How do we tackle road side traders?

[James Baggott 227]

There's a lot of talk on Twitter at the moment about the scourge of roadside traders. How should they be tackled? What should local authorities do about them? Why are they such a problem? Let me know your thoughts. I'm interested to hear for a possible column I'm writing for the mag.

[umesh 336]

Road side Traders are a nightmare to all the legitimate motor dealers throughout the country , all you have to do is drive around the corner from you live spot them! On my way into work I used to see couple of waste ground areas with approx 7-8 cars on each , the giveaway was the ‘nice’ bright coloured signs / same hand writing on all – same tel number , now you’re not telling me this is just some one selling the odd car from home, its a full time business WITHOUT the overheads and I bet he /she does fill in VAT forms every quarter !

I had a VAT visit a few years back and I told the VAT inspector about my concerns that these people seem to get away but not only not paying their cat/ possible taxes, rent / rates etc but possibly could be selling cars which may be dangerous ...after a long conversation the answer was “we don’t have enough resource to catch them all but are looking into itâ€

Last week trading standards officer called in looking for a ‘motor trader’ who’s advertising from this area , he can’t find him – I’ve never heard of him and the address is same street as me ! I told him again about my concerns about the ‘side street motors’  ... his answer ! you’ve guessed it same as the VAT inspector ...but he said “when we get complaints we investigate† I asked how could they possibly find the seller as more than likely the mobile number is a pay as you gone and that’s long been binned !!!

If they wanted to clamp down on this they could simply say , we’re going to have a purge for i.e. 2 weeks every inspector out , how many would they catch – make a big song & dance in the paper s – TV about it and I bet some of them would disappear – well that’s a start as far as I’m concerned !

But sadly they’re not interested – that’s work , pick on US – They know here we are !

[barriecrampton 6]

They are parasites, plaguing local car dealers by strategically parking their piles of auction fodder as close as they can get to the legitimate dealers pitches, hoping that the dealer attracts a customer by spending thousands and thousands a year on rent, rates, staff, insurance, advertising, paying vat and income tax, but because the customer has to drive by all their cars before he gets to you, maybe, just maybe the customer is stupid enough to stop and buy one from there lay-by display

Theres a Citroen Main dealer close to the centre of Preston they must pay a fortune in business rates, directly across the road from them theres a lay-by thats just big enough to park 4 cars, yesterday there were 4 cars parked there, all for sale, and all belonging to private/traders.

But for sheer cheek you cant beat this one that i saw a while back, Saturday afternoon parked on double yellow lines on the main shopping high street in Preston with a for sale sign in it, yep he may have got a thirty pound parking ticket, but just imagine how much a day it would cost to open the doors if you had a showroom there

[Kido 4]

I don't know any legitimate trader who is self made that didn't start as a road side trader . No legitimate trader bought ,leased or builted a show room put out £100k on stock before he had ever sold a car of his own bat .

Think I will take cover !

[jimreidvehicle 255]

I don't know any legitimate trader who is self made that didn't start as a road side trader . No legitimate trader bought ,leased or builted a show room put out £100k on stock before he had ever sold a car of his own bat .

Think I will take cover !

eh. ME!

[barriecrampton 6]

Kido, you have missed the point, im not having a pop at the traders who are confident enough in their cars that they are prepared to sell them from home, where they could be found at any time of the day or night by disgruntled punters, or visited by trading standards should there be a dispute.

I'm talking about the pond life who park their cars on a public road near a reputable garage and try to hijack their customers with their no overheads, shiny shit mobiles, and their only means of contact is a pay as you go mobile thats sim card which will be in the bin as soon as Joe Gullible hands over his cash.

I am also willing to bet that most of these road side private/traders who do go on to open their own garages are the ones who will also go on to star in tv programs too, like watchdog and rogue traders

[James Baggott 227]

You'll be pleased to hear chaps that this has inspired me enough to write my next column for the mag about this very subject. I'll be interested to hear if you agree with my points when it's published.

[Kido 4]

Where there is a mac Ds you will find a buger king , when you drive down an industrial estate which has turned in to gasoline alley with the big dealers There you will see the Bill broads as close as they can get to opposition trying to hijack each other's customers .

Competing for the spot with the banks with their Happy Family bill broads and small print .

And just like the pond life when Joe Gullible signs up to unbelievable interest rate drives out in a car that he going to pay 50% more of its value and not afford to keep up the warranty service cost ( he's lucky his dad used to have to pay PPI to get the loan ) . Picks up the phone when he has a problem " sorry this number is for sales I don't know who you need to talk to can I put you on hold EEEEEeeeeeeeoooooo........... " With the pond life and his pay as you go / run Mobil you don't have to pay the price of the call .

So phone the Trading Stardards but they are up feeding the Loch Ness monster with their real teddy bear hair hats on !

It's Dog eat Dog out there and the big Dogs have the biggest bite .

