How many miles is too many?

[EPV 631]

So after yet another day of selecting a dozen cars out, preparing to pay good money for them and then watching them go for stupid money I’ve concluded this can’t go on. I’m looking at low mileage petrol autos mainly, being based on the borders of South East London this is a good stocking strategy as these will of corse be popular. Generally german or Japanese, generally black white or grey, generally retail between £7k and £11k. 

The problem is that it seems to be everyone else’s stocking strategy and prices are silly. These buyers can only be making a few hundred quid per unit and it will all disappear when you get caught with a lemon and I ain’t working for that. 

I’m thinking of doing the opposite to this, i’m a contrarian and believe you can only make real money doing what everyone else isn’t or finding something people aren’t doing. Now stocking miley diesels probably isn’t ground breaking but it’s not like every person in Kent or Surrey is driving a low mileage petrol automatic so there is definitely a space for a miley diesel. 

I bought one a couple of months ago, it’s a very nice c250 CDI sport Estate, Nav, cruise etc and I polished her up a treat. 2014 Car with 128k on. I’ve opened the door once and barely had any interest since. I’ve re-thought what I did and essentially i’m asking someone to pay nearly ten grand for a car that may only get to its 8th birthday before it’s got 175k on. People obviously do consider resale value when spending that sort of money and frankly they will get very little out this particular car. I intended to sell it to a “look at me” type, the keep up with the jones’ type but evidently they aren’t in such abundance as I thought. 

I’ve done really well from those petrol autos or sometimes even manuals, when i’ve found them and when i’ve actually managed to get them for sensible money but the opportunities are few and far between and I need something bread and butter that turn fairly quickly (30 days) whilst I wait for those occasions when I can have it off once again. 

So, to those who stock things like 110k Audi A4 avants, CRV’s, 530d msports, rav4, 125k Audi A6 avants, mercedes c180 and e320’s and so on, how many miles, is too many in your experience?

i’m thinking my bread and butter may well be nice diesels, under £5k, bit of spec, low number of owners and a good history. Not too many bruises but more mechanically sound, decent ticket on, etc.  

[Mikey360 68]

Had a 163k CRV 2009 in a few months back, flew out the door. If its in great nick, low owners and full service history, i reckon anything under 175k is sellable. Just needs to have all the bells and whistles!

[Arfur Dealy 823]

High mileage diesels have always been my bread and butter.

You are over analysing buying stock, it isn’t that simple especially when you are sat at home. James, go the the auctions and do some travelling. Buy whatever your nose follows....

 

 

I research every auction with a list of targeted cars, 90% of the time I come back with something else...

It’s often prudent to wait till near the end because many bidders have left...

[Row 71]

1 hour ago, Arfur Dealy said:

I research every auction with a list of targeted cars, 90% of the time I come back with something else...

 

Done the same many times, comeback with something completely different because I smelt profit and it worked.

[EPV 631]

1 hour ago, Arfur Dealy said:

High mileage diesels have always been my bread and butter.

You are over analysing buying stock, it isn’t that simple especially when you are sat at home. James, go the the auctions and do some travelling. Buy whatever your nose follows....

 

 

I research every auction with a list of targeted cars, 90% of the time I come back with something else...

It’s often prudent to wait till near the end because many bidders have left...

Thanks. 

The reason I don’t go to auctions is due to me being fussy about what I buy. Typically I will only find one car per auction, i’m not going to go to an auction for one car obviously, not when there are several dotted around the country at different auctions. 

I did however, for the first time yesterday, think to myself that I could bid on things that are going through cheap (as long as there were reasons other than it was cheap) as there are definitely plenty of cars that go through cheap and would make nice sellers. 

I’m definitely thinking I need to go to a few auctions. 

[DBDlloyds 18]

Morning James,

I am based near Chelmsford in Essex so not far from you. I have been trading for a year now and my strategy has changed a million times. 

I started going to auction, got burnt a couple of times so decided to buy privately. After a few months I realised that this is a non starter. Logistically a nightmare because if I do buy the car I need a lift to pick it up, and more often than not you turn up to a car that is total poo. You ask them all of the right questions to be met with exactly the problems you have asked about. They then plead ignorance that they didn’t understand what you meant. Utter pricks...

