grant8064

So today I got a walk on interested in a 9k Smax that we've had in stock for a while...happy days! After a couple of minutes chatting though you could tell it was going to be one of those customers that it makes business sense not to deal. I'd not seen anyone all day though so I thought i'd play the game and get them in the office for a rundown of spec etc. Then they drop the 'how does finance work?' and 'i've got really bad credit' lines. Not normally an issue...just stick a proposal through after the usual questions and explanations and see what happens. However, this was a client I didn't want to do business with but i'd already got the prop up online in the hope the hassle of it might put them off... So, what do you all do? Put them through or make some excuses and let them walk?

Nice to see someone else loves a 900 classic! I've gone down the 4 door Scandi business man route myself...200k on the clock and it never misses a beat with panels thicker than those on a tank. How's your Satria...always fancied one from when they first came out but never taken one in chop?

Six retail last week... One £700 Clio part ex so far this week

Haha, the Hyundai is great...after a long day of old boys coming in and telling me all about their past Jags and Fords they owned in the seventies getting into something quiet, boring and functional is just what I need sometimes. Also being massively overage and £30 tax might be part of the reason i'm in it!

I've got a 1988 Saab 900 Classic in white with a nice faded red stripe down each side... ...and a 2010 Hyundai ix20 1.4 diesel which (apart from the massive A pillars) is just fine for day to day

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Worn steering wheels and... FLAT BATTERIES when you need to test drive something you haven't opened the door on in weeks! Why is it always that ONE car!!!

So, how do you deal with them? I go down a couple of roots...anything truly bad, short MOT, rough, nasty, etc gets sold to the local trader/scrap guys. Then we get the cars that we can retail out for 1k - 3k and need to to make up the months money. These ones are great top ups, usually better margin in them than the retail stock and quicker to sell. The issue we have is with warranties and issues. Usually we will offer them with min 9 months MOT and a pre-delivery inspection which is fine. Sometimes though on the cheapies i'll just test drive and have a quick inspection then retail out for £795, £995...you get the picture. The problem is the less people spend the more they seem to expect...sold an 06 auto diesel picasso 105k the other day. Was up for £2295 but took £1900 to reflect the broken key fobs. Next day I get an email saying the keys will cost too much so they want me to go halves on the cost ( I obliged because we don't need the hassle) but they backed up the request by quoting trading standards stuff. Getting a lot of this even on £500 junk cars. Any advice guys?

Snap! Only the other week on an Avensis I was taking in chop. Checked MOT history...had been on for three months, as expected. Plug in our cheapo ebay code reader and cylinder four is dead as a dodo which made sense of the horrible misfire. Re-priced accordingly. Best £19.99 we ever spent!

Motors is generally pretty dead but also pretty cheap...I think given our margins on cars we need to sell two retail cars at circa 5k to cover the annual cost. After we moved to our main road forecourt and chipped off Autotrader we chose to stay with Motors and Ebay because whilst neither is particularly great for sales it's a useful web presence alongside our website. I think we sell maybe 2 in 20 cars via motors and maybe 2 in 20 via ebay...the rest is solely passing trade. However, some of those walk ons have probably seen the car online first via one of those sites. I guess different business models rely on different advertising. I know our cars are over priced (hence online adverts are not particularly important to us) but we work on the personal, friendly, local angle which people seem happy enough to pay for. I, personally, think online is better for car supermarkets or dealers with tiny overheads because you have to be so price competitive online.

I don't know where the leads come from tbh. We're signed up with Motors, RAC & Ebay (but not Autotrader). Must be from one of those guys i'd imagine?

...when you see a car you sold 29 days ago that needed a new power steering unit before it went out turn up on the forecourt and it's too late to go hide, only for them to tell you they love it so much that they want to find a car for their mum to buy! ...buoyed by this confidence you see a focus you sold a few weeks back arrive and greet Mr Customer with a warm smile and handshake only to be told his gearbox is knackered, he's not very happy, and the warranty company aren't interested. Swings and bloody roundabouts

I carry 35 - 40 including about five or six sub 2k part ex's. Done five retail and two part ex's this week which i'm very happy with with seeing as my partner's away for a few weeks on holiday. Few have had big lumps in them too which always helps. Probably gonna hit a slow third week though as the stock levels dropping.

We get a fair few enquiries...usually from people the other end of the country. That said, once in a while they do actually turn up and buy...a polite reply email costs nothing and occasionally will turn into a sale.

We deal in bog standard used so get plenty of Astras, Focus and Renaults with speedo changes. Steer well clear when we're buying (just not worth the hassle) but get lots in chop with this issue. Usual procedure for us is to bid them a fair bit below book and retail the car a fair bit below book accordingly. If the price is right and the history shows it clearly we find it easy enough to explain and mention that it is reflected in the price. We also ALWAYS mention it in the advert because it sorts the wheat from the chaff. Those that question it too much we decline selling to as they show signs of being hassle...those that understand the reason and are happy with the paperwork usually buy and we never hear from again. If the paperwork is a bit iffy or the car smells wrong we trade it out (again explaining the speedo change circumstances). Honesty is the best policy in my book.

Thanks also Umesh, fingers crossed when I get in tomorrow it'll all be sorted. Only been in the game 18 months and it's some of the more unusual bits like this i'm still learning!

Thanks GreenGiant, much appreciated. I chased for the clearance agreement straight away but wasn't sure if this was enough...now I am duly reassured. (I think it's this car that's got me overly worried...every step seems to be cursed with the bloody thing!)

Hi all, been a lurker for a while but thought I would register and ask a question. Bought a 2012 Corsa from auction and just taken deposit on it. Car is due to handover in a few days. Just printed off an RAC Car Passport HPi for the customer and it states it has outstanding finance (not noted when purchased from auction). So I call the finance company to find out what's going on and they say it is a old record of stocking loan that has been cleared and they will send the details to HPi to update the system. My question is how long does this take? I cannot sell the car without declaring the finance issue to the customer by law so if it takes a while I will lose the sale. Can any advise if it is a swift update or if it takes a while? I have an email from the finance house saying the agreement is cleared but don't want to go ahead and sell it without HPi confirmation. Cheers, Grant