[Kido 4]

You'll be pleased to hear chaps that this has inspired me enough to write my next column for the mag about this very subject. I'll be interested to hear if you agree with my points when it's published.

You may be should ask about what Joe Gullible thinks of the pond life selling a car from the road side with low over heads and in a better position to knock out a deal than the dealer who in his mind is more of a Arthur Daily than the pond life .

In fact the dealer is in Joe not so Gullible eyes the same guy that f... Him over on his house sale the estate agent and the Bank manger that give him the advice on his mortgage and encourage him to move up market in a boom market . He dresses the same and offers the same shit coffee has magazine on the table that don't relate to his life . His wife thinks he a sleeve ball and if you listen very carefully it sounds just like a golf .

I think the pond life in the coming years will do well unless the DI of the dealerships gets his advise on rebranding !

Most out there remember where they where sold PPI and how much the dealers and the banks made the decision on how much they would pay for a car . They didn't go to the bank for a loan they went to the dealer who had contacts in the bank bet you wouldn't say that now mud sticks and the show room has big windows !

[umesh 336]

I don't know any legitimate trader who is self made that didn't start as a road side trader . No legitimate trader bought ,leased or builted a show room put out £100k on stock before he had ever sold a car of his own bat .

Think I will take cover !

Never sold one off the side of the road ! If you're going to do it - do it right FROM THE START!

[Gavin@Rousdon 137]

Would a roadside trader take customer off a dealer with a site? I guess it depends on your stock profile, if your selling cars £5000+ your customer isn't going to pay to much attention to a line of cars priced at £100-£1500. Also where do these roadside traders get there stock, I guess many are part exchange cars from other dealers, either purchased direct of via auction. We may not like them but without them we would have a lot of money tied up in p/x stock that we don't want to retail. 

 

We all know the trading standards recieve lots of complaints about used cars, would be interesting to see a breakdown of these in relation to price, miles and type of dealer.

 

Roadside trading could be a first step to building a business and I think it's unfair to class them all as crooks. Lets not forget that Main Dealers have their fair share of problems dealing with complaints, the internet is full of stories on customer getting fobbed off by MD's then getting a result when the brands customer services get invloved.

 

Also the paying customer has to take a degree of responsiblity, if its cheap, its cheap for a reason.

[barriecrampton 6]

I give up, if your moral compass isnt working then i cant point you in the right direction. even if they didnt take business off me, i still wouldnt want a line of someone elses cars parked out side my pitch that i was paying a fortune in rent and rates and they were paying nothing for exactly the same real estate.

And if you think these people are just trying to start a business youre kidding yourself, the person i saw the other day had a loop with at least 50 car keys on it, he had a business and it was a big one with no premises, no overheads, no come backs and probably no taxes or vat.

If someone operates a business where the only point of contact is a pay as you go phone and a spot on the A6 where the car used to be parked, to my mind there can only be one reason

[Gavin@Rousdon 137]

Barrie, firstly there is very little wrong with my motal compass, I just don't class everyone as crooks because they haven't got a site. Yes I agree the council should look into the fact they are using a public highway to trade from and trading standards should be paying close attention to ALL dealers who aren't comlpying to the law.

 

Just because the person you saw wasn't carrying 50 sets of car keys doesn't mean everyone is. The crooks aren't in it for the long term, they just want to make quick money and rip people off. If they last a few year maybe you should offer them a little respect because it means they must be doing something right.

 

In all honesty I choose to worry about my own business and not what others are doing, with the internet and how people search for car every car dealer is next door to each other. If they worry you so much I'm afraid the motor trade isn't the place for you and your morale compass.

[GreenGiant 287]

Where there is a mac Ds you will find a buger king , when you drive down an industrial estate which has turned in to gasoline alley with the big dealers There you will see the Bill broads as close as they can get to opposition trying to hijack each other's customers .

Competing for the spot with the banks with their Happy Family bill broads and small print .

And just like the pond life when Joe Gullible signs up to unbelievable interest rate drives out in a car that he going to pay 50% more of its value and not afford to keep up the warranty service cost ( he's lucky his dad used to have to pay PPI to get the loan ) . Picks up the phone when he has a problem " sorry this number is for sales I don't know who you need to talk to can I put you on hold EEEEEeeeeeeeoooooo........... " With the pond life and his pay as you go / run Mobil you don't have to pay the price of the call .

So phone the Trading Stardards but they are up feeding the Loch Ness monster with their real teddy bear hair hats on !

It's Dog eat Dog out there and the big Dogs have the biggest bite .

Grumpy Old Git here...

 

Translation of all or any of the above would be appreciated please.

[barriecrampton 6]

Perhaps I'm too suspicous, I suppose it could just be a coincidence that some road side trader has parked his Citroen with a for sale sign in it, in the lay-by directly opposite the Citroen Main Dealer :-)

[Gavin@Rousdon 137]

I would say the MOT's for £30 is more worrying to the Citroen Dealer then a 51 Plate Saxo in a lay-by.