So, I am now doing exactly what Simon intermated in the post above. I pick a selection of cars to view at the auction, slim them down to what looks reasonable and bid on them.... most of the time I am massively out bid on these and end up buying something totally different. On Monday I ended up buying a Kia Sportage which is something I would never have considered to be fair. It’s a gamble as I have no idea if these are good news or not but it was worth a punt.

Your company is set up very differently to mine in terms of Prestige. I would love to be where you are but it does limit you a bit....

This is the toughest thing I have ever done in my life and I love and hate it in equal measures some days. Overall I believe I can and will make a success of this but where I will be in a years time in terms of stock and strategy is nobody’s guess...

Best of luck Dean.

 

[Mark101 536]

I rarely end up buying what I went to buy because we all want the same, low mileage, black estate or sports with FSH, two keys and a couple of owners.

An example, I wanted a C30 specifically for a punter; I did buy it and also 4 more that I hadn't really considered.  This was less than 4 weeks ago and out of those 5, 4 have sold and I am only left with the C30 (the one I had ear marked).

Go figure.

Open mind, flying by the seat of your pants and you'll grab something you'd never considered as everyone does/has tried to buy another car that you have perhaps filled your boots with before, only to realise that was probably a lucky one off.

 

[Rory RSC 596]

James,

Go to the Auctions and sometimes you just spot something that just looks nice. Might be a higher mileage E350 estate but it looks like its only done 60k sort of thing. You can't get excited about them as easily online. Or you spot a Kia like someone said above that looks cheap in the book and you think got to be a good profit in that.

Good luck mate.

[trade vet 703]

• It’s ‘horses for courses’ and there are definateley regional differences in this job.If I was in the South East and needed high spec petrol auto stuff I would be following the northern auctions.There are good freelance buyers who attend most auctions who for £50 will inspect and buy a car for you.For instance,we have bought manual Mercs for years in the south where they are frowned on.

[justina3 518]

Oddly enough we was talking about this yesterday i bought last month a Golf GT TDI 2007 154k one fleet owner 10plus svs stamps with two belt and pump changes not a mark on it, i only bought it for a young lad we employ who is down on his luck long story but a female is behind it no shock there, anyway i give £1150 for it plus fees. 

Collected it monday and it drove like it was a hovercraft not a single thing wrong with it was going to give it to the employee but he was in a&E as his crazy misses had tried to poison him so he was having his stomach pumped.

The pub opposite was busy as always with the football nutters shouting something i couldnt understand and three youngsters waddled over, so called Karl from the workshop as we do (Karl is 6ft+ and 18 stone part time electrician part time MMA fighter) Karl deal with them i asked anyway Karl came back in saying one of the louts wanted to buy the Golf in the corner and has been looking for the GT TDi model for ages but there all to expensive he only has £2500 saved up, i said mr football lout i dont know how your team is doing but today is your lucky day and three hours later after the game finished of course he turned back up with the dollars. 

So apart from the very long winded story about crazy youngsters in love trying to kill each other, and me judging a book by its cover we sold for a nice profit a high mile golf. 

See the guy everywhere as it happens he has changed the wheels added some plastic bits but seems over the moon with the car. 

 

 

[Nick M.K. 574]

2 hours ago, Arfur Dealy said:

I research every auction with a list of targeted cars, 90% of the time I come back with something else...

I stopped targeting cars a few years ago and I haven't had a problem re-stocking since. 

There is SO MUCH stock at the auctions compared to when I was starting up (thank you WBAC) that it's easy enough to pick up something decent as long as you don't "target" it in advance.

A few years ago I sold my daily driver (2007 Merc CLK220 CDI) at exactly 250,000 miles for £3300 and I had a lot of calls for it after it sold. My next daily driver was 2011 C220 CDI and that went for £9500 with 135000 on the clock. There are buyers out there that will look beyond the mileage figure and if your price is REALLY keen even the higher milers will sell. 

