grant8064

Haha...yep! I've spent many many hours this month stressed out by past customers or simply not seeing new ones though so it balances out

Boom! Three in an hour. Had them lining up! Makes up for all the crap i've had this January

Snap. Got space for 10. Just bought a Kuga today though

Two today and one more going through on finance. All been taking a while to decide but coming back after a couple of days looking elsewhere which is reassuring. Can't buy a sausage at the moment but hopefully it'll calm down once we roll into Feb

Another quiet Saturday. Couple of leads for the week but nothing sold. Ticking over but not especially busy yet despite having what, I think, is some of our best stock yet.

Done!

Strange isn't it. We moved from a semi rural site to a main road last year and i'd say we're quieter on weekends now then we were back then! Seems to all be about the midweek for some reason

Looks quite tidy for a half million miler! Took in an old P38 Range this week with 210k on the clock and somehow everything electrical works!

It'd be hard work. If you have a warehouse based site indoors then it'd be quite simple I think because you can just lock the door when you're out doing stuff. On an open forecourt it's harder because you need to be present. I did three weeks on my own whilst the other director was on holiday and skipped going to the block because I couldn't leave the site unattended, cars didn't get run down to the valeters because I had no way of getting back and the general workload was a bit too high. That's based on a 40 car forecourt though. I know when we both leave the site we almost always get back just in time to see a potential customer walking/driving off that we've missed by not being about. One person sites are easy to sell from but imagine how many punters you'll miss while running a car somewhere or going on test drive? How do you get to a daytime auction? And biggest of all...what do you do when something goes wrong and you have to drop everything? For me, the site costs A LOT so we have to maximise it's value and that simply means always having someone there selling while the other buys, drives and does all the other silly jobs.

Thanks all for your input and advise...a second and third opinion never hurts! It's a clean 45k 09 Merc A Class...in real terms nothing special at all but a genuine honest clean nonetheless. I guess if you want a comfy sit up and beg 5 door it works and you could do a lot worse.

Thanks for the heads up! It's off to sunny Cyprus!

Haha, yep! In fairness they seem pretty decent...long trading history on companies house. Loads of talk about them on all these weird Jap import forums, not a world I know at at all but it seems quite a few people use them and seem pretty/very happy with their services. Maybe it's just me being an old cynic!

Hi guys, Hoping I can draw on your knowledge. Had an ebay enquiry on a 5k car the other day, agreed a price etc but refused to proceed with the sale as the buyer wanted to complete and pay via telephone not having viewed the vehicle and then arrange for a delivery driver to collect the vehicle so it could be exported to the Mediterranean. Shouted DISTANCE SELLING issues and general unwanted hassle. Couple of days later and I have just recieved a call from a car export company saying the client wishes to proceed but as we refused her they are acting as broker. They have paid a deposit via BACS and I have explained that the balance MUST be paid by the mechanic coming to collect the vehicle on our premises and an invoice signed by him. My question...have I agreed to open a can of worms? Can any of you see any issues or anything I have missed? Thanks in advance!

We're on a busy road on the way into the local towns...if you're driving anywhere here you HAVE to pass us! Saturdays are either 3 car days or nothing...sometimes not even a walk on. It's very very strange. Given our location and people working we thought Saturdays would be killer but it's not the case. Midweek we do all our business for some reason.

It's good point you make about the option of closing site B if it's not working and still having the original site A which is a known quantity. In our case we know the area VERY well so felt pretty confident. Still spent hours sat in the car watching how much passing trade went past the new site each hour at different times of day before taking it on, checked all the planning history to make sure we didn't get a site with planning for flats etc. Research any site as best you can is what i'm saying. We had a six month notice period on our old site and moved onto our new site with 5 months remaining on the old one. Tempting as it was to use the old site for storage/sales instead we chose to concentrate fully on the new site. Emptied the old one and put a blocker with flat tyres and no battery across the entrance to keep people out. It meant we paid five months rent and rates for an empty site but in reality the logistics of two sites, on top of moving to a new one, would have been a bit too much. We decided to do one site well rather than two sites averagely and stomached the five months lost rent money.

Not sure if it's exactly on topic but we moved to a bigger site about 8 months ago. Old site was ok but a bit hidden. The new site is bigger and right on a busy A road. Costs a lot more but is generating far more sales. Where we are, in the south east, sites are like hens teeth. We toyed with the idea of two sites but in reality we would have to employ staff, currently it's just the two directors running the show. Staff = problems and costs. Also the problems of someone phoning up and wanting to view Car A in location A but it's in prep in location B...in reality this would lead to a missed sale in many cases. Too much hassle imo...one site where you can monitor whats going on properly and keep a close eye on who is doing what.

How well do you get on with Zuto and how much business do you put their way? I'd have my rep in the office and find out exactly what they want, that's part of his/her job. If you stick loads of deals their way then tell them why you're not happy to contribute. If they got shirty with me I guess i'd pay up this time, because it's easier than fighting it, and terminate my deal with them. Plenty of finance companies out there touting for business.

Four no-shows today. One random on a 7 seat 4x4 who never came back and a test drive on an i10 that i'll never hear from again probably. Hate Saturdays

Three today! One cash, one finance and one on 0%...variety is the spice they say

Had a terrible start to Jan with nothing but issues with sold cars but finally turning the corner. Helps that we've done one yesterday and one today...both 5k hatches on finance with another in the pipeline!

Stocked up in November/December knowing January would be mental as usual. Running a bit low on stock but refuse to pay much above book money...come March/April any of those above book money purchases will look silly expensive if they're still on a forecourt.

Well that was a long day of abuse taking and threats! Turns out its blown the turbo...hence the EML. I'm no mechanic but surely the car should have given some warning it was gonna go with a lack of power or noise or something? I'd done loads of test drives in it and not once had it skipped a beat but try explaining to the buyer that we're not really dodgy car salesmen and genuinely wouldn't have sold it if we had known... One new turbo ordered, i'll collect it from his home on Friday and all being well it'll be back by Monday in fine fettle. All for £1995

Hope we get to keep it. Got a call off the guy we took it in from and the A class he bought has apparently flashed up an EML on the way home...typically didn't do it on the four test drives i've been on in it!

Not worth the hassle in my opinion. If they want to sell it and it's the right money i'll buy it direct and retail it myself. Whatever the law says if the car is a wrong-un I know i'll be footing any bills and it's my reputation on the line so I want the same margin in the car as I would from something from the block. If they're happy to take trade money for it then it's simpler to just buy it outright and save the daily phonecalls from the owner asking how it's doing. If they don't want trade money then they need to be selling it themselves privately and taking all the risks and time associated with that.

Been back since the 27th. Quiet first few days but done two Hyundai diesels and an old A class diesel...and they say diesels are dead! Taken in a oh so nice old Fabia auto in chop and bought a couple off walk ins...starting to enjoy car sales again after Decembers boredom