grant8064

CONGRATS! Always nice to hit a record beating month once in a while. Enquiries are slowly picking up but it's hardly rammo with sales. Did manage to shift a Zafira i've had for 14 months though :-)

I really struggle with trade sales also. I have a local breaker/fixer upper who buys odd cars but he's picky about makes/models and also seems to have a £75 limit. I honestly thought we'd have loads of local part time traders knocking on the door when we moved but nobody has ever asked. Local auction is pointless for me...'dealer part exchange' as the vendor kills the sale and the charges are far too high. If the cars are good for scrap/fixing up I trade them to our local guy for £50 - £75. Anything too good to scrap but not retail-able I stick on ebay. Start them at 99p, explain every known fault, describe it as spares and repairs only, no warranty, etc. Try to be as honest as possible and basically describe the car as worse than it really is. Not had a comeback yet but it will happen. When it does i'll simply refund the buyer and relist. Not worth the hassle of trying to fight them.

Without sounding too pessimistic...5 mil in AT world really isn't going to make much of a dent IMO. I can think of better ways of investing it. Best of luck tho.

It's a very strange month...hate to say it, and I hope you pick up, but i'm glad it's not just me. I'm convinced there is something going on in buyers minds at the moment because barely anybody seems willing to commit to a bigger purchase. I'm getting a lot of customers very anti diesel. Lots of customers confused by the tax rules coming soon. The Vauxhall/Peugeot thing hasn't helped me shift any VX's lately. Not sure what the reason is, could even just be a general quietness, but there's something strange going on IMO

We wrote our terms ourselves but heavily based them on other peoples. I used a few old invoices from other dealers I found in part ex's for the wording and hashed it together from those.

Is it quiet everywhere this month? Had reasonable footfall but buyers won't get into anything over about 4k...just been knocking out part ex's all month and the odd bit of cheaper retail here and there. Seems very dead. Guy down the road with 20 on his forecourt has done one all month and another guy with 40-ish prestige bits has managed a grand total of three!

Not had an issue with our finance company, who are quite decent, but sooner or later a client will want to back a car. It happens. Hopefully when it does they'll be on our side. If not f**k 'em. Pretty simple really. I earn the finance company money so they should be on my side. If not i'll go elsewhere and tell every local dealer to do the same. There are loads of lenders wanting to fill their books so don't pay them too much respect. As for the CRA15...it's a gone too far IMO. You are expected to sell a 8 year old car for 8 year old money but prep it to 1 month old condition. We've signed up with lawgistics recently after a spate of silly requests and threats from a few clients and they have been helpful and prompt with communication. We have decided to take any reasonable case to court when we feel we have acted honestly and properly (which is always). We might still lose but it's important clients know the CRA and the law in general works for everyone not just them,.

sounds like trouble to me. Did a sub 1k Part ex today...told him it was not very nice in advance, on test I reminded him, on purchase I stressed it and on the invoice it stated it. In truth it's alright but i'd rather someone realistic buying it rather than a dreamer that screams a week later with an EML or in four months when it needs MOT work

Be interesting to see on MB...had someone put to them recently and their rates have gone even more Wonga than before.

Haha yer they're pretty good to buzz about in. They sell incredibly well down here, slightly higher seating position helps a lot and a lot of older folk seem to have a friend who recommends one too. I love them, always a good seller. You're brave taking an 89k one on though...anything over 60k seems to always need an alternator or starter motor, a battery and sometimes discs. The interiors wear well but mechanical parts aren't the cheapest I find and Hyundai stuff starts life cheap for a reason. All told though good little things and always quick to go. Adversely the new shape Picantos, 11 plate onwards, are, I think, much better cars. Drive really, really well. Better spec. Better looking. Better paintwork. They are so unpopular and I cannot work out why. Just sold a mint 40k 63 plate for the same money as a 40k 60 plate i10 and it has taken months to get rid of. I honestly cannot work out why either. Matiz and Getz both drive badly but have a warm place in my heart. I do love small Korean boxes!

