When do you call it a day on a lot? // What's your longest?

[D&M 66]

We've got a Toyota Auris in stock - we knew it'd take a little while to shift as we mostly trade online so rely on customers searching for the cars.

Just over 3 months now, and not a sniff.

2 Lady Owners, 2 Keys, Nice Miles & History, We put an MOT on it with no advisories. Thought it'd be a safe bet, as we see loads on the roads around here!

When we worked on a small forecourt, the owner had cars on the lot that had been there over a year and had no interest in trading out/adjusting price/different advertising. They'd just sit until they sold.

 

When do you throw in the towel and trade out a lot to let another trader have a go?

[Arfur Dealy 823]

I always sit on my cars until their sold, if I have bought it I stand by it. My approach teaches me desirability and sale ability because this trade is so fickle you have to constantly change. 

[trade vet 703]

In stock for 3 months,don’t panic,maybe knock £200/£300 off,but prices will rise by Feb.It happens to us all,when the financial crash hit in 2008,we all were taking huge hits on a lot of stock in order to get them away.

[Jimbo 11]

1 month for me then i start getting frustrated

[DHill 16]

I used to get annoyed after a month but not anymore, 6 months is the most for me then I'll start thinking about new photos/price drop.

[BHM 994]

2.5 - 3 months. In my opinion if it’s not gone by then then no one wants it so I cut the balls off the price & blow it out of the door to the first greedy parasite who rocks up 

As an aside them Aurises are pitch cars - absolutely no good for the internet. I’ve had 2, both low miles for age, both top spec, both FSH, a petrol that I put 4 new tyres & a clutch in and a scruffy (but f***ing cheap) diesel. The petrol only sold “accidentally” to a man who came to see a Berlingo but took a fancy to the colour (I don’t think I’d even taken a phone call on it) and the diesel just attracted stupid offers from the usual undesirable section of society who want everything for nowt. EVENTUALLY a nice fella turned up but I certainly won’t be searching for Aurises anytime soon.

[It's me 615]

1 hour ago, BHM said:

2.5 - 3 months. In my opinion if it’s not gone by then then no one wants it so I cut the balls off the price & blow it out of the door to the first greedy parasite who rocks up 

As an aside them Aurises are pitch cars - absolutely no good for the internet. I’ve had 2, both low miles for age, both top spec, both FSH, a petrol that I put 4 new tyres & a clutch in and a scruffy (but f***ing cheap) diesel. The petrol only sold “accidentally” to a man who came to see a Berlingo but took a fancy to the colour (I don’t think I’d even taken a phone call on it) and the diesel just attracted stupid offers from the usual undesirable section of society who want everything for nowt. EVENTUALLY a nice fella turned up but I certainly won’t be searching for Aurises anytime soon.

so basically you are saying you can stick your aurises where the sun dont shine

on the topic every car is different so i look at it this way, i bought it knowing i could sell it, so its just a matter of advertising keeping it clean and the price keen and making sure it will start on the button and no mayonnaise in the rocker top 

old saying but true saying theres a bum for every seat,you just need to find the bum

[whitestone679231 113]

If the car is something I have bought in and made it retail ready why toss it off?? I would only go out and buy it again, as long as it is priced sensibly and prepped well I wait till I find the right man for it. If it is an undesirable px or does not fit my stock profile then I just get the best trade bid I can and it doesn't get retailed.

[Trident 24]

This post has made me think, the longest we had in stock was a red mini, over a year, nice little thing, flew out the door to the right bum, so to speak... reminds me of a beetle we had which we thought was a nightmare after about 8 or so months, now, this must be going back two years and the garage down the road had a similar one at the time...... just checked and you guessed it.... they still have theirs, go figure!!!!!!!

 

[Dan W 57]

Audi Allroad 2.7 Quattro. 58 plate 50k

1 year and a half still counting not opened the door once or had an enquiry on it.

