grant8064

In the sunny south east, near Brighton. Pints are at least a fiver and usually a seagulls shits in them but you can't help loving where you're from can you!

I'm always evolving (not changing) the model. Same as texting (or Viber or WhatsApp) - It attracts the wrong kind of customers for our area/demographic but I accept it will happen in a couple of years. Same as deposit unseen - No thanks. A deposit is NON refundable in my eyes, otherwise what's the point...sight unseen it has to be refunded so why take stock off sale unnecessarily and lose the chance to sell to a walk in? Same as nationwide delivery - Why? We're massively overpriced compared to 'throw a bucket of water over it' traders in the Midlands. 99% is sold within a 5 mile radius and we want to sell locally. I love the people/teams we sponsor locally, I love where I live and want to support it. I have no interest in selling to someone looking for the cheapest comparable example out there within a 200 mile radius...these kinds of people are everything that is wrong with society IMO. Same as card payments or transfers - BACS is our standard method of payment, has been for a long time. I 100% want to have a business in five years. It's been good so far and expanded organically a lot in four years. I was going to say "don't tell me what I need to do to run my business" but the whole reason i'm on here is to glean info off guys like yourself so i'd sound like a bit of a hypocrite/dick. A pitch is a different beast to trading from home but I enjoy the discussion/debate.

I've got really bad obsessive disorders, regular counselling and prescribed medication (which does work to an extent), and work with my partner who is squeaky clean. Overall we're both as productive and profitable as each other but it's about tailoring your skills to what you do. He's an upbeat opportunist so he does the buying. I'm a pessimistic OCD w**ker so I do all the admin, legal, accounts stuff. I think as just a simple sales guy it's clearly a negative but as a business owner I like to think it's brought me some benefits/saved me quite a bit of money/mistakes.

These are exactly the kind of people I don't want as customers. Not trying to sound deliberately awkward, clearly David and I are in the minority. It's just a different model for better or for worse I guess. I think a lot of it comes down to what you're stocking too though. Yourself, Simon, James?/EPV (apologies of you're not James, i'm a nightmare with names) are all offering quite desirable, flashy stuff compared to my humble, necessity, Clios and Merivas. I've done plenty of the former stuff in the past and generally find buyers short on time (amongst a few other things) whereas my level of punters have a lot more patience. Like a lot in this game; what works for one doesn't for the other is all i'm trying to say.

Had plenty go from no advisories to rot as a pear from MOT to MOT but Saab stuff is usually pretty solid, at least not known for rotting out as far as i'm aware.

Exactly how i've always seen it, at least i'm not the only one! The problem with an MOT is it's only as good as the day it's done IMO. Springs break (thanks Vauxhall), seat belt stalks fail and wiper linkages fail without a car doing a mile after a MOT. Had plenty this year that if i'd relied on a three week old ticket would've been coming back/seeing me in court.

Interesting to see how you all favour the MOT pre-sale. We do a PDI when stock comes in but fresh MOT/service upon sale. I've been contemplating doing it the other way and putting on a new MOT on everything when it arrives but some of our stock sits around a while which doesn't help and selling something with 7 months ticket just doesn't feel right to me. Thoughts? I also try to avoid those people that 'wanna take it right now' so the fresh ticket upon sale becomes a good way to discriminate from impatient buyers. I know some will see that as putting in an unnecessary barrier to a transaction but around our way anyone that desperate to jump into a car buying decision usually turns out to be a screamer/buyers remorse/lives with you etc. Those willing to wait a couple of days to collect their new car are a bit more patient if something goes wrong.

That's excellent Simon, always nice when you get a hat trick and then add a couple more in just for fun...gives me a right buzz hitting numbers in one go but it's rare I get above two or three on a single day. Most memorable we had was a normal Saturday; two of us in, no one booked in the diary, hadn't had an enquiry since mid week, grey gloomy day. Didn't see a soul until 3pm, watched the early kick off and wrote it off as just one of those days. From 3pm - 5pm did six from absolutely no where, had people literally standing in a line at the desk so long the last couple were waiting outside for at least an hour. Yet to be repeated I should add!

