grant8064

This kind of thing is all well and good on paper but the reality is if you get on with your rep, decline business when you think it's gonna bring hassle and be honest with the customer from day one about their responsibilities and risks. Personally I decline a lot of finance customers because they're not the kind of people I want to deal with but the ones we do are generally very very sensible. Finance is great to offer but you can't let it take over your business. Our penetration is awful but only because we're picky and IMO that's the right way to be.

Radio 4. If it has to be music maybe a bit of The Specials if I need cheering up or The Black Keys if it's a long drive and I have time to get in a bluesy mood. ...pretty much always Radio 4 though. I'm not the worlds best driver and if I have music on I completely lose concentration. Do any of you tune the radio into a station you think will suit the buyer when you're taken photos or is it just me? Radio 1 for the sporty hatches, Radio 2 in the boring Japanese stuff, Classic FM in the odd Swedish bit and Radio 4 in the rest. Just me?

We're with Motonovo. Really good online portal, quick decisions and the commissions are healthy. I used Zuto last week for the first time in ages and I cannot understand how you guys deal with them...archaic system and a nightmare to get a decision out of. Amateur hour IMO.

Well done guys! Always good to hear people on here doing well. My only issue with selling so many this week is why the hell do they all need them handed over before Christmas?!?!?! Buying a car is a big deal, couldn't they have got all this out of the way a week or two ago? Not complaining but I feel I might have to buy the MOT station and garages a few drinks this week

Why am I yet to come across a 500 with a broken handle? I keep hearing about it being a thing but i've sold tons of the things and never once had an issue with them. Is it really as bad an issue as you guys make out?

Hat trick today and one Monday. Managed to pick up seven from the block also today. Had 95 in stock and now sitting on a measly 74 despite buying anything we can find that fits our parameters. So busy I still haven't managed my usual tradition of wrapping my presents in the office. This December has been a bit strange.

Different buyers though. We do loads of 500's and i'm finding lately it's the 40 year old woman car of choice...even did one to a 50 year old married man today! Ka's seem to go to cautious buyers, usually a girl in her late teens/early twenties accompanied by mum and dad and sometimes a 'mechanic' uncle. These kind of buyers won't go near a Fix It Again Tony but love the blue oval (funny eh!) I avoid Titaniums and special editions btw...book high because of the spec but most buyers at this level prefer to save £500 and take a zetec of the same age/mileage.

Depends how the customer was and now is frankly but we cover probably 90% of issues. If you can sense they're gonna be back every two minutes because a consumable has reached the end of its life and they don't want to pay for it we're firm but most people I generally find quite nice about the whole thing if you're honest and show you're not going to fob them off without listening first. Paying for the parts whilst the punter pays for the fitting is often how we approach it. That way we can get cheap bits from somewhere and they can choose a garage they trust to fit them as we don't have a mechanic or one of our approved garages if they're local. Recently done a battery, filters, clutch and other bits...all of the customers were pleasant and I dare say some will recommend us to friends as we were helpful from day one. Declined to do wipers for one customer because he was an arse from the start, rude, aggressive etc...rather not have his or his friends business in future. It's not always the money that's a deciding factor but how the customer approaches the issue for me, courtesy goes a long way.

Always a drive back. We buy the odd one or two with the cover removed but they have to be way behind book to make it worth the risk. Drive it back, drive it home, use it for a sandwich run. If it's gonna go pop then at least get it out the way early! Ripped up carpet near an obd and broken clips on a fuse box are my pet hates and make me run for the hills!

We've done well with them so it depends on your market I guess. As mentioned 'Edge' spec is billy basic windy windows but every level above that has been a good seller. Also as mentioned check the rear axle and area around it for corrosion, same with Pandas and 500's. Good little things for finance deals IMO. Not a lot of money for youngsters to run and because of the blue oval dad usually approves.

My bad...I meant if you took the 'private' ads as a whole that are online I reckon about 10% to be ACTUALLY private and 90% to be traders purporting to be 'private'. There's barely a genuinely private car out there, in our local area anyway. I've no issue with any of the genuine trade advertising anywhere so long as they're advertised as trade. Point in case: guy near us had rented yard, bought junk from auction, threw a bucket of water over it and on sale on facebook. Had over 30 listings at one point...every single advert 'my wifes car is now no longer needed' 'i have got a company car so must sell...' 'moving so in need of quick sale'. All the usual rubbish but people were jumping over themselves to buy from him. Utter scum IMO posing as a private seller. Pays no tax, no VAT, no comebacks and good luck trying to and find him when the brakes fail because he'll be back in the midlands or the desert when you do. Thank fully he was evicted and sold a car to the wrong person judging by the bruises he had last time I saw him but they'll be another.

