justina3

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Posts posted by justina3

  1. Posted

    We used to do a roaring trade on imports, a local trader used to buy blocks of 25 mx5 at a time, which we used to have to fit a fog light change some bulbs change the speedo from km to miles and fit band expanders so the radio would work in the uk, the speakers where 9 times out of ten shot so we would get a speaker sale at the same time. 

    Something to do with a suv test ? dont quote me on that but was along those lines. 

  3. Posted

    1 hour ago, Mojo121 said:

    Motor trade is the DSS of Commercial lettings. It’s associated with people leaving their tenancy overnight, having run up huge debts, leaving unpaid bills, great amounts of mess (oil, car parts, dirt, broken cars) and sometimes a raft of CCJs against the property.
     

    Not to mention, test drives, pressure washers, cars parked left right and centre for “just 10 minutes mate”, along with big transporters turning up every other day tend to piss off the other tenants.

    The difficulty we have finding units used to annoy me... I just see it as part of the job now. I get it... and sympathise!

    I have to say i do think thats a thing of the past, these days its so easy to credit check background check anyone sniffing out a trouble maker is a lot easier than it used to be.

    However i do agree back in the day small indi garages used to jump ship overnight it was hard work keeping up with who was there one minute and gone the next, i remember billing a garage for 3 cd players we fitted when i came to chase the invoice i was advised the company i had billed had moved a month ago the sales staff stayed but owners changed.

  4. Posted

    You cant fix stupid comes to mind, i got told off yesterday for not wearing a mask and how her husband has had lung cancer so he has to wear one everywhere, i was soooo tempted but didnt ask why she wasnt wearing one ? they both got in there cars he took his mask off feeling very safe for the protection it afforded him and drove off with his wife feet away from him who hasnt wore one once.

     

     

    • Like 1

  6. Posted

    16 minutes ago, CCC said:

    I’m watching this with interest. HMRC very wary of the problem and now trying to work out the solution.

    Last idea I read was making it like student loans, you pay back when profits allow. Given that profit is a fudgeable number then they’ll have to audit books to be on top of it properly (eg exclude director and family member salaries)

    Whatever they do then they need to be harsh early on to get the message across. 

    This is what MTD is aiming for to avoid physical audits. 

    13 hours ago, It's me said:

    hmrc are getting power next week to tax at 100% anyone fiddling,it will be on the statute books within 30 days,the time left for anyone naughty to confess and repay,the clocks ticking

    so some good news to those perverting the market

    have you got a link to this info ?

  7. Posted

    14 hours ago, trade vet said:

    I don’t think the taxpayer will be liable for bank lending errors.They will know who they have issued loans to and those who receive them with their connected parties will be made personally liable for their repayment. I can imagine the banks will be charging those who default penal interest rates and will not think twice about snatching money back from the wrong people.You know what they are like,they will probably profit from the defaults.

    There lies the problem there not bank errors the bank followed the relaxed lending criteria from the government during the second wave of hand outs, and if you consider a business not paying back a loan at 2.5% there not going to be bothered if the bank ups it to a default rate of what ever the defaulted rate may be if they do not have the good conscience or business sense to pay a cheap loan back doubling the interest is hardly going to incentivise them to do so. 

    The banks are also not going to be that bothered about chasing for the money they will of course send out the normal run of the mill letters and maybe the odd court order but after that where is the sense in them spending additional thousands when they can easily turn to the government for the loan to be settled in full without any additional costs to them. 

     

    • Like 1

  14. Posted

    1 hour ago, Lakeside said:

    Best one I seen last week whilst having the live auction on in the background....

    2004 Suzuki Alto at Enfield I think it was. On the register three times. Cat D once and Cat C twice, don’t think it had an MOT.

    Cap clean was £350, guessing that’s without taking write off into consideration? Sold for £775+fees

    seriously who on earth is going to make any money out of that? It’s worth scrap value.

    I can beat that audi TT in enfield this morning cap clean £1450 retail £2625 i had a punter for it and was going balls deep at £2200 -----nope i didnt even get my hand up ended up selling for £4700 plus fees

    • Like 1

  15. Posted

    1 hour ago, S & J Trading said:

    Hi Stashio, we've just set up a partnership as opposed to a LTD on the advice of our accountant, the days of limited liability have gone, someone within the company still has to be responsible for dept. The fact you have a workshop and a bit of storage is good start. If you handy with the spanners great, just take on stuff with minor jobs to be done or you end up bogged down, and when you have calculated the amount of time youve put in you wont have made much.  Good luck, theres some good fun and a living to be had!

     

     

    Someone from inside the company would only be liable if they signed to be so other than that the protection of the limited company viel in most cases stand, and for partnerships my thinking is its far easier to allocate shares via a ltd than draw up a very long drawn partnership agreement which is almost always picked apart by solicitors when it all goes south.

    anyway almost put myself to sleep then....op have you bought any cars yet 

  16. Posted

    1 hour ago, Stashio said:

    Cheers @CCC & @Bmx Bandits I agree with you both, it's going to be tricky to find the right balance at least at first. 

    Keeping an eye out for decent non-runners is a good shout too, especially between projects as you say. Out of interest is there anywhere specific you'd recommend? I usually just keep my search to ebay for things like that. I'm not on facebook but a mate says the marketplace on that is pretty good if you're willing to wade through the crap so I'll give that a go at some point.

     

     

    Not sure of your area but local auctions mainstream and small indi ones often have non runners in there which used to go for pennies but these days they command more of a price ticket but still could be worth a look.

