the buyers of the autotrader that id have got half the sales but zero!! not great value for money. Found out form an ex motors rep that they're on their backside, going backwards, struggling with cash hence no advertising. ask for a free trial

Thank them for their review, agree with them that you do have some nice cars, Invite them down for a test drive, then go on to tell them about the fantastic service, high standards, great value for money cars, and hundreds of satisfied buyers who return time and time again to buy from you. Every negative review is an opportunity to promote what you can do. don't try to give a smart Alec/clever/rude/belittling reply as remember this will be read by your potential buyers and they don't want to see that. Be professional, courteous and polite (as much as it sticks in your throat). Thank everyone for their reviews, positive or negative. you can always come on here and let off steam afterwards

Sounds great, interesting to read everyone's biogs as well. Good luck to all? Biggest point you need to tackle is helping dealers to understand consumer rights Umesh, its a real mine field for those who aren't completely up to speed with it. couple of questions. How much? Why have you got someone from Cox on your panel? isn't that a conflict of interest? does that mean he can get us cheaper products?

Motors is a complete waste of time and money, have tried it several times, both on free trials (which they keep offering me to get me back on) and have also spent thousands with absolutely zero response and zero sales and I monitor everything religously

think something's only expensive if it doesn't work or doesn't give value for money, compared to motors and the others ive tried its better value, spent around £2000 on motors for good few months and got zero sales.- that's expensive! have sold off gumtree but bargains I wouldn't want to retail for next to no profit and for a lot of hassle. Last one I sold on gumtree was a 12 yr old Punto for £300, guy brought it back 6 months and 15k more miles demanding money back due to failed MOT! hounded me for weeks, painful. don't seem to get half as much hassle from the autotrader cars

In the nineties sold 1978 Ford Escort RS2000. That was so much fun and broke my heart when it went. looking at these now how I wish I'd kept it locked away somewhere, still made £250 on it and thought that was a fortune back then lol. kick-started a spell of me stocking XR2's and XR3's for a while

there are so many cheaper options out there Jon, take PromoteAuto for example - trouble is none of them have the brand name or the numbers like the autotrader, why is everyone cheaper? - because they don't work, they don't generate the leads and conversions and ultimately they end up costing more because of it. its not the expense you need to measure but your return. I bet we all know how much our invoice is but how many know what our return is?. for me you pay for what you get. Tried everything else. its different from dealer to dealer and area to area. For me I couldn't be without it. I listened to some poor advice last year and removed all my 40 stock for about 6 weeks. we normally sell 30-35 per month, nothing too fancy or heavy prestige stuff. the two months we were off I did 11 then 9 and I was on Facebook, Motors, Gumtree and ebay in that period, working twice as hard to try and make up. It is expensive but compared to Motors et al its the only one that works FOR ME. my advise would be measure and monitor, whatever you use. My rep and I worked hard to find out my return and profit on sales. What I will say is that leads from the autotrader are 95% nailed on, the sale is there to be lost. ebay and gumtree we got lots of leads but timewasters and people making stupid offers, bidding £7500 "best price" on a £10k car. if you buy the right cars, price them right, take good photo's, do videos then you should be ok.

Dealer Research what are you going to do differently? are you just another classified car website, every man and their dog has tried this, you have to be different not just try and be a copy of a market leader as that's what has tripped up everyone from motors to autovolvo. also you say "Dave the car dealer just wants to sell cars. He uses Autotrader because..." I'll complete it for myself "Rob the car dealer just wants to sell cars for a decent margin. He uses the autotrader because it works for him and he gets a good return on his investment, better than any other classified car site". Also its a secret until you launch? Motonova have been shouting about their new site for past 6 months, generating interest with us the dealer and will launch with a TV campaign. don't keep it hush hush if you want to attract car buyers - shout about it and why its different to others