Bluechip Classics

Thanks Peter!

Thanks all, very helpful as always

Thank you

Hi all, Generally in our little world of classic cars, buyers pay with cash but more recently I've had a couple of requests for finance (make of that what you will!!). I get the impression that the usual finance providers would not want to partner with a small, niche outfit like ours and we'd probably only do a handful of finance sales a year. Does anyone have any experience or leads with providers that may be more matched to our needs? Thanks in advance, Anthony.

Sorry to say it was NIG... not directly, through a broker but the underwriter is NIG.... Maybe it's for the best, like you I wasn't really keen either but want to find a way to get going again safely.

Slightly old thread resurrection but I contacted my insurance company to enquire about unaccompanied test drives last week and received the response yesterday... it left me somewhat speechless. £250 increase to premium - yep, ok.... expected that only drivers aged 30+ and >12 months license - not a problem, my market is more mature enthusiasts need to keep a log of drivers license details plus one other form of ID with address, date/time/car driven etc - mmm, ok. This is starting to get ballachy, but carry on.... not covered for theft - starting to feel uncomfortable now excess in event of a claim is 25% of the cars value, which was kindly explained to me if the car was worth £2000, the excess would be £500 - great, thanks... I can do quarters, by the way my cars are 5-20k. Really not happy now. Then, this little gem... amd finally, the car will need to be taxed - wait, uh... what?!?! Yes sir, you can’t use trade plates, the car will need to be taxed - are you on crack? You realise that as trade we are not supposed to tax cars (in fact it’s fraudulent to do so) and that is why we have trade plates... this went on for a good couple of minutes, I just couldn’t get through to them. Naturally I’ve politely told them to poke it and will have to try to reopen using PPE (masks) whilst on test drives. Absolutely incredible.

Funnily enough, I'm just on the train to go and look at a SOR car... I work in the 'modern classics' market so it's not unusual for collectors etc. to want to move a car through a dealer rather than having to deal with Joe-P. I charge £1000 or 10% (+VAT), whichever is higher. For that they get the car detailed, advertised and deal closed etc. I have my own T&C's which the client has to sign before I take the car - key point on there is that any expenditure required to make the car 'retail worthy' is carried by the client, not me. There are other conditions which are there to protect both me and the client, but fundamentally I would not retail the car unless it was as per one of my own.

Ah righto, makes sense now... thanks for clarification. Cheers Pad

Morning all, I'm getting through all the list of things I need to do prior to starting trading full time in the New Year and I'm on to stationary. Looking at sales invoice books on ebay etc. and they all seem to have a statement similar to this: “input tax deduction will not be claimed against the vehicle sold on this invoice” This has slightly confused me as I certainly do want something back from my purchase!! Is this just a statement that I am operating under the margin scheme? Would I still put the VAT payable (my output tax) on the invoice? Apologies if it's a dumb one! Cheers, Pad

You're the lucky one... the fact it's still running with that chocolate 'box is a bonus!

I've got an 08 xc90 se lux, approaching 170k miles. Great car, all the toys you need and if I take it easy I can get indicated 40mpg on a run. Hasn't really needed much other than routine maintenance... would recommend based on my own experience.

How dare you!! they are quite different when you see them in the flesh, and with the Alpina you also get undertones of elderberries and smoked oak, finished with a nice citrusy aftertaste... what was this thread about again?

No, not wrong at all!! It's an amazing colour!!! Never seen it on an e39... My old Dunkelsapphire B3S...

Just to qualify my statement, I wouldn't have this particular car as it's a diesel, but if it were one of the 2 530i Sports in Sepia Violet (I know a guy who had one of them, helped him market it 5 years ago) with that mileage, then I reckon it would be around 7k-8k. It is an amazing colour.. The nicest 540i sports are about 10k so there needs to be a bit of daylight between them. However, finding one at the right price to get a decent margin is another matter! Not 100% it's Sepia Violet actually, difficult to tell... might be Scarab Green. Either way, a very rare colour which seems to do it for the BMW crowd (myself included, our special car is an Imola Red Z3M Coupe )

This is precisely the market I will be operating in in the new year... the e39 is now seen as a modern classic now and in that exceptionally rare colour (maybe 3 or 4?!) and low mileage someone is likely to pay strong money for it... be better if it was a petrol though!

