Mat C

These are my thoughts. I spend £££ on advertising ( still with AT too ) so another £235 to essentially use someone else's logo seems a lot, if it was £100 i probably would have signed up there and then. Im not sure its going to get me £3k extra profit a year to break even with it.

Hiya, Just after everyones thoughts on this. I've bene approached ( as a specially selected dealer, yeah right! ) by the AA to see if I want to go with their approved by programme. Basically I pay them £235 + VAT a month to sign up to a 12 month contract. I agree as a dealer to abide by their commandments ( which we already do anyway ) BUT we get a wall plaque, I can use their logo on my website and I can give 12 months free AA cover with each car. The idea is that customer confidence in the AA associated with my company and drives more sales. My partner thinks its a good idea whereas I think £235 a month is quite a bit and not sure i'll get my return on investment. Anyone had any success with this, I guess its down to how much you milk it, using their logo on Autotrader & website and adding it into the Advert blurb ( that no one actually reads ) oh and I get all my stock on their AA cars website too, Just after everyones 10p worth.....

Hiya, Just after everyones thoughts on this. I've bene approached ( as a specially selected dealer, yeah right! ) by the AA to see if I want to go with their approved by programme. Basically I pay them £235 + VAT a month to sign up to a 12 month contract. I agree as a dealer to abide by their commandments ( which we already do anyway ) BUT we get a wall plaque, I can use their logo on my website and I can give 12 months free AA cover with each car. The idea is that customer confidence in the AA associated with my company and drives more sales. My partner thinks its a good idea whereas I think £235 a month is quite a bit and not sure i'll get my return on investment. Anyone had any success with this, I guess its down to how much you milk it, using their logo on Autotrader & website and adding it into the Advert blurb ( that no one actually reads ) oh and I get all my stock on their AA cars website too, Just after everyones 10p worth.....

I call it 3rd week syndrome. Week 1 busy buying, prepping and have a good weekend. Week 2 have a good week and then got no stock. Week 3 dies a death and everything seems so expensive to buy or needs £££ prep and takes ages to get forecourt ready, have a wobble, everyone gets paid on the 25th and lo and behold have a great week 4 weekend and then start all over again. It was the same when working for PLC too. I tend to be much steadier these days but its getting the cash in the bank that's killing me at the mo, got £££ sat there waiting for delivery for a few days, then gotta wait for the £££ to hit the bank before can invest again and move on. Thank the lord for short term loans I say!

Had a great start to July. I only Stock 12/15 Cars and got 8 Retail on the board and some nice profits too. But last time a was sat here rosy cheeked and chuffed with myself I didn't do a deal for 10 days. So i'm telling myself its not good enough and I must do more!

Ha Ha, My mates call me Judith... In all seriousness, Holidays are what I work for, life's too short. Here's what I do. I stick all my cars up by £2000 the day before i go so they are unrealistically priced. I check my phone periodically on holiday and if i get an enquiry, happy days.... but I see my enquiries drop 95% easily. Day before I come home, a nice Facebook post saying all my prices have been adjusted and come on down for a deal. I stick all my prices back to pre Holiday money or a tad less and wait for the phone to ring. Usually works a treat, however this May we went away for almost 3 weeks and had a crap month, but just worked double hard in June and July and its paying off. I went o Mexico last December too!! Thinking of Booking my next one for this December soon

Found out this morning that customer is not willing to go any lower than £16k for this, so I've waved him goodbye.... Thanks for all the help though chaps, I now know a little more about the VW Transporter business! I wont be rushing out to buy one any time soon though.

I know, i've already kind of turned him away ( which I never do ) but he keeps on at me as he really wants my car. I'm £2k the wrong way in mine and cant really afford to be sat with a Van with seats in my unit without at least knowing I can get my ££back I've read that full conversion can take it over, but i'm no expert ( basically googled it earlier cos I had no idea ) Could take up fishing I guess? but I quite like my Mrs!

He's a private billy, so no VAT, I reckon he'll deal at £16k but i'm not sure my balls are that big, and after ( 20 mins ) of research, it turns out the T26 is a little light for the conversion in terms of payload etc.....

I have no idea, he wants a price, he reckons its retail at £19k, but I need this deal to go right as i'm blowing my nuts on the car i'm selling him! I have a friend who works at VW commercials in Nottm and am calling tomorrow for an underwrite, but it amazes me what these things are up for on Autotrader etc... Its a goddam Van!!!

Hiya, HPI says T26 and the windows are in the sliding doors. It was originally a panel van with Windows in but these have been replaced. I have photo's if you want me to send them to you? Also has 2600KG Gross on the V5

Hiya, I have a customer who wont leave me alone and is desperate for one of my cars ( which blows me a fortune, so I need to get this right ! ), however he has a VW Transporter to PX which I know NOTHING about. Tried to stick it on TSA but they don't accept commercials. Anyone have any idea what this might be worth, or anyone want to underwrite it? 2015/15 VW Transporter T26 StartLine 2.0 Diesel - White van with Side Windows 2 Owners 22,000 Miles Has had the following conversion - Ply lining & bulk head removed, new Barton Floor with safety flooring and fully carpeted - 2 New Sliding Windows either side and fixing for new twin seats ( supplied ) and fixing for a singlke seat ( not supplied ) New Roof & Side bars, Bumpers front and rear And mirrors ( all colour coded ) 20" Black Alloys, Factory seatbelts. I have pictures ( it looks really nice ) but I cant upload anything here for some reason. Thanks in advance Mat Also conversion was done by AMA Transporters in Aldridge.

