XFS

There is a biggest loss thread running. What about profit though? I,ve never made a huge loss on a car, but I,ve never made a huge profit either. I,ve had a couple which left me with just short of 2k profit after costs and I,ve taken a deposit on one which providing the sale goes through will give me my first 2k plus profit, although it is a 20k car. And right now I have one in my garage which is standing me 5k and it's looking like I can get 8k for it, which would be my best deal ever.

Reading this, my £650 loss on a low miles Porsche Cayman seems like small change. I've lost a few £££ here and there, but never anything major as yet. The loss on the Porsche really f**cked me off as it was an absolute gem of a car, flawless in fact. So it felt like a huge loss. I think it's easier to take a loss on a car you don,t like or has given you problems. The other loss I remember which really annoys me is the £300 loss on a '60 plate BMW estate, again a mint car with no faults.

This.

I'm the same as most. I can't buy a sale.....although today I bought a cracking BMW 4 series cabriolet. Low mileage, M-Sport, all the Spec, spot on history, and the right colour. And I paid less than Cap clean. But I swore a few months ago I would never by another Bimmer as I never seem to do well on them....and here I go again! If I can't make money on this one I'm DEFINATELY never buying another BM.

This. Common sense needs to be applied. I prep my cars properly and deal with people honestly. I have no fear of CRA or the courts. If a customer is going to be unreasonable I'm going to stand my ground.

Well I was at Bedford and somebody was prevented opening the bonnet on an Audi...which still went on to sell online for £1500 more than I would have paid and I thought my valuation was high. I agree though, it's just stupid.

The bonnet looks like it's been shot blasted. But I think it's the only panel which is Alfa red. The rest of the car is any red which came to hand and was somewhere close to the right colour..and mostly has been applied so thickly and unevenly you could throw rocks a it and it wouldn't chip.

Yes, I wish they would also list things like electric windows or mirrors not working, broken switches etc. Fixing a broken electric window or replacing a mirror is equivalent to painting a panel or refurbishing alloys. Broken window switch not mentioned in a report cost me £190 to replace. But as you say, I reckon we win more than we lose. I have no real complaints.

58 plate Alfa GT. low mileage good history but I bought it when I was stoned....although I've never taken a non-prescription drug in my life. Drug misuse is the only explanation I can give because I'm not colour blind, my eyesites ok for my age and I,m not stupid. But this has had many repairs which were far from "smart" and if there are 50 shades of green, then there must be 70 shades of red. If I'm ever to part with it, I either need someone who can only see in mono or someone who appreciates every shade of red known to man and some yet to be discovered.

It's a mystery to me. I,m not really complaining, as I reckon it evens out in my favour. Examples. Audi A5 Black Edition Grade 2 - needed a full front bumper repaint, a rear bumper corner a couple of dents taken out and all 4 alloys refurbed. Total spend £700 Grade 3/4 car Merc C250 Grade 3 - pristine, I mean really pristine, not so much as a scratch on the alloys. Retail condition, nothing spent. A grade 1 car all day long. Seat Ibiza Grade 3 -needed 9 dents removed ( yes 9!) over 4 panels, front and rear bumper corners, all 4 alloy refurbed. Total spend £500 plus lots of polishing and lots of swearing. Grade 4 at best Audi TT. Grade 4 - But almost retail condition - 2 dents and 2 alloys. Total spend £160. Grade 2 car at worst. It's the first Grade 4 car I,ve ever bought on line (First grade 4 full stop) and I was literally cr**ing myself. Surprise and relief when I saw it, I keep looking at it wondering what I'm missing. Last 4 Alfa's all Grade 3 - one a fair Grade 3 going on 4, One probably bang on the nail Grade 3, the other two were easily Grade 2.

It's a mystery to me. I,m not really complaining, as I reckon it evens out in my favour. Examples. Audi A5 Black Edition Grade 2 - needed a full front bumper repaint, a rear bumper corner a couple of dents taken out and all 4 alloys refurbed. Total spend £700 Grade 3/4 car Merc C250 Grade 3 - pristine, I mean really pristine, not so much as a scratch on the alloys. Retail condition, nothing spent. A grade 1 car all day long. Seat Ibiza Grade 3 -needed 9 dents removed ( yes 9!) over 4 panels, front and rear bumper corners, all 4 alloy refurbed. Total spend £500 plus lots of polishing and lots of swearing. Grade 4 at best Audi TT. Grade 4 - But almost retail condition - 2 dents and 2 alloys. Total spend £160. Grade 2 car at worst. It's the first Grade 4 car I,ve ever bought on line (First grade 4 full stop) and I was literally cr**ing myself. Surprise and relief when I saw it, I keep looking at it wondering what I'm missing. Last 4 Alfa's all Grade 3 - one a fair Grade 3 going on 4, One probably bang on the nail Grade 3, the other two were easily Grade 2.

I try to stay away from anything but Alfa's I like BMW's and I,m always tempted, but then I remember that I,ve never made a decent profit on one....