Understood, thanks for the explanation Rory. cheers, Pad

Sorry for the dumb question as I'm new to this, but I assume when you say stock feed you mean the ability to quickly upload photos and details of new stock? Thanks in advance Pad

From memory I think the basic package is £360 plus vat a year, so sounds very competitive but I've no idea what 'basic' means. Think I'll be going down a bespoke route personally, likely to suit my requirements better

Cheers all, your comments are greatly appreciated.

Thank you for the encouragement trade vet.. yes, you've nailed it.. 40 something's wanting to relive their teens/twenties - either cars they owned or aspired to. Pretty much like me

Yes, that is forefront in my mind. I've been keeping a careful eye on here (and wider media) about general trends and I completely hear what you are saying... conditions could well be converging for another crash - luckily I'm not overcommitted debt wise personally. I'm past the point of no return with respect on the redundancy, but I have experience which is valuable in the contract engineering market, so if after a few months I'm really not making anything I do have that I can fall back on without committing to a new company, leaving time to weather the storm and then try again when the conditions are more clement.

Serious and good question. I've wrangled with this a bit, and come to the conclusion that it's almost impossible to have one - in this game, someone has inevitably done it before. I'm pretty confident on my presentation standards and I'm very professional with whoever I deal with, but they are probably hygiene factors rather than USPs!!! I am not trying to compete with the 4 Star Classics/KGF/Millennium Heroes/Trinity Solutions brigade which border on concours level - I'm planning more on the straight, honest, usable, unmodified enthusiast cars with decent history etc. I'm aware that the buyers for this type of car don't mind buying privately, but I've really had very little issue in selling this type of car over the past years and demand seems to be strong so I figure there is room for me. I'm also realistic enough not to flog a dead horse - if the above doesn't work for me, then I'll find what does over and alter my focus... who knows what will work for me! But that's my starting point.. Cheers Thanks Tradex, I guess you are correct in that I've been a 'professional' trader (by licences I mean trade plates and operating from a commercial premises, on a farm , not from home )... I guess I just meant I didn't do it as my principal source of income. I also am aware that I'm in a priviligded position, I don't take that for granted nor am I taking the decision lightly, but sometimes you just have to step outside your comfort zone and test yourself? That's how I feel right now anyway - I'm prepared to essentially gamble my redundancy on that and I'm fortunate my partner is behind me 100%. Appreciate the good will, I know it's going to be tough..

@tradex – nice post, most amusing Perhaps I should put a little context around my post, if nothing else it may serve you some amusement on a drab Wednesday… I’ve been employed for a technology/engineering company for 18 years and done very well out of it but find myself in an enviable position of being made redundant… enviable because it’s my choice. I could stay if I wanted to, but given I spend half of my time dreaming about cars and wondering about life outside the corporate world, this is a unique opportunity to try something completely different – in my mind, you don’t regret the things you do, only those you don’t. I am in an extremely fortunate position with respect to the pay-out… frankly, I could sit on my arse for 2 years and do nothing and still maintain my current lifestyle, but I’d rather take that capital and try and make it work for me. Worst case, I’ll get back in to industry after 2 years and if it’s all gone tits up, I’ll have lost nothing and banished the day dreaming. Best case I’ll be able to make a living doing something I love. This isn’t completely new to me. I’ve been ‘hobby trading’ for 15 years (with correct licences, insurance and tax returns). During that time, I’ve learnt that my interest is in dealing with ‘enthusiast cars’, not bread and butter. The latter is a market that is already well served by many others much more experienced than me. So, my target is 15-40 year old cars (modern classics if you want), £5-20K which probably puts me in the ‘lumpy stock’ category. My question really was to try and establish whether my starting position should be 10 off £5k cars or 5 off £10k cars (I have option on space that would accommodate more than 10 for a very good price, so that isn’t really a factor)… on reflection it was a naïve question and I’m going to set my stall out across some broad price points and just gain experience in the first year on what works for me. I’ll be more than happy to keep you updated on how it goes, warts and all!!! Cheers, Pad

Can I borrow it please?

Fair point, it's probably asking people a bit much to fill in the blanks (margin/selling price) for context - must have been thinking about it in my sleep and thought there was a silver bullet!! I guess I'm just going to have to work it out by trial and error... Cheers