Mat C

Had one this Saturday. Dad brings Daughter 2 1/2 hrs from Norwich to look at a 3 yr old lovely blue Convertible we have. After talking her out of it, because he didn't like the roof, thought it might get slashed etc etc. The one reason that they went away empty handed..... her words exactly.... no lie " I'll have to spend more time on my makeup when driving the car around with the roof down, not sure i'm prepared to make that much effort " I give in! How come when its dead, the freaks come out?

Broke our blank with a Little convertible sale last night. We always seem to do well with cabs, when its p1ssing it down! Got another enquiry this morning on a roadster too! Guess the price changes on Tuesday are working!

Good thread, I've seen our overheads increase and now we are with a new accountant we are now able to run monthly management accounts, gives us a real time view of exactly where we are, what we owe and who owes us what etc.. Scary really, as sometimes we sail very close to the wind with whats left in the bank. Moving forward we are definitely looking to cut costs. Its frightening to see how much we spend on fuel, valeting equipment, stationary........ I've just done a fortune on crap, air fresheners and key rings!! must give the debit cards to the other half to curb my spending! Off subject but AT is more than our rent to advertise 11 cars... madness really, but I cant see us selling half of what we do without it, caught between the devil and the deep blue sea I guess. We are having a shocking month though, usually by now we've covered the cost and are into the black, not sold a car for a week and the enquiries are garbage for some reason. Actually feel negged out. Gonna pack up and go home now, might even take the day off tomorrow and watch Forest thrash Derby!

I have a Challenge 210 if thats what you're after? Number 70 of 210 http://www.superminiuk.com/cars/mini/hatch/challenge210edition/151871/0

I did think that, however it has to be registered to you for 6 months or something like that.

Ive had an underwrite of £10k, and I can do a deal at £10500 if anyones interested WBAC say £11600 so that where he wants his £12k from. Any takers.... Lovely car....

no worries, hoping to tie a deal up this AM

I’ll take anything in a deal. Just after a price from someone. I would rather have the clap than own it myself, but just checking if any of you lovely folk fancied a bash.

Yep, I kinda sussed that bit out. I don't want to stick my neck on it hence trying to get an underwrite before we do the deal. He's dreaming with £12k but I need to put something to him and Ssangyong are either 'with a customer' or just avoiding me. Must be someone out there 'desperate' to own this though .........

Hi all. Got a lovely chap interested in one of our Clubmen. He has a Ssangyong tivoli in px. Any ideas or an underwrite would be much appreciated as this is not our forte. 2015/65 Plate 21000 miles Ssangyong tivoli ELX TD Auto White / Black leather Lovely car, few small chips to bonnet and front bumper, but easily touched in. had first service at 9.5k in August 2016 and then 2nd service 20.5k Sept 17. Had new brakes too. Customer wants £12k, but what the customer wants is usually not what the customer gets..... I've called 6 Ssangyong dealers and had no replies or real help. Cheers in advance.

I second this. I started from home and now have a small ( 15 Car ) unit with 2 offices and a small kitchen. My overheads are relatively low compared to flashy showrooms but its still a huge cost. Rates ( if applicable ) waste collection, water, electricity, insurance, alarm, cctv, Planning etc..... All ads up. But working from a unit sure beats working from home and having people sat in your dining room. If it works for you, go for it. Logistics are key. You'll always get a call on the one you've not cleaned thats at home and you'll be p1ssing around moving stuff re cleaning etc.. all part of the fun. The unit definitely gives us a more professional appearance than when doing from home ( also stopped the nosey neighbours peering over the fence ) Good luck though whichever way you decide

How very odd. We went to Nottingham to buy this exact car. Terrible bonnet repair by the way! We pulled out at £8800 if I remember hammer fell at £9100 plus the tip. Nice car, well specced up but no nav weirdly! Hope this helps Mat

I had same today - I think the main warning is about taxing a car on DD on behalf of a customer ( why anyone would do this I have no idea ) Mine had wrong company details on too.

Who's this mate, as i'm in Notts and am using Movex mainly

I use evo for my sub prime stuff, they've always been really good, quick decision and our rep Mike is a top bloke, never had donuts though!!!!