Turned into a decent month, 3 good meaty sales this week. But it's the "difficult" stuff I've sold. The nailed on "easy" sales have attracted no interest whatsoever.

I,ve tried a couple so far inc the 1&1 recommended, which is to complex and time consuming for me. If the one I,m trialing one right now works out I will report back.

Not 10mins after I made this post the phone rang, an appointment was made and another one sold...at full screen price to, no trade in. Maybe things are looking up... What I did learn from my sales this month is that the time and money spent preparing the cars properly paid off. In each case the customers had been shopping around and expressed surprise that my cars were exactly as described and in genuine retail condition. Apparently, a lot of dealers idea of prep is simply taking delivery of the car and putting a price tag on it. Its refreshing to find customers who will buy on condition and service as much as price.

Along with many others it seems, things are not going great just now, although my 2 sales for the month have been the cars I thought may be a struggle. I have good stock, properly prepared and offered at competitive prices. All my cars appart from two are below Autotrader "market value" and have either the "great price" or "priced low" flag. The 2 I've sold were the only "overpriced" cars. A Diesel Porsche Cayenne which I thought would be hard to sell, especially as according to Autotrader I was asking £700 over market. Took back a good trade in against to, so a real bonus. I also sold an Alfa 159 for £5000 which according to AT should retail at £3700. It was so overpriced it didn't even get a marker The thing is nobody is coming to look at my "priced low" cars, although according to AT, I am way up on views compared to others, but no leads. Another wierd stat is that a Fiat 500 which is well priced is apparently getting 120% more views than the competition but is my least viewed car by miles...you would expect a 500 to be popular, especially a good colour/well priced scarce model. Do you believe AT stats and figures?

Sorry, not a noisy flywheel, i,ve got flywheels on the brain as I,ve been caught out and they give me nightmares. Anyway, it was miles overpriced and had issues. I find BCA grade 3 is a lottery online, sometimes you win sometimes you lose. ive had grade 3,s which are retail ready with a good clean and polish, others which need a fortune on bodywork...I would say the same if grade 2 actually. I like Saabs to, not had one in a long time...are they easy to sell?

Tried to buy a 159 2.4 Ti today (maybe you did to) I would have paid what I thought was good money, but didn't get near it, made £1400 over cap clean and it was a grade 3 with a noisy fly wheel and 4 owners!

The thing is if a German car gave me the problems an Alfa always does, I would hate it. But you kind of indulge Alfa's and just accept their flaws. I love Alfa's, so do other people it seems, good lower milage ones are not easy to buy!

I used a broker called Think Insurance, they are cheap, but not without issue. £50k of cover, personal vehicle, partner named, all in for around £1000. I have no points and full NCD. There are a lot of vehicles excluded, but not necessarily the ones you might think. Almost any BMW, Merc, Jag, Audi is fine, apart from M, RS, AMG. But they won't allow any Porsche, not even a diesel Cayenne or a basic Boxter, a lot of performance hatches excluded to, but nearly all performance saloons fine. All in all, pretty good for the level of cover.

Well, my second opinion said I needed a new regulator. I wasn't convinced.... Took a fresh look at it this morning, unbolted the regulator and squirted silicon everywhere I could find to squirt it, still no joy. I had already thrown lube by the pint at all the nylon pulley,s but as a last resort I revisited them all and squirted silicon at each one whilst simaltanously operating the window repeatedly...and bingo...at last!!! Problem solved. And I sold my landmark BMW. And the sun is shining.

No, this one came from Belle Vue and seems pretty much as described. I,ve pumped silicon spray at everything. I,ve got the door card out, the speaker out and took the glass out to relieve the pressure on the runners, no difference, getting worse if anything. The problem with the mirror switch is a broken toggle for the passenger side, the unit itself is fine. I,m guessing the mirror is a problem with the motor. I,m taking it to a garage for a second opinion/another pair of eyes tomorrow.

Ok, so I have a 2008 model Alfa Spider. The drivers side window squeals like a bashee doing an extremely distressed pig expression. I cannot get to the bottom of it. I've gone as far as taking the window out and throwing lube at everything I can see. Been at it 3 hours! It does not appear to be the runners causing the problem and the motor seems fine. Short of just replacing the lot any suggestions? Oh and the drivers door mirror doesn't work either. It folds electrically but won't adjust. The passenger side is fine. Looks like a sealed unit. I don't fancy £120 plus vat for a complete replacement especially as the switch unit has a broken toggle switch and all I can do is buy a complete replacement for £160 plus vat. Gutted. Car looks fine, doesn't need paint or mechanicals...was banking on turning it round with no spend, now I,m looking at £300 plus whatever the window costs to get right. And half a day wasted so far.

Hello and welcome and I wish you the best of luck with your venture.

Do you ever find there are some cars you just can,t give away? For me it's a BMW 320D coupe. Everything is right. 62 plate, low miles, FSH, 2 owners. Good colour, right engine, Leather. M-Sport model. Every box ticked. Bought it at the right money and right now I,ve got it up retail at less than cap clean. Still not one person has looked at it in 3 months.