We get the odd request to buy and deliver sight unseen but decline them. Come in, view it, drive it, buy it if you're happy. We're not selling near new minters so I want people to come in and see the goods before it goes anywhere near money.

Had some right wet lettuces in today but that's standard half term. Been a stonking month for us so far, can't get them processed quick enough at the moment and shifted some really old stock which always feels nice. Was a bit worried about how this quarter was going to pan out what with all the worries but it's been solid.

+1 Money out until money in and cleared. Stock turn is a thing I see a lot of people get hung up on, almost boasting they have a short forecourt turnover period. I understand with people serving big stocking loans but for us normal traders I have never understood the fascination. I could turn my entire forecourt in two weeks if everything was cut back to the bone but I wouldn't have much of a business or wage packet at the end of it.

We we're with RAC for about 18 months. As Nick says, great POS and branding on the website. We offered 12 months free breakdown cover via a voucher the customer validates and 6 months RAC warranty, cost us about £100 per unit. Left after the 18 months after a series of warranty refusals and now work in house. It was a lot of work to process a warranty claim and payout was always a month in arrears so you had to put your hand in your pocket to repair something and then hope they wouldn't wriggle out of it. In our reps defence, he was a really nice guy and worked hard on our behalf but it always felt like a battle to get anything approved. From a sales point of view it did increase our sales for a short while but when all the other local dealers signed up to AA/RAC it lost its value. There was also always a pressure to upsell extended plans to increase/improve our P/L balance sheet with RAC/TWG which I really didn't like. If you're currently doing warranties in house and it's working I wouldn't recommend changing. If you're using a different provider i'd recommend considering doing it in house.

Quality stock's in really short supply locally which is both a positive and negative. Three today and 18 in for the month, could/would have been more but the wind killed trade for a couple of days and blew all the signage off the office so spent a day and £XXX's sorting that out. Very very short on stock which is depressing, going to have a knock on effect for the rest of the month unfortunately. The stock we have managed to buy has mostly been knackered too which doesn't help.

Three more months and you could have got the cake, card and party poppers out! Missed opportunity in my book. 297 days and counting for our Clio diesel estate with a couple of others hot on it's heels.

They're probably inundated with complaints about the new portal i'd guess

OBD reader is only worth having if you know how to use it properly. I'm not being sarky, I don't have one for that reason.

Decent Jan for us despite me moaning every day. People have been especially hard work of late. One today on a mint 53 plate Rav, 17 stamps and two cambelt replacements...well it should have had three cambelts by now so i'll want a substantial discount! I wish that was an exception but they're all the same lately. Short on stock and literally nothing about worth buying so might be a tepid start to Feb.

I can totally agree with that. There's a fair few 03-06 plate things locally running around with faded, barely stuck on, stickers from one former local dealer. In fairness to them the cars are still going long after the stickers have given up!

That's close on £7000 a year for us....sole reason we don't change plates unless really faded/stained. A nice bright window sticker at 50p each is as far as we go. It's nice spotting a few you've sold when you're out and about...until you see them pull into Halfrauds that is!

You boys are generous! We do £300...we do deviate from this though, it's different for each case.

Yep. Got one myself. Done a few this month at the higher rate, all sub £7000 stock. If you can cope with dealing old boys and listening to their rants about the government with some casual racism thrown in there's still sales to be had.

Farecla G3 & G10 because i've used it before and some of the 3M mentioned above, be good to see how a few new things work.

Thanks lads, gone for a few different ones to try out.

Just finished a tub of Farecla G6 that we inherited and never had to buy any before. Only used for hand polishing marks with a textured cloth. Recommendations?

25 CG enquiries this month and not a reply from any of them. I even went as far as phoning a few to see if my replies were going into spam folders or something; one answered, didn't have a driving license, I got shouted at "where did you get my number" etc...the rest we're all 'number unavailable' messages. I raised it with our rep last year multiple times, she doesn't visit anymore.