  17. Posted

    1 minute ago, Stashio said:

    I've had a few LTD's when I was an IT contractor so it's more familiar to me but ultimately it's about security - should something go wrong the liability is on the company and not me personally. Obviously the plan is for nothing to go wrong but as they say 'plan for the worst and hope for the best'.

    I was only being curious its your path to walk, i think the days of hiding behind a ltd company for protection has lone gone, any major financial implications these days are mostly covered by a personal guarantee from a director (apart from the recent bounce back loans before some smart ass fires that at me) if anything the accounting requirements and director legislation are a dead weight to a small business over a sole trader set up.

    • Thanks 1

  20. Posted

    2 hours ago, Nevillec said:

    We had a van  MOT today, and the guys there  do MOT for a local VW main dealer.  He said  the VW dealer have opened, but are running on a skeleton staff...only one person per department...1 in sales...1 in workshop....1 in the office

     

    Not sure  buy a brand new car  is the top of peoples priorities at the moment......probably some heavy discounting on way 

     

     

     

    Why not ? A lot of families have had there holidays cancelled, been sitting at home on full or nearly full pay not been out spending.

    cant remember who said it from one of James excellent pod casts for every possible negative there is a flip side positive 

    I like that thinking makes you feel up beat when your feeling up beat you make things happen in business. 

  21. Posted

    22 minutes ago, S & J Trading said:

    Thanks for the response, TBH its bread and butter stuff so I generally do Autotrader comparisons.  As my business partner keeps saying "Its a bloody minefield"

    For the good old fashioned Ford Fiestas of this world i do the same as you, sod paying anyone to tell me what I can find out in nano seconds. 

    • Like 1

  22. Posted

    Welcome and good on you, by all accounts the world is ending soon got to love a little bit of British backbone, you didnt give the vital bit of info as regards what you stock vehicle wise, cap is handy if you selling odd ball kit with expensive oe upgrades if your into bread and butter such as we do year in year out i could tell you each model in stock where the prices range from and to so its pointless.

    Let us know how the new unit goes for you. 

     

  23. Posted

    8 hours ago, MrC said:

     

    Im not thinking everyone is staying in the UK post covid. Its something I have been wanting to do before covid was even a word. 

     

    You do realise I am already in the camper industry? year on year we have had good growth, the VW scene is strong. We build the things VW T6's and £25k gets me a nicely kitted out van.  My customers generally know what they want and have the cash to spend,  Its very different beast to the car trade, which I traded in for over 15 years before I made the switch.

    I think thats an excellent idea i was looking prior to bat carnage for just this kind of thing to take my youngest on an adventure all i could find was full blown motor homes which was to big for what i wanted, there where a few but took a four hour drive to collect and then another 4 hours back and four hours onto where i wanted to go...so i give up. 

    I wouldnt worry about the negative brigade, i am amazed half of them switch the computer on without the fear of being electrocuted. 

    Go big or go home thats the difference between the men and the boys when the seas get rough.

    • Thanks 1

  24. Posted

    I think there are different rules for different car types, for example the small aygo c1 107 family have a tendency to be bought by mothers of small children as second cars or first time drivers, so the first thing i check for when looking at them are dents in the roof where they sit there child whilst checking facebook ( i kid you not) and first time drivers hammering clutches.

    Apart from specific known car faults the basics i tend to cover are screen scratches chips always expensive to put right, nasty smells and signs of previous bad repairs, cars with built in radios I am also keen on as there a nightmare to get repaired or swap out. 

    Think this list could go on forever 

     

  25. Posted

    3 hours ago, RH Trading said:

    Wow - so you think I just give them money and receive nothing in return and don't bother to pour over every single lead that comes in?

    I invest in what works, if it works well I invest more, if it doesn't I pull away. I conservatively work out that for every £1 i invest Im getting about £8 back and know I can get this higher. Ive used them for the best part of 20 years, with only one ,4 month spell  away when someone on here recommended I cancel and try Jim Reids Autovolo, which I did and was the worst decision I ever made, in  a normal month  it accounts for between 85-90% of all my sales. I couldn't care less about their profit as long as I make a profit from them, thats all that drives me. I monitor religiously where every single enquiry and sale come from, passing traffic, referrals, walk ins dried up from the day we had to shut. did a few deliveries but more by appointments, thats how I know,. My chats, texts, calls and emails returned abut 2-3 weeks ago, I don't just ask where they saw my advert as I only now advertise on one website, yes I have my own by Click Dealer but vast majority of my traffic comes from the adverts on the autotrader. Ive given all of them a fair chance, CarGurus for almost 12 months last year, Motors, eBay, I've fed my stock to all of them. I did get the odd sale but the cost per sale compared to the autotrader was horrific

    Trust me, for me there is no more cost effective way of generating profitable sales. Ive tried everyone over a long period of time and pound for pound none come close. Do I wish they were cheaper, God yes, do I scream when they put their prices up, no one shouts louder, but the fact is - they work. Ive published on here last year my sales, profit, ROI generated, and for me I can make it work. I know it doesn't for some and good luck in using other websites. i wish you all the best.

    anyway, Im off home now to catch a little of this sun, been preparing cars all day today, got 6 confirmed appointments tomorrow, all with reservations paid to stop the messers.

    Good luck all for reopening and hope everyones safe and well

    Excellent answer there, i do not use Autotrader as it doesnt work for ME i dont see the need to bash people who do.