Trident

I'm baffled, why on earth are you taking any instruction from the garage? go collect it on a truck (or have them deliver) keys or no keys, recover it back, inspect it and refund the customer accordingly, if the key has been lost, then its a deduction along with anything else you can 'prove' has been removed or replaced. The customer is responsible for the agreement between him and the garage and if that garage has acted fraudulently or unprofessionally (losing keys!!! ffs) its between the customer and that garage and he will have to chase them for the refund of your loses which you have no choice but to deduct from him. My point is the thrid party has no involvement and cannot dictate whether you do or do not start the vehicle.

I think they intercept the outgoing email somehow... then change details and forward the ammended email!!! scary stuff.

10 YEAR LEASE...!!!! REALLY.... At this stage in your motor trade career? you should be looking at 3 years max. No, 12 months rent is not a reasonable deposit, we had a six year lease and paid 1.5 months rent as a deposit... i'm assuming your running round with your pants around your ankles atm ( google 'pulled my pants down' if your not sure of that phrase)

Bloody hell!!!

We got a logo made and do our own with excel. use it for sales/purchase invoice and warrant. Got the logo made at our local printers.

I think this is a great one, perfect for showing the customer how diligently the MOT testers you use are. Obvioulsy it's an advisory since rectified with the free included service. If i was a customer i would love this pointing out to me and it would give me confidence that everything had been done thoroughly... negative to positive.

Not sure if i am missing something here, but regardless of whether your a sole trader or ltd, you sell cars for a living, and take a nett profit, this is your salary divide it by your annual hours worked = hourly pay, but you don't consider you get an hourly wage because it is made up of the sale of the vehicles, so, you are already being paid for your time, if you charge it again, you will be being paid in effect twice. You can definately bill the factors for the 'call out' ie two hours labour, had the part not failed you wouldn't have had to go, it's a warranty claim to them and you can charge out to yourself the mileage...but i don't think hmrc would like this and could end up scrutinizing books...

We use sage on its own, i use it along side an excel spreadsheet which calculates the margin vat for each sale, then i input the vat figure separately...never had a problem.

The V62 only works if you have the previous keepers postcode if the car isn't in trade. We have had this recently a couple of times and where the Postie would do it on a v62 it was only ever if it was in trade, if you don't have the previous keepers postcode written on the bottom of the V62, they refuse to tax it and you have to apply for the v5 in your name. It's a ridiculous system imo...

Similar story, different product, sold a barn find snake pit (you read that right) and description started off...'this is sold in an absolutely knackered condition...' made £100 and got it collected - bonus...imo start off the description as you mean to go on, warts and all...

We have just changed business category from farm workshop (sui generis) to servicing workshop (light industrial)... i would reckon you need to change to light industrial too, we found the council really helpful and just asked in reception what we needed!!

Absolutely, however, as they are unable to tax it until they have the green slip in their hand, it is surely good business practice to assist them to tax it before they drive away! imo it helps them to drive away quicker!

Ring them, they might be touting for businesses to sign up to their 'buy with confidence' scheme... worth being a member imo, gives your customers confidence in your trading practices but also it gives you a trading standards contact, that is there for you! believe it or not, ours is always happy to offer advice and step in and talk sense into a customer, although this has been on very rare occasions, he is on our side of the fence... worth every penny.

We, dont get spares cut, note one key on the pdi and insert a mobile key cutters business card and tell them to quote us to get a discounted price... rarely a problem.

"Dear such and such, sorry you felt compelled to write a poor review, unfortunately it is always hard for smaller companies to balance work and home life and as you confirmed you were simply browsing we could not offer an out of hours viewing on this occassion, we welcome viewings during working hours for those unsure of exactly what it is they are after." Reviews are the new 'in thing' and whether we like it or not are here to stay, i guess we all just need to show courtesy and 'understanding' and at the very least respond to negative comments, at least that gives two sides to the story for anyone interested to make up their own mind... people love to be keyboard warriors nowadays and businesses won't get away with being shite anymore....