Hiya, I have a customer who wont leave me alone and is desperate for one of my cars ( which blows me a fortune, so I need to get this right ! ), however he has a VW Transporter to PX which I know NOTHING about. Tried to stick it on TSA but they don't accept commercials. Anyone have any idea what this might be worth, or anyone want to underwrite it? 2015/15 VW Transporter T26 StartLine 2.0 Diesel - White van with Side Windows 2 Owners 22,000 Miles Has had the following conversion - Ply lining & bulk head removed, new Barton Floor with safety flooring and fully carpeted - 2 New Sliding Windows either side and fixing for new twin seats ( supplied ) and fixing for a singlke seat ( not supplied ) New Roof & Side bars, Bumpers front and rear And mirrors ( all colour coded ) 20" Black Alloys, Factory seatbelts. I have pictures ( it looks really nice ) but I cant upload anything here for some reason. Thanks in advance Mat

Not near me are you????

No probs, there's no quick gains - hard work, late nights quiet and lonely days and pennies for wages, but...... this time next year.

I started Sept 15. Lost my job and took the plunge. On my own, at home, a few ££££ and went from there. However I have worked in the industry for 20 years, selling, business manager, sales manager, GM, so i'd like to think i've learnt a bit. 2 years on I now work with my partner, we have a 15 car unit and are selling 12/15 cars a month. FCA registered, warranties, sell supagard, brilliant website ( check it out done by cardealer5 www.superminiuk.com ), Award finalists and looking to expand next year ino servicing too. It can be done. My advice - Don't p1ss off your neighbours, ( i did in the end, washing cars every day, customers parking sometimes in ridiculous places etc..... ) - Learn from your mistakes ( there'll be plenty ) - Don't take stuff personally - Prep properly and If it breaks, fix it, don't fudge it - Treat every £ as your own, but don't be afraid to take a ( Calculated ) risk. I used to drive cars to a local forecourt past 2 others to fill the tyres as it was free and not cost me 50p. But i bet I saved £50 overall! -Embrace the CRA and Look after your customers, they are your lifeblood, deal with problems quickly and fairly. Customer service is my number 1 priority - Have a sounding board - My Mrs was mine, Every time I had a wobble, I called her, she talked me through it and made me think rationally. I now have her working with me so my phone bills are lower !! - Enjoy the freedom, don't deny yourself a day off every now and again or god forbid, a holiday. Life's for living. - Seek advice, its free, there's people in this world with years and years of experience, lots on this forum too. Good people will be willing to help, share and encourage. Remember, people love nothing more than talking about themselves, take advice and use it when necessary. - Be lucky - I am the luckiest guy in the world, acknowledge this and you'll get luckier, I swear it works... If you need anything, give us a shout...

Love this.

Wholeheartedly agree with Jim, £1000 to some people is £100,000 to others. If its breaks, fix it and most of all look after your customers. Customer service is the biggest issue in this industry, and its easy to see why we have a problem when there are people telling customers to F off and ignoring messages/problems. I say get the car back, check it over / get it checked over by your mechanic and go from there. Its not the problem thats ever the problem, its how you deal with the problem.... I had an X3 31 days in, DPF clogged - Wear and tear on a 12 year old car with 110,000 on the clock. Nope, I got he car back ( 200 miles ) sorted the problem and delivered the thing back myself to ensure I was happy with it. A £3000 car, but to these people they'd saved for years and it was a big deal to them.

We have a jar that we stick any change in that we find in cars. I just took it to the post office the other day as it was full after a year trading - £84 in total so i treated the mrs to a nice steak dinner ( all heart me ) I even managed to stretch to a 2nd glass of pinot for her.... Winner. However around £20 of that was from an Audi A4, all in 2ps, the most disgusting heap of a car I have ever cleaned, however the tip made it a little more bearable...

Link Doesn't work??

You should have said.... I could have got you some lovin......

Ha Ha, I buy quite a few cars from Kinross. Always assured BCA so i'm covered for the big stuff. Usually every car comes like its been driven through a field. I've got some prep budget left though. But thanks for scaring me fella's!!

Ended up with a Silver 2.0 TFSi ( oh dear) Manual S-Line Everything's been silly money since the sun came out so £1k into Cap, but clean car 72k on a 59 Plate S-Line for £9k SHould get it tomorrow all the way from sunny Kinross. I'll let you know what its like.

I've just come back from the auctions and saw a chap walking around with some bendy plates that looked like the magnetic taxi sign things. I guess these could stick on the bonnet and tailgate??

I've learnt loads from here and had some great advice. Nothing better than free advice!!!