How do we tackle road side traders?

[Kido 4]

Andy hope you don't think I am on your case but I just giving the flip side of the coin Know your opposition !

This guy is a one man band trying to eat the dealers lunch .

Don't see the need for a forecourt cause that would cramp his style of the honest joe dealer .

He couldn't come of with his if you went to a dealer line .

Don't need the over heads of the back up , car is priced to be sold as seen and the punter see the saving .

As for warranty that's the bargaining point If you give me another £200 I will give you 1 year warranty .

Bang hello warranty company and buys a years cover .

Not much difference between him than the forecourt dealer only the low over heads and more personal contact with the punter.

Most time he is mr ebayer " Ok if you corm and see the car make me an offer I will stop the auction ."

If the dealers do such a good service why do they worry so much about mr homer , mr road side trader and mr cat D .

Cause mr dealer is not offering the punter value no more .

The punter knows that cars today last longer and are more reliable even with what would have been said over the clock is now just 100 k miles .

They know that you no longer fix a engine you replace it and you don't need the dealer to tell you that and charge you double to do it .

So what does the dealer offer the punter to pay in lowest case 20% more for ?

With the internet car selling sites and mr homers web site that is his forecourt , that is his shop front.

I would think with iPhone ,iPad and whatsapp and cars having longer transferable warranties he will do well in the years to come .

[GreenGiant 287]

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 ?

...nope...

lost me there too....

[Kido 4]

Well greengiant ,

I called the lights where on but no answer .

[Andy Entwistle 96]

This is all about debate. Some on her may well be trader from home dealers. All views are valid and welcome.... I can see why the smaller guys would trade from home, I'd look at it in their shoes, but at the same time we need to support the wider trade and those with legitimate forecourt business's ... Is there space for both?

[Gavin@Rousdon 137]

Anyone, be it someone with a forecourt, a main dealer, someone who trades from home or a road side trader can do an honest fair job but also anyone in the chain can do a bad job. It's a case of being 'Honest' with how you do a job. Painting one element of the motor trade as the lowest of the low is just defelecting the fact that there are rogue traders all along the line.

 

Myself I perfer to focus on my business and doing that right, yes I look at my business rates each year and think a roadside trader doesn't have that expense, but I also see Main Dealers offering to service a car for £99 or £149 and I know it's basicly an 'oil change' rather then what I would consider a 'Service'.

 

If your in it for the long term you need to back yourself, the bad traders get found out it just take time.

 

Would we all be better trying to get Trading Standards and the Office of Fair Trading to sit and listen to us, show them that a flexible approach is needed as the mechanics of a car is so complex that customer expectations need to be realistic.

[GreenGiant 287]

Well greengiant ,

I called the lights where on but no answer .

 

We WERE in, but we hid behind the sofa 'til you went away.

[James Baggott 227]

Following this topic and all your comments, here's my column from the latest issue of the magazine all about this issue.

 

http://cardealermagazine.co.uk/publish/baggott-isnt-time-tackled-kerbside-motor-traders-ourselves/77950

 

What do you think to a campaign where we print notices for real motor traders to stick on cars parked at the side of the road? Maybe in the style of warning triangles to potential buyers? Something tongue in cheek that would get people thinking.

 

What are your thoughts?

[Gavin@Rousdon 137]

Not sure, if we are sure they are crooks fine, but it smacks of arrogance to claim the we are 'real motor traders' and they aren't. Where does it stop, Main Dealers slapping stickers on Independants car's just because they 'think' they are better?

 

A better way it to try and get Trading Standards to classify which type of 'trader' causes the most complaints by asking......'Main Dealer' or  'Indepedent with forecourt' or 'Home Trader' or 'Roadside Trader' etc etc then the facts will speak for themselves.

 

Maybe it's time we had to register as a car dealer with Trading Standards?

[James Baggott 227]

I'd class a trader as someone who pays VAT and is set up as a company. Someone who has to abide by the same rules as everyone else in the motor trade - warranties, etc 

[Gavin@Rousdon 137]

James, does every VAT registred dealer play by the same rules? Of course not some of the worse 'traders' I've come across have been 'legit' on the surface. Sticking stickers on windows seems a very vigilante approach and will do more harm then good. I'm sure we can think up something better then a 'mob rule' attitude.

 

Or maybe sometimes customers get the cars they deserve.

[James Baggott 227]

VAT registered dealers with a premises, that customers can get some sort of come back should something go wrong, should be pushed as the right avenue. A man at the side of the road with a mobile phone number could be anyone and could disappear. They should be stopped.  

[Gavin@Rousdon 137]

James, I agree totaly with your first point, but your second point means a vital ladder of the motor trade get removed. There are honest roadside traders, I'm sure of it, so saying they should be banned is akin to the days where only Main Dealers could service cars under warranty because of the so called 'Experts' could do the job properly.

 

All bad dealers should be crushed and stopped. All honest dealers should be given a fair chance by them roadside or franchised in £10m showrooms.

[used car seller 8]

The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 makes it an offence to place two or more motor vehicles for sale on a road* within 500m of each other. Traders doing this could be issued with an £100 fixed penalty notice or prosecuted and fined up to £2,500.

note: The legal definitions of a ‘road’ or ‘highway’ are wide and can also include grass verges, lay-bys and other areas immediately adjacent to the main carriageway.

So, if when you phone the council to complain, like i did, you need to speak to highways, you quote the above act, and find theyve never heard of it, you also give them reg numbers and proof of being a trader because the same mobile number is in all 3 cars, they promise to look into it , but dont, but that might just be the case round here, phone up ! complain ! tell us what happened ! maybe get your friends to complain too !

 

"sometimes customers get the cars they deserve" quote by Gavin@Rousdon is spot on