Scooby who

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Posts posted by Scooby who

  1. Posted

    The latest car that I I've purchased, so I can scrutinise it for faults before it's advertised.

    I find it the only way, otherwise you get customers phoning or calling back once sold with stupid complaints like squeaky wipers, tracking off a tad, pollen filter blocked etc.

    • Like 1

  2. Posted

    14 hours ago, M.J said:

    i've also got a similar setup to MatC and Scooby.

    Around 25 in stock, 15 advertised at any one time, i'm on my own and do everything from buying to selling, everything in between and after, i've even got a recovery truck to collect the stock.

    I'm a fairly new start up so i'm keeping costs to a minimum for now but will shortly start outsourcing stuff like the valeting, i'm down to around 1.5 hours for a valet but that's still around 30 hours a month of valeting!

    The good thing about being solo is that it has made me extra cautious about what i buy because i simply don't have the time to be sorting problem cars, i went through a period early on when i had 5 warranty claims on the go, it seemed like everything i sold came back a few days later, all that whilst still trying to sell and buy stock, that was a fun time! 

     

    I must have OCD. No way could I valet any car in 1.5 hrs. I once spent 2 hrs going over a car I had outsourced to a kid up the road (dog hairs, dirt in crevices etc). Thus the reason I now just do it myself.

    I start with a full pressure washing of engine bay, underneath, wheels and door/boot jams. Wet vac every square inch of carpet. Once dried I clean the glass and condition the plastic and generally remove scratches with 2000 paper and compound followed by a coat of Autoglym wax. Would take me a full day!!  What's wrong with me!?

    Thing about doing everything yourself is, when something goes wrong you tend to blame yourself and learn from your mistakes. Others just don't care IMO

  3. Posted

    6 hours ago, Mat C said:

     

    I find i just do it. I have got a full valet down to about 1 1/2 hours.

    Bloody hell it takes me a whole day at least.....you must buy very very clean stock

     

    I do everything myself also, have 20-25 n stock. Do the buying, selling, phone calls, advertising, valeting, mechanical, driving to the test centre etc. To be honest it's too much and I have absolutely no time to myself, it's just work work work. My stress levels are off the scale

     

    • Like 1

  4. Posted · Edited by Scooby who

    Same here. White fly's out the door, especially if it's a car targeted at younger drivers >45. However I often find OAP'S don't like it.

    White cars generally are more expensive to purchase, but fetch more also.

    Black is still a safe colour and preferred by the vast majority.

    Worst colour in my opinion is green, followed by navy, followed by wine/red

  5. Posted

    On ‎22‎/‎08‎/‎2016 at 8:47 PM, david gott said:

    Customer comes to look at car, gives it the full tyre kicking once over and spends about an hour appraising, goes for a test drive, comes back and says "I'll have a think" "got a few more to see" etc. Then in the same afternoon another customer comes to look at the same car, takes 2 mins to appraise and doesn't even want to test drive and says "can I take it today"........2 days later the first customer rings and says "can I come and see the car again".......then you can reply with the sweet feeling of victory (I think sometimes I pause a minute just to get that feeling of satisfaction)  "SORRY ITS SOLD"

    I never tell them it's sold over the phone, I let them arrive in my forecourt..........THEN and ONLY then I tell them "Oh I just sold it" ! (extra satisfation in knowing I wasted some of their time) 

  6. Posted

    I would say two thirds of my stock moves within 30days. Often within 24hrs of it being advertised if it's a really low mileage example priced correctly. I think price is a huge factor, Most of my stock would be below the average mileage for that year, which probably gives me an edge over the competition. However no matter how low the mileage is, if its the wrong car and the price isn't right then I know because it just sits there with no enquiries.

    I've had some cars for 3 months or more, at this stage I know something isn't right. If it is of low spec or the wrong colour or something else and it's not selling I drop the price. If that doesn't work I try moving it off to a mate in the trade who may have better luck, or have a customer lined up or whatever.

    After 6 months it has to go regardless. Even if I have to take a heavy loss, that money is best put into fresh stock I'm more confident WILL sell.

    I find colour is a huge factor, black fly's out the door, everyone loves it.... except me! (always needs a mop or polish), white nowadays also. Silver is safe enough but a bit old fashioned and doesn't suit every model of car. Red can or cannot be good, they either love it or hate it. After that certain greys and then that's it for me regarding colour 

  7. Posted

    Never tried the 'cat litter tray'

    Had a beautiful A3 a few weeks back, Strong stench of cigarettes.

    Valeting every single inch of the car to an OCD standard. Changed the pollen filter and cleaned the glass. Once it dried it was no better. Next I sprayed 5 bottles of Febreze all over the roof cloth and seats. Though I had it sorted and it smelled like new. But once the Febreze dried out, same story. Cut open onions and placed coffee granules inside the car which masked it a bit. Tried two of those vanilla odour bombs, waste of time!

    Brought it round to a chap who has a Ioniser machine, left it with him overnight. next day the car smelled normal again. With all the time, effort and products used, I'd have been better off buying one first off.

     

     

    • Like 1

  9. Posted

    On ‎25‎/‎07‎/‎2016 at 9:33 AM, Rosemotors said:

    Hi fellas

     

    It breaks my heart but I've got to close the doors. The writing's been on the wall since I fell out with my stock funding partners.

    I guess I'm job-hunting now.

     

    So, thanks for all the advice, the banter and the insights.

    I'm in Ireland and need someone TRUSTWORTHY to source cars for me. Would be a steady few quid in it for you, if you want to stay in it part time.

    If it's of interest to you or anyone else, just let me know.