[Mat C 77]

I'm from PLC land and have had it drilled into me to turn my stock ASAP. I stock 10-12 cars and sell 14-16 a month. for me its all about getting the ££££ back in the bank as soon as possible. I premium Price for 10 days, then re look every other day. If i've had a car in stock over 120 days i'd get rid for cost or a small loss as i'd rather have it invested in something else. My average days in stock for 2017 was 28 days, which I can live with as I did have a couple of terminally ill cars that went 200 days or so!

PLC would write down at 30/60/90 days ( in fact you'd get a fine of £1000 per car at 90 days, so it didn't happen )

Sometimes stuff flies away in minutes, but others stick, I try to take a lesson from each car I buy, every day's a school day so they say....

[grant8064 219]

I've got a few old faces on the forecourt celebrating their first birthday...do you reckon if I held a party one of them would get snapped up?!

[Arfur Dealy 823]

Well I've just taken a deposit on my current longest in stock purchased 15-05-17. A Audi 60 plate A6 3.0 tdi Quattro SE Saloon. I must keep reminding myself, stick to estates, stick to estates, stick to estates...... Still took a £300 profit though ....

[Arfur Dealy 823]

One owner manual leather with FASH 137k. Manual, saloon, doom blue, SE spec killed it...... Saloon has to be S Line....

[trade vet 703]

44 minutes ago, twerp said:

Was it a weird manual car with fabric interior ?

Weird manual A6?,you haven’t had any traumatics then,I get a headache thinking about them !

[D&M 66]

On 1/3/2018 at 10:05 PM, trade vet said:

In stock for 3 months,don’t panic,maybe knock £200/£300 off,but prices will rise by Feb.It happens to us all,when the financial crash hit in 2008,we all were taking huge hits on a lot of stock in order to get them away.

We reduced it a week before Xmas, so we're ahead of you there!

15 hours ago, BHM said:

2.5 - 3 months. In my opinion if it’s not gone by then then no one wants it so I cut the balls off the price & blow it out of the door to the first greedy parasite who rocks up 

As an aside them Aurises are pitch cars - absolutely no good for the internet. I’ve had 2, both low miles for age, both top spec, both FSH, a petrol that I put 4 new tyres & a clutch in and a scruffy (but f***ing cheap) diesel. The petrol only sold “accidentally” to a man who came to see a Berlingo but took a fancy to the colour (I don’t think I’d even taken a phone call on it) and the diesel just attracted stupid offers from the usual undesirable section of society who want everything for nowt. EVENTUALLY a nice fella turned up but I certainly won’t be searching for Aurises anytime soon.

You're certainly right, they just aren't what people search for. We've dropped the price, but the problem is that people just aren't looking for it!

On 1/3/2018 at 8:22 PM, Arfur Dealy said:

I always sit on my cars until their sold, if I have bought it I stand by it. My approach teaches me desirability and sale ability because this trade is so fickle you have to constantly change. 

I like that approach, since we've started this is the longest we have had a particular car and the only one that even a little price drop hasn't encouraged it to drive away. With us only having a limited number of cars in stock, it is much more noticeable when you have a familiar face staring back at you! We know the first person to see it will buy it - it is just getting that person to see it!

9 hours ago, Dan W said:

Audi Allroad 2.7 Quattro. 58 plate 50k

1 year and a half still counting not opened the door once or had an enquiry on it.

Is there any reason that you can think of? That seems a long time, especially for something like that. Would have thought that would have walked out the door with that mileage!

All our other stock is shifting well - this one just isn't getting looked at. We've re-done the photos, lowered the price, advertised it to more places.

We've learned a lesson - once this ones gone, we aren't buying another one! Had a 2004 Corolla a while back we had to almost give away - lovely buyers though! They weren't planning to buy that day but ended up driving away in it.

Thanks for all your insights!

[Arfur Dealy 823]

14 hours ago, Dan W said:

Audi Allroad 2.7 Quattro. 58 plate 50k

1 year and a half still counting not opened the door once or had an enquiry on it.

Dan, Allroads are one of my favourites to see, the low mileage might be putting off along with a £500+ tax each year. Can you send a link to the advert? 

See = sell

where is the edit button???