I think it happens in all walks of life really. The only difference is some jobs need actual skills. If i'm totally honest anyone can sell a car if it's cheap enough and chucked online somewhere for people to see. Joe Bloggs goes to the block, buys anything above book, fifty quid Eastern Europe valet, £30 on AT and retail for £500-£1000 below anyone else. No matter how dodgy it is some mug will buy it. But it is short term. Sooner or later they'll buy three dogs in a row and go bust or get stuck with something for months. The real skill of selling cars, in my very very humble opinion, is doing it long term. Doing it properly. Building a reputation. Being honest. As much as I hate paying tax and VAT I hate home traders cheating the system even more.

Hi there, I always do well with 1 series so long as they are 5 doors...not tried many other BMs but have a lovely 60 plate 530D in now so i'll see what happens. As for quick sellers...HYUNDAI i10 Classics and Chevy Matiz £30 taxers. Love them both and they always go double quick!

I feel your pain my man. Had two weeks of it now and frankly i'm extra pleased i'm off on my hols next week. As for ebay...I use it for spares/repairs because the 'traders' around us have to club together to find fifty quid. Usually takes three listings to get a sale through. I did sell a quite nice A class with a turbo issue of some kind today (for the second time) and had a really sensible guy win it. Sent a good message asking for the faults pre sale, I replied honestly and he bought it. Nice message back bemoaning ebay timewasters so we both know we're sensible! Like I say, takes me three listings on average to get a genuine buyer but does shift part ex's with issues

Bleurghhhhh! Had a million test drives and viewings today to no avail. Why is it when a punter tells you what they need and you point to THE PERFECT CAR for their needs, something that actually ticks all their boxes and is under budget, they still don't get excited or even in it?! I've had a day of that. Done eight in eleven days so it's fine money wise but so irritating to not sell any bigger ticket prices when the cars themselves are really nice sorted bits. Vent over.

Haha I wish I was getting one a day! I have had two leads that converted to sales and one that didn't in the last 30 days.. Presumably bigger dealers holding more stock will get more enquiries. Also depends how 'financable' the cars are. I find a lot of 247 punters want black, flashy, premium looking stuff that'll impress the neighbours and will settle on higher mileage cars for a lower monthly cost. I don't stock high mileage flash stuff so that might affect it also. Only recently starting working with them again so maybe it'll increase but one or two a month is fine for me. The process seems a lot slicker as an operation than a year or two ago when we last worked with them and I have no complaints so far...their office staff are still pretty useless but a bit of patience goes a long way!

They charge us £150 per lead that develops into a deal. It's not ideal but often it gets a car sold at full price. I'd be knocking £150 off for most punters so no real loss imo.

Which in my book is re-assuring! If we're all quiet you can put it down to just being 'one of those weeks'. Perfect excuse to pick up some nice new stock, get everything prepped and be ready for when it all kicks off!

Ours is the same...she had no idea some units only just break even or have a very little left in them after all the bits were accounted for. If it makes you feel any better, we asked for an accountancy costs discount too but were met with her middle finger!

Always pleasing to get an oldie gone...money in the bank and then try again!

Did a cheapy yesterday but it is also very quiet...only punters about seem to be totally crazy as well

Did two on Saturday which was OK. Had a lot more footfall but some of them seriously needed to be certified. In the nicest possible sense....it's good to know we're not the only ones that have been dead quiet lately!

I'm still rocking my old Saab 900 but it's coming up for a ticket soon and i'm not that confident (i'm very anti moody MOT's so it might go on the bay for someone with spare time to rescue). Last daily was an 04 Megane 1.5 dci that owed a ton but it blew up on me so now my current daily is a 59 Golf S 1.6 DSG. I usually end up in whatever hasn't sold for ages and isn't getting many enquiries. Having been in it for a couple of months now I can't see why it hasn't gone really. It is silver and only S spec which hurts it but it's got cruise and auto lights and wipers which is enough for me My pet hate. The worst i've ever known was the Hyundai iX20/Kia Venga...had many a near miss in car parks and at roundabouts in one of those.

Woops! My bad Thanks for the heads up...this forum is so handy, especially when I haven't read something properly!

Nice to get a letter or email through telling me