[trade vet 703]

4 minutes ago, trade vet said:

• It’s ‘horses for courses’ and there are definateley regional differences in this job.If I was in the South East and needed high spec petrol auto stuff I would be following the northern auctions.There are good freelance buyers who attend most auctions who for £50 will inspect and buy a car for you.For instance,we have bought manual Mercs for years in the south where they are frowned on.

A good auto example James.I have just been checking my notes from Wed.at BCA Newcastle.In the UKCG premium section 61 Jag,warranted 9k,leather,no nav.Cap Clean £11300 ish ,it was provisional at £9600.I was watching online but it appeared a nice car.That would probably retail for £12950 down your way.

[Ek cars 17]

Love high mileage tackle we sold a 2012 12 plate CRV EST model 2 litre petrol 1 lady owner FSH and immaculate throughout for £6200 !

[Grantlfc81 88]

11 hours ago, EPV said:

So after yet another day of selecting a dozen cars out, preparing to pay good money for them and then watching them go for stupid money I’ve concluded this can’t go on. I’m looking at low mileage petrol autos mainly, being based on the borders of South East London this is a good stocking strategy as these will of corse be popular. Generally german or Japanese, generally black white or grey, generally retail between £7k and £11k. 

The problem is that it seems to be everyone else’s stocking strategy and prices are silly. These buyers can only be making a few hundred quid per unit and it will all disappear when you get caught with a lemon and I ain’t working for that. 

I’m thinking of doing the opposite to this, i’m a contrarian and believe you can only make real money doing what everyone else isn’t or finding something people aren’t doing. Now stocking miley diesels probably isn’t ground breaking but it’s not like every person in Kent or Surrey is driving a low mileage petrol automatic so there is definitely a space for a miley diesel. 

I bought one a couple of months ago, it’s a very nice c250 CDI sport Estate, Nav, cruise etc and I polished her up a treat. 2014 Car with 128k on. I’ve opened the door once and barely had any interest since. I’ve re-thought what I did and essentially i’m asking someone to pay nearly ten grand for a car that may only get to its 8th birthday before it’s got 175k on. People obviously do consider resale value when spending that sort of money and frankly they will get very little out this particular car. I intended to sell it to a “look at me” type, the keep up with the jones’ type but evidently they aren’t in such abundance as I thought. 

I’ve done really well from those petrol autos or sometimes even manuals, when i’ve found them and when i’ve actually managed to get them for sensible money but the opportunities are few and far between and I need something bread and butter that turn fairly quickly (30 days) whilst I wait for those occasions when I can have it off once again. 

So, to those who stock things like 110k Audi A4 avants, CRV’s, 530d msports, rav4, 125k Audi A6 avants, mercedes c180 and e320’s and so on, how many miles, is too many in your experience?

i’m thinking my bread and butter may well be nice diesels, under £5k, bit of spec, low number of owners and a good history. Not too many bruises but more mechanically sound, decent ticket on, etc.  

I have sold LOADS of high mileage Audi’s- I’ve just sold a merc e250 estate 2009 manual for £7000 with 130k miles on it within 14 days.

audi A6 lemans absolutely fly off the shelves also.

[EPV 631]

Where are you based Grant?

[Rory RSC 596]

1 hour ago, trade vet said:

• It’s ‘horses for courses’ and there are definateley regional differences in this job.If I was in the South East and needed high spec petrol auto stuff I would be following the northern auctions.There are good freelance buyers who attend most auctions who for £50 will inspect and buy a car for you.For instance,we have bought manual Mercs for years in the south where they are frowned on.

+1 

[Nick M.K. 574]

30 minutes ago, Grantlfc81 said:

I’ve just sold a merc e250 estate 2009 manual for £7000 with 130k miles on it

Gotta love those Eastern European customers (I am Bulgarian by the way). They still to this day hate an auto gearbox. 

[It's me 615]

You must go to the auctions even if its only once a month,its much easier to assess cars online once you understand what makes cars tick

of course you need to be in the right frame of mind too

clear head, not hungry, comfortable shoes,(no pointees) nice warm coat possibly hat and be willing to stand around for hours

only ever sit down if you have to

its surprising what you will buy as others have said, that you would never consider from your keyboard

main thing is dont get into a club of other traders that stand round taliking,its the easiest way to miss your car or a bargain

[EPV 631]

Some really encouraging advice on here, thanks chaps.