Easiest sale for me went to a workshop customer, came in asked 'what you got for sale', i said, 'a lovely citroen, i know it's nice cause i've been driving it, want to see it?' his reply.... you guessed it ' nope, if it's good enough for you it's good enough for me' - SOLD no haggling, start to finish about 45 seconds...we nick named him "the fastest buyer in town"...

If it is in trade you will be using your trade plates on it, that is why they need to be on the MID and the individual cars don't.... We used to enter and remove them all for fear of getting pulled, then we were told otherwise, if your in any doubt speak directly with your insurer and do what they suggest, you can't go wrong that way, just keep a record of the date and time and who you spoke to/ what they said. Paper trail for peace of mind...

Haha...Someone got out of bed the wrong side!!! who said it was silver? it was blue... valuing it was never the problem, as i said we gave a low ball offer, the question was " A/ why so many searches and B/ are these any good to retail " or in other words, why is the pillock trying to offload a car against a van hours away when no garage near him will touch it?? perhaps i should have been more blunt, i guess the guy didn't like my low offer - such a shame, but sold the Transporter, so... will be keeping the doors open for business till i can't be arsed anymore...

Just put in writing what has been agreed, confirm your offer stands if he can get it back in the next few days, no contribution unless you have seen the vehicle but will consider if inspected... move on...happy days...

Seems like a lucky escape then, sold the van this morning on a 'snooze you lose' basis...

It's 2013, are you referring to the coolant pipe issue and blown engines? Yes, really weird!! so it started life in 2013, had 24 searches prior to the finance being taken out by this chap in 2015 - so i'm guessing main dealer had trouble getting shot of it, auction checks/trade checks and one finance check in that time! 6 finance checks when he took out the finance another 5 sep-nov trade checks so obviously tried to offload then, and so now between 12/6 and today 8 checks including 'lil' 'ol me... so, why have all these garages checked it and not taken it further, i'm intrigued! anyway, i've offered him a fair low price cause i'm nice like that and we will see if anything comes of it, always up for a challenge... ps Chief nut job - i havent seen it yet, he's moon miles away, so im not going to worry about seeing his until/if i get him through finance - that's a long shot in itself...

Cheers EPV, weve got a well positioned forecourt, but sell commercials now!! so will be bidding low as its against a van so don't really want it! seems he is having trouble with moving it on, he's a million miles from us and has obviously done the rounds, so why end up so far from home??

Had an enquiry to part x in a 1.0 ecoboost focus with o/s finance, not had any dealings with them till now, cap says no previous keepers, so that reads to me '1' keeper BUT... the vehicle has had 50 searches in it's lifetime!!! looks like the guy took out finance in 2015 and now wants out, not a problem, but the question is A/ why so many searches and B/ are these any good to retail, i'm tempted to say not interested but don't want to be scared off from the search side if it's a good retail vehicle...any advice on these cars greatly appreciated...

Reminds me when we sold a car once, a racey 3 door 'orange' megane to a lad, well, wide boy, anyway scrapes through the finance and has his black box fitted wife arrives with him to collect,hadn't seen it till now, screams and shouts at him, shes calling solicitors shes had enough etc etc, all that, but VERY dramatic, turns to me and says hes gone and done it again we've got no curtains, no carpet, FOUR kids to feed and he wants to drive round looking like a prick without a care in the world, a three door bloody car with four kids!!!!! what an effin' muppet, i hope to god she did divorce the tosser....

Due dilligence, if you have proof, ie traders policy matching log book details, your covered all the way, by him buying from an ad that states trade sale only, the court will view that as you negating your CRA responsibility...it is on you to prove you sold to the trade and took dilligent steps to prove it was a trade to trade sale - that is your 'get out of jail' card, no proof its your word against his, and history should tell you that you wont win...