Most of the junk in the block is far more genuine than most of the stuff I see on eBay, fbook etc. I reckon if I went through 100 social media and eBay adverts at random maybe 10% at most would be privates. 90% of it is wannabee traders, scrap boys and back street garages that have patched up a scrapper or are knocking out something terminal with only a pay as you go mobile to worry about.

hahaha, I put it a bit more politely (must still be in work mode). Agreed.

I'll give it a go! The Yugo one is brilliant because we all love an underdog, it's a great tale so far.

I shouldn't laugh... Have you tried looking up at the sky, shaking your fist and screaming 'wwwwwwhhhhhyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!' yet? (it doesn't work btw, i've tried many a time)

@met is East Laaaarnden just easy pickings with Fiat 500's, Minis and German stuff? Or do you stock normal stuff? I have friends there. One sells BBQ'd meat from a horsebox...he's very East London

I have a friend who works as a shipping broker and still quite often they have Russian ships going back home with cargo and he has to explain to the captains that they can't strap cars to the hatch covers for insurance reasons. Not Ladas anymore but plenty of high miles 7 series and E class. On a Soviet note; i'm currently reading 'The Yugo -the rise and fall of the worst car in history' by Jason Vuic. It's about the introduction of the Yugo into America...no spoilers though because I haven't finished it! Well worth a look if the missus doesn't know what to get you

Cheapest option I found when we had a similar issue on a part ex to clear was having a non-remote cut for £25 and binning the button key. That's right Mr OAP customer, less to go wrong.

2017 for us has been really good. Our only big challenge has been sourcing stock (as always). Where the hell are all those 50k seven year old Fiestas, Golfs and Zafiras actually going? We're not asking for Ferraris, just the most common cars in the UK. 2018 - I envisage squeezed margins as we fight for good stock and buyers have less money to purchase with but similar ridiculous expectations of a used car. Expenses for advertising, utilities, rent and rates will increase. Otherwise I don't think much will change. As Justina3 says - YOU HAVE TO ADAPT. We've seen both our main competitors locally fold, with one disappearing this week. Why? Stocking loans got out of hand for one and they didn't prep properly so were in court every month. The other simply got lazy and stocked and did what they always did which doesn't cut it anymore. Of note, both were renowned for poor prep and sending half finished cars out which is a ticking time bomb IMO. Do the job once and do it right. Sacrifice a few quid in prep now but it will/should pay off long term.

With auctions on your doorstep and loads of premises for not a lot of money the entry costs into the industry are pretty low meaning there is greater competition. Cost of living and operating are lower too so margins might be squeezed too. As we all know, to do this properly, you need a healthy margin to cover PROPER recon and prep. Having spent a fair bit of time in the Midlands previously and seen how the demographic and atmosphere is it would be one of the last places I would ever want to try and trade in. Every customer we have dealt with from there either wants your 'best final last price' or has a disgusting attitude. Not a slur on anyone from that region, i'm sure there are lots of lovely people there but it's not for me. I always wonder how difficult it must be to relocate to an area you are not familiar with and set up. We moved about 20 miles a couple of years ago, still in our home town area, and were amazed at the difference in attitudes, buyers and quality of trades and suppliers. Took us a good six months to work out what kind of stock we needed to carry and it was completely different to our previous trading area.

I only got 421 and only 229 are used! I am trying to sell to 50% fish though being located by the seaside. I regularly look at premises in the Midlands near the other half's parents...five years rent at my present site would buy me a similar sized freehold site up there. Tempting figures but I couldn't move away from the sea. My customer demographic here is pretty nice too...I couldn't bear to move to the Midlands and get asked 'best price, last price' by a certain demographic all day every day.

Recipe for disaster IMO and we do it very very rarely but this thing we had was a genuinely good lump. Mass trading junk on eBay is asking for CRA issues and comebacks.

I know it's probably just a one off but it restored my faith a touch... Took a big ten year old German smoker in chop about six months ago, a very very straight car despite having double digit owners and not much in the way of history. Managed to sell it twice taking it back in each time due to its size. Third time back and its developed a bit of noise from the driveshaft, not an issue but it was becoming a bit of a forecourt feature and the part wasn't an off the breakers shelf bit so it was time to go online for a trade sale. I envisaged the usual million emails and tyre kickers and thought if we could actually get rid of it within three listings we'd be doing well. Sold today first time, guy messages within ten minutes to arrange collection, pays and collects within the hour. No chipping on price (he tried but that's fair enough) and we have a new contact for decent stuff we don't want to go with. Lovely bloke and he WAS actually trade as requested rather than Joe Public looking for a cheapie. It's not often but just occasionally a non-messer turns up!

I don't buy them but recently took in two part ex Fiestas, both cat C & cat D at different points in their abused lives. Re con was a bit heavier than usual but once they were both up to standard they went on sale. Priced accordingly they both flew out. No interest in buying any ever but when they come in chop i'll take them on.