There's a couple of reasons I never bother attending, one of which is that as said, it's usually just the one car I'm interested in and I'm not spending an entire day stood around for one car. But as most of you seem to do, you buy stuff you wouldn't normally consider because you see the value. So, I must too. 

I have, Trade Vet, considered buying from much further afield but I always assumed the transport costs would be prohibitive. I shouldn't assume and a quick check on Anyvan delivery from Washington to me, seems to confirm I shouldn't assume as it's about £150 cheaper than I thought.

Feeling a lot more buoyed now, thanks chaps.

[Mark101 536]

24 minutes ago, boring dave said:

main thing is dont get into a club of other traders that stand round taliking,its the easiest way to miss your car or a bargain

This

I try and keep myself to myself always do business wise but there's one chap whom always makes a bee line for me, an ex trader who simply can't stop coming to the auction yet never buys anything.  I bought a right lemon once because I couldn't escape him easily enough to inspect beforehand.

I now avaoid and make pretend phone calls, go outside for a smoke (well vape), or make another excuse.  Lovely chap but bloody irritating distraction.

[sparky 274]

1 hour ago, justina3 said:

Oddly enough we was talking about this yesterday i bought last month a Golf GT TDI 2007 154k one fleet owner 10plus svs stamps with two belt and pump changes not a mark on it, i only bought it for a young lad we employ who is down on his luck long story but a female is behind it no shock there, anyway i give £1150 for it plus fees. 

Collected it monday and it drove like it was a hovercraft not a single thing wrong with it was going to give it to the employee but he was in a&E as his crazy misses had tried to poison him so he was having his stomach pumped.

The pub opposite was busy as always with the football nutters shouting something i couldnt understand and three youngsters waddled over, so called Karl from the workshop as we do (Karl is 6ft+ and 18 stone part time electrician part time MMA fighter) Karl deal with them i asked anyway Karl came back in saying one of the louts wanted to buy the Golf in the corner and has been looking for the GT TDi model for ages but there all to expensive he only has £2500 saved up, i said mr football lout i dont know how your team is doing but today is your lucky day and three hours later after the game finished of course he turned back up with the dollars. 

So apart from the very long winded story about crazy youngsters in love trying to kill each other, and me judging a book by its cover we sold for a nice profit a high mile golf. 

See the guy everywhere as it happens he has changed the wheels added some plastic bits but seems over the moon with the car. 

 

 

A lovely story, but what happened to your man in a & e? Sounds like something out of Gone Girl.

[sparky 274]

16 minutes ago, EPV said:

Some really encouraging advice on here, thanks chaps.

There's a couple of reasons I never bother attending, one of which is that as said, it's usually just the one car I'm interested in and I'm not spending an entire day stood around for one car. But as most of you seem to do, you buy stuff you wouldn't normally consider because you see the value. So, I must too. 

I have, Trade Vet, considered buying from much further afield but I always assumed the transport costs would be prohibitive. I shouldn't assume and a quick check on Anyvan delivery from Washington to me, seems to confirm I shouldn't assume as it's about £150 cheaper than I thought.

Feeling a lot more buoyed now, thanks chaps.

I use a great set of  trade plate lads who know the job in the north east who regularly drop off down south and will also collect from Scotland. Happy to send their details over if required.

 

[EPV 631]

10 minutes ago, sparky said:

I use a great set of  trade plate lads who know the job in the north east who regularly drop off down south and will also collect from Scotland. Happy to send their details over if required.

 

Most definitely please mate, do they inspect and buy at auction as well or just logistics?

[sparky 274]

2 minutes ago, EPV said:

Most definitely please mate, do they inspect and buy at auction as well or just logistics?

Just logistics mate.

[Tim H 16]

The only time I do my 10000 daily steps target is when I'm at Auction...!!

Like has been said already, I'll often come away with something I hadn't planned on buying.