[Kido 4]

Mr greengiant wrote "Translation of all or any of the above would be appreciated please."

If you need Translaition of all or any that I have wrote you are not turned in Kido and should ask your self how long ago was it the 90s .

Most dealers answer of the coff is 10 years ago .

What has changed in the last 20 years in the dealers showroom ?

Does dealers showroom have a place in today market ?

[dan sellen 15]

The customer always wants the 'cheapest', cheapest isn't always cheapest. A guy near us sells CAT C's etc and people compare prices with us, as much as we explain the quality of our product and service I'm supprised at how many people still say I can save by buying the other car'. They then probably go on to complain as the 'sold as seen car that was in an accident 6 months ago doesn't drive properly and they want their money back, hence cheapest isn't always cheapest.

Also ive experienced customers say they don't want a warranty as they have a 'mate' in the trade, just an excuse to say they don't need a warranty, the best bit is they might come back a year or so later with a problem and they have the cheek to say they wasn't offered a warranty!!

Rant over! Problem is cowboy traders.

[jimreidvehicle 255]

Would a roadside trader take customer off a dealer with a site? I guess it depends on your stock profile, if your selling cars £5000+ your customer isn't going to pay to much attention to a line of cars priced at £100-£1500. Also where do these roadside traders get there stock, I guess many are part exchange cars from other dealers, either purchased direct of via auction. We may not like them but without them we would have a lot of money tied up in p/x stock that we don't want to retail. 

 

We all know the trading standards recieve lots of complaints about used cars, would be interesting to see a breakdown of these in relation to price, miles and type of dealer.

 

Roadside trading could be a first step to building a business and I think it's unfair to class them all as crooks. Lets not forget that Main Dealers have their fair share of problems dealing with complaints, the internet is full of stories on customer getting fobbed off by MD's then getting a result when the brands customer services get invloved.

 

Also the paying customer has to take a degree of responsiblity, if its cheap, its cheap for a reason.

There is a place for everyone in the motor trade, however any used car selling from a dealer(of any description) for £100-£1000 is scrap! Yes , I agree that most of these cars will come from dealers part exchanges via the auctions houses and they do help generate a few more coppers for the main dealers, however unless the buyer is a qualified mechanic they should not buy any car at this price! The difference between the £100 scrap car and the £1000 car sitting at the road side for sale is the profit margin that the 'dealer' has , less of course the margin VAT, did I say VAT????? 

Yes, the buying public have to take responsibility, would you buy a boxed unlocked iPhone 5 from a guy you don't know in the pub for £100? If the answer is yes, you understand that you have to deal with the consequences if the the iPhone 5 wasn't actually his mothers unwanted birthday present!

 

We pride ourselves in doing our job right! But due to the fact that a used car , is exactly that ...a 'used' car and has worn mechanical items on it, we also have our share of problems after the sale, however it's NOT about what happens to the car that matters, it's how we deal with what happens that really matters!   

[Kido 4]

Dan

you can't Educate fools cause most out there with up to £10k in their pocket looking to buy , class themselves as Red necks with pay checks they have tried playing middle working class didn't work for them had to pay to much tax.

all that I am legitimate Dealer means to them is when you come back with a problem I know how to f--- you over with in the law .

Don't want to bring you bag of cash into Mr I am Legitimate do you .

[Kido 4]

Jim ,

Take a closer look at the road side dealer price bracket only the fly by night for the want of a better word TRADER deals in the £100 / £1000 car.

The road side dealer who has claimed his spot is dealing from £4,500 (£5k/£6k in the dealers showroom ) up wards to £10 (£13k in the dealers showroom ) . And offers take you to your bank in your car to be service !

[barriecrampton 6]

Barrie, firstly there is very little wrong with my motal compass, I just don't class everyone as crooks because they haven't got a site. Yes I agree the council should look into the fact they are using a public highway to trade from and trading standards should be paying close attention to ALL dealers who aren't comlpying to the law.

Just because the person you saw wasn't carrying 50 sets of car keys doesn't mean everyone is. The crooks aren't in it for the long term, they just want to make quick money and rip people off. If they last a few year maybe you should offer them a little respect because it means they must be doing something right.

In all honesty I choose to worry about my own business and not what others are doing, with the internet and how people search for car every car dealer is next door to each other. If they worry you so much I'm afraid the motor trade isn't the place for you and your morale compass.

[barriecrampton 6]

:-) thanks for the advice but seen as ive already been in the Motor Trade for over 40 years its just come a little too late

[Kido 4]

Barrie It is never to late , 40 years is a long time to be in the Motor Trade if you had of got Gavin's advice years ago you would have been long retired .

[Andy Entwistle 96]

How about the guys who are one step up from these people. They sell nicer stock from home. But don't have the backup, support and complexities that others have with forecourts and service centres. Often sold openly as traders, but rarely offering warranties, these cars are cheap because they have no overheads.

 

Are these any better, or killing things for the legitimate trade sites?