[Wheelerdealer1 91]

These days I wait 1 month and then drop the price slightly every 2 weeks until it’s sold, longest stock car had recently was an 2001 Honda Civic auto 1.4, decent spec and 5 door but could not shift it for months, eventually I let my friend borrow it and plus 25k / 1 year later it came back to me and sold within 2 days! Go figure!

[Dan W 57]

3 hours ago, Arfur Dealy said:

Dan, Allroads are one of my favourites to see, the low mileage might be putting off along with a £500+ tax each year. Can you send a link to the advert? 

See = sell

where is the edit button???

Sent you the link.

the usual reason I guess why it hasn't sold. too pricy ?

and every person moans about the tax but they shouldn't be surprised at the cost.

[trade vet 703]

13 hours ago, grant8064 said:

I've got a few old faces on the forecourt celebrating their first birthday...do you reckon if I held a party one of them would get snapped up?!

Hi Grant

I am halfway through reading the Yugo story,it should be a movie......Now I see Tesla putting out bullshit excuses for all their  production problems ....you just wonder.

[grant8064 219]

3 hours ago, trade vet said:

Hi Grant

I am halfway through reading the Yugo story,it should be a movie......Now I see Tesla putting out bullshit excuses for all their  production problems ....you just wonder.

Haha, yep it would make a good film! The Tesla situation does make me laugh...people seem so awe struck by the technology that they're forgetting a few of the fundamentals behind a business

 

 

[It's me 615]

16 minutes ago, grant8064 said:

Haha, yep it would make a good film! The Tesla situation does make me laugh...people seem so awe struck by the technology that they're forgetting a few of the fundamentals behind a business

 

 

now let me think

 

oh yes making a profit is a good motivator for most

[Max Wheeler 0]

On 1/4/2018 at 9:13 AM, BHM said:

2.5 - 3 months. In my opinion if it’s not gone by then then no one wants it so I cut the balls off the price & blow it out of the door to the first greedy parasite who rocks up 

As an aside them Aurises are pitch cars - absolutely no good for the internet. I’ve had 2, both low miles for age, both top spec, both FSH, a petrol that I put 4 new tyres & a clutch in and a scruffy (but f***ing cheap) diesel. The petrol only sold “accidentally” to a man who came to see a Berlingo but took a fancy to the colour (I don’t think I’d even taken a phone call on it) and the diesel just attracted stupid offers from the usual undesirable section of society who want everything for nowt. EVENTUALLY a nice fella turned up but I certainly won’t be searching for Aurises anytime soon.

We recently had An Auris in stock for 190 days 2008 1.4 petrol 5 door 70k in red only had 2 calls on it eventually sold it to a walk on with finance .

Hyundai i30 are the same only sell over the net if they dirt cheap... 

[Max Wheeler 0]

1 hour ago, twerp said:

They seem to have a quite a following at the auctions for top money.

Hard to understand.

Agree

I had one last year 2011 auto only 25k 1 owner 1.6 diesel in stock for 6 months was the cheapest car 100 mile radius and nothing.... eventually sold it to a 25 year old on finance and took his 2003 bmw 330d msport in px

[BHM 994]

5 hours ago, Max Wheeler said:

We recently had An Auris in stock for 190 days 2008 1.4 petrol 5 door 70k in red only had 2 calls on it eventually sold it to a walk on with finance .

Hyundai i30 are the same only sell over the net if they dirt cheap... 

Yep, I’d rather have a shitty old Corolla p/x to sell than an Auris. Zero interest cars for some strange reason & both of mine were T-Spirit models so loaded with kit.

Bloody Hyundais - I’ve an 2011 i20 diesel that I’ve reduced to peanuts but I still can’t get any interest whatsoever. Not a single call or even a stupid email so that tells me even immigrants don’t want them! I used to make a nice reliable wage out of Tucson’s, Kia Sportages & Cee’ds but they seemed to die a death early last year. Once I’ve waved my i20 goodbye that’ll be me finished with them.

God, I hate small cars to sell & I slag-off French shite but at least dross like Pug 207s sell. If I had to rely on a wage from Korea’s finest I’d be starving to death.