We offer a reservation fee service. £100 reserves the car for you until an agreed time/day. I confirm this to them in an email so that there's no confusion. In the 2 years i've been independent, I've refunded 3 reservation fee's as people have changed their mind/or some other BS excuse. No skin off my nose, and keeps people happy. We have had on several occasions, people not want to leave a reservation fee ( no problem, but don't shout at me if its gone ) and then just turn up and be disappointed that its sold, I did warn you, this is my job you know, to sell stuff! I had one the other month, Customer 1 is constantly on the phone, email, text saying he wants a lovley Silver Coupe we have, and i'll have a reservation fee later in the day. Sends me £1 to make sure his bank will send the transfer over.... then I get an existing customer ( Customer 2 ) come in with his partner on handover and he decides to buy said Lovely coupe... SOLD. The customer 1 then emails saying i'm going to send the reservation fee..... oops, sorry mate, its gone. He went mental, proper winging and moaning to me about customer service etc... I sent him back his £1 and apologised, but until we have £100 in the bank, its still for sale. ANYWAY.... I then smash the rear bumper on the car as I was rushing about so i send him a picture of it to say, hey guess what, I pranged this car so guess you can have a laugh at me.. He saw the funny side and apologised for being a duche bag. I said i'd look for another one for him. Fast forward 3 weeks, Mr 2nd customer calls me and says, i've seen another Lovely Coupe Cooper S on your website that I love, will you have this one back in PX... Yes sir I will, I call customer 1 and deal him on the customer 2's px ( the original Lovely coupe ) for the same price as before even though it was an extra owner and make a tidy sum on both deals too. Happy days. THEN 3 weeks ago, customer 2 comes in on spec and buys my oldest car in stock and px's his beauty of a Cooper S Coupe that I sold within 24 hrs..... Love Mr Customer 2!! - in fact I might give him a bell......

I wasn't trying to get into an argument about it, I was simply stating my difference of opinion in the way I like to treat my ( potential ) customers.They way some of you speak about your customers is disgusting, no matter how hard you think you work or how decent you think you are, treating your enquiries as low life scum is unacceptable ( in my humble opinion ) You are making my job easier, by pissing off potentials makes me look like a hero when I actually reply.... oh and I work my arse off too thank you very much.

You are saying that someone Texting a cheeky offer, just because they haven't said 'Dear Sir' - Or 'Please can you consider this' = Being spat in my face???? I'll agree to disagree and continue doing what I feel is right by replying to every enquiry I get courteously and quickly. Seeing as i've paid ££££ to get the enquiry in the first place And we wonder why our industry has a bad rep......

We all pay through the nose for advertising, All I read is people moaning about how much it costs, and then you get an enquiry from your expensive advertising who is a chancer who low balls you and you send him abusive messages or just completely ignore him? It just baffles me. Courtesy costs nothing and a reply takes seconds. I guess i'm different. I reply to every enquiry, low ball or not, with a quick, courteous response. Sometimes.....believe it or not....... they come and buy a car.....

Why would anyone ignore an enquiry? I just don't understand? It takes seconds to reply.

Cheers

Who do you use? This is exactly the situation I get sometimes. All my cars are ready to go, just gets people away without them sitting here for hours sorting it.

I was asked by customers that have already purchased, more for convenience as collecting on Sundays and their insurance company wasn't open etc..

I'm sure i've asked this befoer, but I have been asked about 6 times this week by customers do we have drive home insurance. Do any of you guys have it? How much is it? Do you charge your customers for it? Any providers would be ace, thanks in advance. Mat

Hi Matt, Correct me if i'm wrong but i'm sure you need Sui Generis Planning to run a car sales operation. We don't fall under A1 Retail i'm pretty sure. Luckily my unit had this application already granted. None of the council run business parks in my city accept car sales from a one of their units either. http://www.gilmartinley.co.uk/resources/planning-uses I got lucky and bagged the second one I looked at. I also had my first unit pulled from me at the last minute by the landlord as he'd changed his mind about me selling cars from his lovely refurbed place. Funnily enough, 18 months later its still empty! every cloud..... We are looking at buying our next place, setting up a ramp and hopefully setting up a service outlet at the same time. but slowly slowly......